Overview

In 1973, a seventeen-year-old Canadian girl meets an American boy on her first day of school in Japan and falls in love, not realising that he is also a goner for her. When they finally connect, they only have two months together before school's out and she has to head home. Bad timing and swirling emotion botch their attempt to stay together and they fall out of touch. Long after she loses him, she still thinks of him, and even sets out on a journey to find him, one that fails in the most traumatic of ways. Thirty years later - after her award-winning documentary career has taken her to the most dangerous of places pursuing the toughest of stories - Daniel Peterson's name pops up in an email in Shelley Saywell's inbox, delivering them both a second chance at love. Soon they are edging towards each other in a soul-baring exchange of emails that slowly confirms that their teenage love was real. For fifteen years, they are bonded in life and in love, only to have their marriage cut short when Daniel is diagnosed with terminal cancer. By braiding together the strands of time - threads of first love enhancing threads of grief, a magic reunion undone by final separation - Saywell reveals the power of memory and the healing magic of love. In his last moments, she asks Daniel, 'Can we do this again?' and he replies, 'We'll do it again, only better.' Hard to imagine any two people doing love better, or any writer creating a more touching, revelatory story and testament to the heart.

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9781039013711

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Reviews

“Shelley Saywell’s poignant, hauntingly beautiful memoir takes us on an epic journey of resilience and regret that will at once break your heart and give you hope in the enduring power and endless possibility of love.” —Mellissa Fung, author of Between Good and Evil “A heartbreaking memoir of love lost, love found and then lost again. Shelley Saywell, the accomplished creator of documentary films, reveals another part of herself—a tender heart and the joy and grief that accompany deep passion. Even through the pain, she shows that over time profound love is completely worth the risk.” —Antanas Sileika, author of Some Unfinished Business “In this miracle of a story, Saywell interweaves two strands of profound human experience at opposing ends of the emotional spectrum: falling in love and grieving the premature death of a life partner. In the hands of a master storyteller, this seemingly incompatible double helix soars into a triumph of the heart. A transcontinental journey of hope and serendipity, If Only Love is a book for anyone who has ever dreamt of a second chance.” —Roxana Spicer, author of The Traitor’s Daughter “If Only Love is an epic true story of a great love lost in youth and rekindled decades later, only to be wrenched away again. It is a beautiful, sometimes painful and always inspiring tribute to everlasting love. It took my breath away and made me look into my own heart.” —Anna Maria Tremonti, broadcast journalist and the creator of the podcast Welcome to Paradise

Author Information

SHELLEY SAYWELL is a Canadian documentary filmmaker and author whose work bears witness to life in some of the world’s most desperate places. Saywell has written, directed and produced more than twenty independent documentary films, telling stories of struggle and conflict, the fight for justice and the power of hope. Her films, including A Child’s Century of War, Kim’s Story, Out of the Fire and Martyr Street have been shown in more than thirty countries and won numerous awards, including an Emmy for Investigative Journalism. Saywell has been personally honoured with the WIFT Creative Excellence Award and a UNESCO Gandhi Medal for the Promotion of Peace. Her memoir, If Only Love, is the story of the great love and events that shaped her life behind the lens.

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