thrown out onto the street where they continue to fight and the father-in-law is hit by a taxi. The London bobbies call it “assault by mutual affray.”
As our story opens (certainly not at the beginning) we see that David is functioning as William’s nurse on the estate they rent as well as taking care of a flock of swans there. David seems concerned about his “pop’s” slow recovery as William is unable to speak yet and has extensive chest injuries. Still, he can write messages. He writes messages to David such as “Out to the mailbox and back is seldom a problem now. Not
too long I’ll be able to knock your lights out. Looking forward to the day.” This is our first clue to the rather tortured relationship between the two men. How did it happen? Son-in-law against father-in-law, but so far in the novel we have not yet met Field’s daughter and so in the first of the flashback chapters we are taken back to when David Kozel and Maggie Field meet. In many ways I found this chapter to be the most realistic, yet romantic descriptions of love at first sight that I hav
e read.
e read.She is 30, he is 33. Both are in London on an April day in the mid-eighties. David is in London hoping that his photos will interest a gallery but, so far, no luck. Maggie is accompanying a classical music Ensemble on tour as their PR person. David sees Maggie in the lobby of their hotel, seated in a chair and immediately is smitten with her. He goes up to her but all he can manage to say is a bried and self-conscious “hello.” To which she responds, “Actually, I can stand flirtation only in small doses, so that sufficed.”
He does manage then to state his name and as her cab pulls up, Maggie tells him, “If I want to introduce myself, I’ll be back in about an hour. I’m not staying at this hotel.” She returns in a little over an hour and though what she terms “an amorous window” she sees David seated in the chair she had been in, patiently waiting for her. They begin a spontaneous affair and both fall deeply in love.
The book is aptly titled and explores the many intricate folds of what devotion truly means. On the one hand we have the devotion that Maggie and David feel to each other driven by mutual, searching love. We have the devotion that exists between David and William -- enough that David nurses William even though he receives threats and enough that William gives David a 
job although David caused his a
ccident -- driven by a mutual devotion to Maggie. And like recurring motif throughout the story we have the flock of swans that David and William must remain devoted to as a part of their caretaking duties, a dumb devotion demanded by one party and, of course, unreciprocated.
job although David caused his accident -- driven by a mutual devotion to Maggie. And like recurring motif throughout the story we have the flock of swans that David and William must remain devoted to as a part of their caretaking duties, a dumb devotion demanded by one party and, of course, unreciprocated.The book is an ongoing puzzle as to how the characters arrived at the first few pages of the novel and all I can say is that if you follow the twists and turns the last pages will be not just a revelation but a fulfillment. Questions that are asked throughout the book about devotion, about love are simplistic in paraphrase but given the internal dialogue that author Norman imparts to his characters the simple becomes profound and the characters unforgettable.
DEVOTION by Howard Norman is published by Houghton Mifflin. $24.00 Hardcover.
