She was certainly too young - only twenty - to have had many affairs (they could be counted on one hand, she admitted), but she'd already learned that no one she'd been with had loved as fiercely or devotedly as she had. He was certainly too old - over fifty - to romanticize a relationship, but he found himself utterly infatuated.

Theirs was a match made in the turbulent mid-60s of New York City. Sandra, a half-Asian college student working part time as a waitress in New York, meets a unique and fascinating man, Peter, a European doctor-turned-businessman, who insists his only interest is in la dolce vita.

This is how their affair starts in INEVITABLE, a contemporary literary love story. Their first encounter emphasizes their differences: she is forward, direct, and blunt; he is subtle, cunning, and devious.

He is "old school," believing that touching a woman is complimentary rather than inappropriate, and this is their first conflict: what is the nature of the sexual relationship between a man and a woman? He pursues; she evades. But, their "game" turns serious when they discover in one another - after both assert a lack of interest through a series of frustrating but clever circumventions - a satisfying sexual and intellectual kinship.

Sandra has found a lover who seems to care as much for her as she for him. Peter, surprised and delighted, finds himself madly in love, although he warns her that their relationship cannot last.

Their story is told in alternating points of view. What they mean to one another, and how they navigate their relationship in a society that is bubbling over with civil rights protests, anti-Vietnam War rallies, and an emerging Women's Lib movement, is put to the test in encounters with Peter's ex-wife, their separate and shared problems with his daughter and with her parents, their frequent disagreements over which of them holds sway over the relationship and even over the turbulent politics of the time.

She withholds a secret from him that she believes would destroy their relationship. Yet, she also wants to be independent of him, to determine her own future.

The conflict resolves itself, but is the turning point of their relationship: she proves herself capable of "living without him," although he, concerned for her wellbeing, continues to try to assert control over her. Their lives change, as is natural.

She graduates and finds a career in teaching. His business takes an upward turn that guarantees his financial independence which Peter sees as the opportunity for their secured future: they can live out their lives together in Mallorca, apart from a disapproving society.

But, Sandra is at the start of her promising career; Peter is at the end of his. She has asserted her independence.

He is glad to have had her love and "releases" her from his control. Perhaps they will never see each other again, but they will never forget one another either.

. .