In the fashion of Roland Barthes's A lover's discourse and Alain de Botton's Essay in Love, this work is a demystification of the processes of a love affair. Concentrating on the heady, intense and often anguished state that is the beginning of a love affair, Sheila Sullivan analyzes the psychological processes that allow normally rational people to lose their reason. With a range of literary references she shows how different ages have responded to this curious state and discovers that for at least 2000 years the characteristics of falling in love have barely changed.