I didn't think this story was going to be my favorite of the week. It felt like a pretty ordinary piece at first. But stories, like people for that matter, can surprise you.
The narrator is a would-be portrait artist who makes his living preparing stretchers for more successful painters. One day riding the PATH trains back to Hoboken he becomes attracted to a young woman. Pretty soon he is obsessed with her, and this is obviously not the first time he has gone down this path. I was pretty sure I knew where this journey was headed.
Well. Can't say much more without giving away the store. Let's just say Santlofer has some surprises in store for his characters, and for us.
A perfect ending is one that leaves the reader saying: "I never saw that coming, but it is the only way the story could have ended." "Lola" has a perfect ending.
