Unfortunately, I found the main character of the book, Rann, to be totally unrelatable. His character was flat, and the things he went through in his life also seemed flat and boring.
Rann was a boy genius finishing high school by the time he was 14. According to his mother, he was a perfect kid in every way and he could do no wrong.
By the time he was 16, he was in England shacked up with someone twice his age and doing nothing with his life.
Several years later in Paris he again lives with another woman and her father (though there is no sexual relationship between him and this woman) and having no work, lives off of them just like he lived off of the woman in England. He never really falls in love with Stephanie, but he becomes very close to her.
He soon leaves to continue on his adventures and on his return flight from Paris he meets up with a middle aged woman who is important in New York Society. Once they get to New York, she invites him out and they begin a friendship.
Stephanie and her father end up coming to New York to set up shop there and Rann and Stephanie begin to fall in love.
I guess I was disappointed with this book because of the flat characters as well as the fact that Rann seemed to not do anything for a living - but preferred to live off of other people. This just isn't reality. Maybe it was 40 years ago when this book was written - but even then I think it was highly unlikely. If you are a Pearl S. Buck fan, you might want to read it - but otherwise I'd skip it.
Rating: 6 / 10
ISBN: 9781480439702
Publisher: Random House
Edition: 1st Edition