This sensuous story about the one that got away deals with first love, regret, and introspection. Gates’s (Walking to Israel) novel is set during the waning days of America’s counterculture era, evoking the social and political upheaval of the Vietnam War, campus antiwar activism, and the Iran-Iraq War. On a Midwestern college campus in 1972, linguistics student Clare Meredith and diplomat-in-training Lowell Goodenow have a passionate two-month affair that ends abruptly. Clare, a freshman, and Lowell, a grad student, are from different worlds, though both are highly intelligent and ambitious. Lowell leaves for a State Department posting in the Middle East, where he dabbles in espionage with disastrous results. Clare studies abroad in Mexico, becoming involved with a revolutionary artist who suddenly disappears. Years pass and they settle into careers: Lowell is a business attaché in Kuwait, and Clare is a Chicago telecommunications executive; 11 years after their affair, work reunites them in Kuwait. Clare and Lowell reconnect romantically, but suspicion, sabotage, and a bombing complicate their reunion—though the end reflects wisdom gained from over a decade of soul-searching. While the colorful ’70s and ’80s provide a vibrant backdrop, the heart of this nostalgic romance is the enduring intensity of a first love. (BookLife)