The Way We Were (2010), a Romance Novel by Elizabeth Noble: Summary

This book is a romance novel and it is 447 pages long. It begins in present day (2000’s) and then backtracks to when Susannah was in school (1987). The time jumps worked well and it’s beautifully written.

Told in the third person perspective, the book is about a woman in her forties has two failed-marriages. It depicts how someone is in the shadow of childhood sweetheart. She gives up her second marriage, and she hopes her sweetheart from the past could comfort her. Moreover, it describes how life does not always run well and beautifully. She still keeps the same feeling for Rob, but time has changed him.

The author is British novelist. Although I am disappointed with Rob’s character and the desperate ending, but I can understand the author had tried to make it more realistic and morally. The overall tone of the book is casual and the story is easy to read and understand.

The Way We Were (2010), a Romance Novel by Elizabeth Noble: Summary

Her baby brother Alexander was thirty-three. Not too young to marry, by most people’s standards. Alex married at her mother church like Susannah had married her first husband, Sean, sixteen years ago. Alastair, the eldest and the first of the siblings to marry, had married Khatryn. They had two kids.

She had been thirty-one, divorced from Sean by then, damaged. Susannah Hammond was focusing on her career thing, and office romances were not on her plan. She thought she was ready. She had worked with Douglas before the two of them got together, she had known well. She lived with Douglas. There was ex-wife and three young children. Daisy was eight, Rosie was three, and Finn was just two.

It was Amelia Lloyd. They had been best friends since the Lloyds had come to the village in the third junior school. Amelia lived alone with her parents in the big old rectory. Her dad was a solicitor- a partner in a London law firm. They seemed rich to Susannah. Amelia was an only child, with an en suite bathroom and a pony, and she was only at state school because her parents’ left-wing political convictions. She was spoilt, but Amelia was also sunny and funny and generous, fearless, and fierce.

They imagined that they would do the same things at the same time — college, university, careers, marriage babies, and careers again. In fact they ended up at the different universities. Susannah studied Law at Bristol, and Amelia studied French at Manchester. But they were both put in the effort required to stay good friends. They had still been close enough after they graduated and rented an apartment. Susannah took a job as legal counsel in a firm architect then she met Douglas and Amelia got job at a translation agency.

Back to 1987, Rob Rossi had move with his parents into the village during the summer. Susannah and Rob met at English class. Her parents thought she was too obsessed with Rob. There was something really old-fashioned about Rob, and it was part of what she loved about him. They never had sex even though there were many occasions. When Rob was shipping out to the Gulf War in 1990, Susannah was at college. For Susannah Gulf War was terrifying. Rob could be killed. Susannah met a guy from college, Matt. In her last letter, Susannah told everything about Matt.

Susannah met Sean and believed herself to be absolutely in love with him. And eight months after they’d first met, they married in Susannah’s mother’s beloved church. Her best Amelia met Jonathan. Amelia had three children. Susannah had been shocked when Amelia asked Jonathan to move out. Susannah downs were coming. Sean left her four months after Susannah miscarried her first pregnancy, and months of the third wedding anniversary divorced at the third year. Her father was so sad and the only other time she had ever seen him cry was when her baby brother Alex wrong was born.

Rob had been thirty seven years old when he met Helena. They met in Germany. She wasn’t in uniform, the first time he saw her. Raised by a strong, capable single mother in a small flat, Helena joined military because it was a way out. Helena’s father had stayed until she was four. Rob hadn’t already decided to marry her when he saw Susannah at Alex’s wedding. Since his father had been diagnosed with motor neuron disease, life had been scary. Helena represented stability and continuity to him, those two things suddenly became what matter most.

At Susannah fortieth birthday Rob texted her and they met. She was living with Douglas. He was married to Helena. She had been afraid to see him, after the kiss on her birthday. She left Douglas and his kids after ten years had lived with them. She loved the kids but she knew they weren’t hers. Rob and Susannah back to the days the way they were. They were both crazy in love and enjoyed several days in France.

