Love at first sight ...
Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson, is a favourite romance novel of mine; a story that literally transcends time and takes you into another realm. It’s the recount of a dying young man, who visits a turn-of-the-century hotel. He happens upon a painting of a woman in the Hotel’s Hall of History, and becomes completely captivated by her beauty (a former star of the stage). The problem is that she is from a time long before his. But with his love so potent and incomparably strong, he wills himself back in time to become part of her world. The two lovers are totally believable, causing the reader, in turn, to fall in love. The ending is somewhat bittersweet (Kleenex!) but so worth the experience.
Is it you?
The movie, Somewhere in time, starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve was based on this novel. To read the book and then see the movie is to experience art in its two finest forms. Although the storylines differ in some parts, the link between literature and screen remains. Dialogue is maintained, almost verbatim, and keeps the plot innocent and true. The connection between Jane and Christopher (Elise McKenna and Richard Collier) is so plain - like lovers destined to love eternally - and it's this that makes the move exceptional.
There's a different level of lovely that 1912 brings to book and screen. Both, without doubt, remain essentially exquisite and both, in this lifetime, should not be missed.
Elize and Richard, somewhere, in time.
