All He Ever Wanted

By Anita Shreve

Nicholas Van Tassel met the woman of his dreams during a hotel fire in the winter of 1899. For Nicolas, it was love at first sight, and from that moment on, Etna Bliss was all he ever wanted. In fact, he is so overwhelmed by the sight of her that he rebuilds his life around a single goal: to marry Etna Bliss. From that moment, he pursued Etna Bliss with the solitary goal of marriage on his mind. Their courtship proves difficult, as Etna does not return his love. A proud and orderly man, Van Tassel is ill equipped to deal with the ferocity of love.

The book is written as a journal of Nicholas’s life, narrated through an essay he writes thirty years later, and is spanning three decades from 1899 to 1933.

Etna proves to be a formidable mystery, but Van Tassel, who is obsessed, perseveres. They ultimately wed and have children, but Etna remains distant and impenetrable. Van Tassel suspects that she has known love before him, though he dare not ask. Instead, he lets his jealousy fester.

Driven by domestic and professional ambitions, Nicholas takes a series of small steps that eventually lead to some giant moral lapses, and finally a monstrous plot of deception to win back his wife and ascend to the dean's office.