Helena was in a helicopter and it was hit by rocket. The explosion had killed three of the people with her. Helena was pretty bad hit and lost her leg. Rob’s mother asked Susannah to leave her son alone. She knew Rob well. If he left Helena for her, he would never forgive himself. Helena knew Rob loved Susannah most, but she didn’t want to win on the pity tiebreaker. Rob wanted to make a clean break, a new start. Susannah was only the past and Helena was the future to him. He remembered how much Susannah’s confession about Matt had hurt him, all those years ago, and he winced physically at thought of doing the same thing to Helena.

She picked up a pregnancy test, and a baby would be born in the winter. She couldn’t tell Rob and had no rights. She knew that, even before Lois’s visit. Before her mother, Amelia, and everyone else told her, she knew it already. She got older, and it was so much harder than the miscarriage she’d had when she was married to Sean. Susannah knew her happy ending wasn’t going to happen. She understood. No husband, no wife, no baby, she was back to her starter flat. She cried for herself, for Rob and Helena, for Douglas, for the kids that weren’t hers.

Sekapur Sirih

Disampaikan dalam torehan indah dan bahasa masa kini, sederhana dan mudah dimengerti. Diterbitkan pertama kali di Inggris oleh Michael Joseph tahun 2010 dan buku yang saya pegang ini terbitan Penguin Books London tahun 2011. Novel romansa dan drama ini telah saya baca pada tahun 2014 lalu dan membacanya kembali di sela-sela waktu luang.

Alurnya masa kini (2000’ an) dan kembali ke masa sekolah ( 1987) tokoh utama yang dirangkai dengan menarik berlatar kehidupan di London dan desa kecil di Inggris. Mungkin tema keluarga, persahabatan, kegelisahan dan konflik pada usia empat puluhan dalam menghadapi kejenuhan pekerjaan dan kegagalan pernikahan, tetapi novel ini dengan warna berbeda. Bertemu kembali dengan kekasih masa lalu yang menggoyahkan pernikahan tokoh Susannah.

Penulis adalah novelis kelahiran Inggris. Walau saya kecewa dengan akhir yang menyedihkan dan tokoh Rob yang plin-plan, namun bisa dimengerti mungkin Penulis Noble bermaksud agar novel ini lebih nyata dan tanggung-jawab moral seseorang, dua unsur yang dekat dengan kehidupan. Di samping itu bisa ditarik kesimpulan, orang yang kita kasihi dari masa lalu tidaklah selalu tetap menjadi orang yang sama.

Perasaan tokoh utama masih seperti dahulu, namun apa yang terjadi, kekasih SMA dulu tidak sama lagi. Waktu, interaksi sosial, lingkungan, pekerjaan, sakit hati dari masa lalu mengubah dia. Gelora melepas kangen dan asmara masa lalu mengikat mereka kembali, merengkuh kebahagiaan yang tertunda di masa lalu, tetapi ketika dihadapkan pada pilihan, tokoh utama harus menerima pil pahit.

Terjemahan (Ringkasan) dalam Bahasa Indonesia: The Way We Were, karya Elizabeth Noble

Susannah dalam usia ketigapuluhannya, melepas bahagia pernikahan adik bungsunya, tetapi pesta pernikahan itu telah merubah kehidupannya semenjak itu. Salah satu dari hadirin telah membuatnya kikuk. Wanita yang telah pernah gagal menikah. Ia bertemu dengan Rob, lelaki yang pernah mengisi hatinya di masa sekolah.

Berasal dari keluarga menengah di desa kecil di Inggris, Susannah memiliki seorang kakak lelaki, Alastair, dan seorang adik lelaki, Alex. Alastair tidak sekedar kakak baginya tetapi sahabat juga. Kini Alaistar memiliki keluarga. Masa sekolahnya diisi dengan persahabatan dengan Amelia, anak orang kaya yang satu sekolah dan satu lingkungan dengan rumah orang tuanya.

Kenangan indah di bangku SMA dengan Rob, masih selalu membayangi kehidupannya. Masa yang terlalu dini untuk mereka menikah. Perang Teluk pun pecah pada tahun delapan puluhan, Rob dikapalkan ke Timur Tengah. Awalnya surat-menyurat lancar, masa pergaulan kuliah membuat Susannah tergoda, sementara Rob tidak banyak pilihan di medan perang. Berganti kekasih dan bertemu Sean, itulah petualangan cinta Susannah Hammond.

