For Love Alone By Anita Stansfield Covenant Communications, 1999. Paperback: 237 pages. ISBN: 1-57734-427-8 Suggested retail price: $13.95 (US)
Reviewed by: Katie Parker

(Spoiler alert: If you're planning to read this book, you may not want to read this review. Just rest assured that I enjoyed it. I can't discuss the book without revealing parts of the plot, and if you're acquainted with Anita Stansfield's writing at all, you already know how the story ends anyway.)

As anyone who has read a few of Stansfield's books can tell you, most of them are about the same. The situations are all different, and thus the stories are all different, but they all follow the same formula: a regular LDS woman experiences heartwrenching trials, and overcomes them through prayer, promptings of the Spirit, help from loved ones, and the love and support of a wonderful man. The trials vary; For Love Alone addresses issues such as suicide, addiction to pornography, honesty in a marriage, miscarriage, and interracial relationships. And once again, Stansfield weaves them skillfully into a (more-or-less) believable story, and a very involving one at that.

In For Love Alone, the heroine, Mallory Taylor, believes that her marriage with Brad is a happy one, until Brad shoots himself one night. She then experiences the grief that comes with her loss, and tortures herself with wondering why he would have done this and what she could have done to prevent it. Through some clues that she eventually finds, and a talk with their bishop, Mallory and her family learn that Brad had been struggling with an addiction to pornography for many years. This presents another challenge for Mallory; Brad had successfully hidden this from her, and the idea that this had always gone on devastates her.

Mallory experiences a few other road blocks, but she finally falls in love with and marries Thomas, a handsome, caring black man. Mallory and Thomas themselves do not feel the difference in their races is a problem, but coping with the reactions of others is sometimes difficult.

Another problem comes in dealing with the fact that Mallory is sealed to Brad, so exactly where she and Thomas and their children will stand in the next life is uncertain. This is neatly remedied by a talk with Emily and Michael Hamilton, who are the protagonists of Stansfield's "First Love" trilogy, and who faced the same problem. At the end of the book, life for Mallory and Thomas looks promising, and they live happily ever after.

Yes, this and Stansfield's other books are romances with guaranteed happy endings, and thus they are not necessarily accurate windows on reality. But they're fun, they're emotionally involving, they explore a number of real issues, and they look at these issues in a way that for me usually sheds new light on the subject. I also appreciate the way that the characters solve their problems through prayer, blessings, temple attendance, and so forth. They truly seek to do God's will, and they learn that there is always a way to accomplish those things that He asks.

Brad's suicide is handled fairly realistically and sensitively. His addiction to pornography, however, is shown to be an ugly habit beyond comprehension. This, of course, is what it is to the active LDS characters who have never dealt with such a problem, and the answers that Brad has left behind are few enough that they will never be able to fully know his story in this life. Still, I would have liked a greater understanding of how Brad might have become involved in such a thing, how he tried to deal with it, how he felt about it, and so forth. I would like to see this story told again, starting with the same situation but continuing with Mallory and Brad working through the problem together instead of with Brad taking his life. I think there is a great deal about love, patience, forgiveness, and honesty that could be explored in this context. Mallory could again experience shock and revulsion as she learns of his habits, and anger when she realizes that he won't necessarily give them up. Gradually she can develop greater patience and love as she comes to understand the way he feels about it and how difficult it is for him, and then as they learn to work together to overcome his problems.

What surprised me about For Love Alone was the author's note at the end. There's a one-page note at the end, written by Stansfield, announcing that her next books will be historical romances, and they won't be LDS. She doesn't say whether Covenant will still publish them, but she does say that "my hope is that these books will branch out to a broader audience, giving the world an opportunity to read good stories with characters who believe in God, and actually suffer the consequences when they sin." Anyone familiar with her "First Love" trilogy will remember that Michael often mentioned his ancestors in Australia, and various trials they went through. It turns out that they are actually characters in books, heretofore unpublished, that Stansfield had written before she wrote her LDS romances. These books are what she will publish next. I think she has mastered the art of the LDS romance, and I'm sorry to see that she won't be writing many of those for awhile, but with eleven of these in print I can't say I blame her for wanting to do other things. She's a talented writer and I'm sure she can do well elsewhere. I wish her the best.

Katie Parker