Love on Dove Street

A story of war, passion, deception and a dog bone

Review by Sam Oglesby

Imagine a gaggle of attractive, horny, 30-somethings juiced by adrenaline and high libidos, living in a storybook neighborhood in Istanbul, Turkey called Dove Street. Glued to their cell phones, they dart to dangerous spots in the Ukraine to cover blood-curdling events before going back to cuddle and commiserate with each other over loves lost and hoped for, usually on sun-kissed beaches in romantic locations. And heading this ship of lovely fools is an over-sized, mud-soaked, butt-sniffing canine named Çiçek. As Çiçek tells her readers, "A good butt-sniff is like a handshake ! Dogs smell things a hundred-thousand times better than humans do! Imagine if humans had such ability, maybe they wouldn't hook up so often with the wrong people! " Juxtapose these canine musings against the dark clouds of an evil Putin's Ukraine maneuvering  and you have the makings of a novel that is impossible to put down.

Written in an articulate, elegant style that belies Çiçek's butt probes and nasal crotch stabs,  writer Cherie Hart's LOVE ON DOVE STREET is a knowing portrait of what makes Millennials tick.  The novel's format, an eye-catching, attention-grabbing style similar to a play's dialogue unfolding, features a cast of characters including: Çiçek who later rises to fame as Peace Dog; honey-scented Hannah (Happy Girl),Ted (Tall Guy) and Sophie (Tall Girl).

Between romantic YouTube lullabies and photos of dead Russian soldiers, the juxtaposition of dreamy WhatApp messages and horrific tweets from the war zone, bring a strange Schizophrenia to the page. An old Ukrainian woman hands sunflower seeds to a Russian combatant, saying "Take these seeds and plant them in your pockets so at least the sunflowers will grow when you all lie down and die here!" This chilling description is followed by a tweet between Happy Girl and her lover, who asks, "Did you get the flowers I sent you?" "Yes" Happy Girl replies,"they're beautiful. How did you know I love sunflowers?"

Lust for entertainment bordering on thrill-seeking often describes the characters' actions that causes them to sacrifice their personal lives and relationships for excitement. Perhaps the novel's overall thrust is summed up in the interjection, "I've got to take this call"; even when one is engaged in what could be a life-changing situation. On reflection, one is tempted to join the bandwagon of critics who say today's youth are plagued with short attention spans. Or even a high-tech form of insanity. Thankfully, Çiçek holds the story together as she engages in  her "zoomies", frantic darting about that serves to round up the Millennials like so many disoriented cattle.

Love on Dove Street: A story of war, passion, deception and a dog bone published by Jalan Press, 280 pages, is available in paperback and e-book on Amazon. 

Sam Oglesby is a writer and journalist who has published four books and contributed to various newspapers including the New York Times and the Washington Post.