Pernikahan Susannah dengan Sean hanya bertahan tiga tahun, di ujung pernikahan Susannah mengalami keguguran. Waktu berlalu, ia bertemu Douglas, duda dengan tiga anak-anak belia, dan tinggal bersama mereka. Kesepakatan Doug di awal, lelaki itu tidak mau menambah anak lagi. Sepuluh tahun menjalani hidup dengan merawat anak-anak orang lain, dan selalu dibayangi dengan konflik istri Doug sangat melelahkan bagi Susannah. Tidak mudah menjadi ibu bagi putri tirinya yang masih remaja, Daisy (8 tahun), Rosie (3 tahun), dan Fin (2 tahun). Kehampaan semakin dirasakannya  dengan sifat acuh Douglas padanya.

Susannah menjenguk ayah Rob yang tengah sakit keras. Lois, ibunya Rob, meyakinkan Susannah, bahwa Rob belum menikah. Perasaan cinta putranya hanya untuk Susannah. Rob pun kecewa mengetahui Susannah sedang menjalani pernikahan. Hanya berselang beberapa bulan dari pertemuan mereka, Rob menikah gadis yang jauh lebih muda darinya. Gadis militer dan dibesarkan oleh ibunya tanpa pernah mengenal ayahnya. Helena sangat mencintai pekerjaannya dan sering dikirim ke berbagai negara dalam urusan pekerjaannya.

Walau sudah menikah, perasaan Rob masih membuncah pada Susannah. Dalam ulang tahun yang ke empat puluh, Susannah kembali menikmati kebersamaan dengan Rob. Keduanya kasmaran, tetapi Rob menyimpan rasa bersalah pada istrinya, Helena. Keduanya pun sepakat ingin bersama dan meninggalkan pasangan masing-masing. Susannah akhirnya meninggalkan Douglas dan anak-anak tirinya Baik Susannah maupun anak-anak itu sangat sedih, anak-anak yang bukan miliknya. Berat bagi Doug dan anak-anaknya melepas Susannah. Beruntung Susannah masih memiliki apartemen kecil sebelum menikah. Kebahagiaan demi kebahagiaan sempat mereka rasakan sebelum berita kecelakaan membuat Rob berada pada situasi sulit.

Helena dan krunya mengalami kecelakaan helikopter saat bertugas, dua di antara penumpang meninggal. Penyintas satu-satunya adalah Helena. Kecelakaan parah telah merusak wajah dan kehilangan kakinya. Ia menjalani operasi plastik dan menggunakan kaki sintetis. Susannah mengerti posisi Rob yang tidak mungkin menjatuhkan perceraian manakala Helena terluka serius. Helena juga telah mengetahui hubungan Rob dan Susannah, wanita tegar itu tidak mau dikasihani. Tetapi Rob meyakinkannya bahwa ia memilih Helena karena ingin memulai sesuatu yang baru. Selain merasa bersalah jika ia meninggalkan Helena, ditambah lagi rasa sakit hati yang belum reda akan surat penghianatan Susannah di masa lalu.

Putusan Rob sangat pahit baginya, apalagi Susannah tengah hamil. Awalnya ia sempat inginkan kehamilan itu, namun ia sadar ia tak layak memiliki bayi Rob. Kehamilan itu tidak pernah diberitahukan pada siapapun. Usianya yang sudah tua mengakibatkan pengguguran bayinya terasa lebih sakit dari keguguran yang pernah ia alami dahulu. Ia tidak mempertahankannya, ia berusaha mengerti Rob. Susannah kembali kepada kehidupan lamanya, tanpa bayi, tanpa suami, kembali pada apartemen ketika ia masih muda. 

Sahabatnya Amelia, seorang penyintas kanker, mengumumkan ia telah terbebas dari kanker, mungkin ia akan merindukan jadwal kemoterapi. Mulanya Amelia menyalahkan tindakan Susannah kembali pada Rob yang membuat mereka sempat bermusuhan. Akhirnya Amelia menyadari keadaan Susannah dan mendukung sahabatnya itu. Tidak mudah bagi orang tua konservatif, dan aktif dalam lingkungan gereja menerima kegagalan pernikahan putri mereka. Ayah Susannah dengan bijak mendukung kehidupan putrinya tanpa pernah menghakimi putri satu-satunya itu.