Book Review: Forever, Now

Reviewed by Joelene Pynnonen

An emotionally charged novel that explores the isolation, helplessness, and desperation that can happen inside a marriage

Iranian-born Darya is a student in a graduate program in the U.S.A. when she meets David. He’s gorgeous, charming, and, best of all, as interested in her as she is in him. After a giddy night spent in his company, she’s smitten and so, it seems, is he. Not having any family in the U.S., Darya is drawn not only to David but to the family life he promises.

As their lives become intertwined, Darya starts to see a side to David that she hadn’t expected. One that is cold, selfish, and cruel. The more time she spends with him, the more she realizes how incompatible they are. As the man who has become her husband begins to show his true colors, Darya struggles to navigate the new reality she finds herself in. 

The writing in Forever, Now is lushly descriptive. As David and Darya travel to places like Italy, Greece, and Hawaii, the settings come to life. The emotional turmoil Darya experiences as she navigates her often frosty relationship with David is also vividly rendered. The feelings of confusion, frustration, and anger radiate from these pages. So too does the helplessness Darya feels when faced with the situation she finds herself in.

Letters from David are sprinkled through the chapters, feeling particularly authentic. There isn’t much focus on the lives of either David or Darya outside of their relationship so it feels laser-pointed at one target to the exclusion of everything else. It makes the book a concise and emotive read, but, because we aren’t shown what kind of lives the characters have, it also makes their motivations a bit murky. For example, her financial situation is never touched on, while he seems to be quite wealthy, so money could play a part, but it remains unclear and unsaid why Darya stays so long.

We see in full technicolor detail how awfully David treats Darya. Their absolute incompatibility is highlighted in bold across the page. What never comes across is the initial feelings or the small moments that must have been there that made her stay. It’s as though every sweet, charming aspect of David has been scrubbed from the page and all that is left is the cruelty and neglect. It’s difficult to see how anyone would stay with someone so irredeemable. More than that, it’s difficult to have empathy for Darya as she consistently makes some pretty terrible decisions without explanations of why.

Forever, Now is a painfully accurate portrayal of the decline and dissolution of a marriage that was doomed from the beginning. Its succinct nature delivers an emotional punch, and the writing style is vivid and lovely.

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