The Game of Love and Death

The Game of Love and Death (2015), a young adult contemporary novel with elements of magical realism by Martha Brockenbrough, follows a game between the personified figures of Love and Death, and what happens when Love tips the balance in his favor. The book won the 2016 Washington State Book Award for Young Adult Literature and was a finalist for the 2015 Kirkus Prize. Brockenbrough primarily writes books for children and teenagers. Keen on promoting literacy, she founded National Grammar Day and an organization known as the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar.

The Game of Love and Death is set in Seattle during the Great Depression. It begins as two gods, Love and Death, meeting on a gondola in Venice. They enjoy playing games of chance with human lives, which they have played for eons. The Love resents Death because Death always wins the game. No matter how hard Love tries, Death finds a way to cause heartbreak and tragedy.

Love decides to play a new game. He thinks that he finally knows how to beat Death. Death agrees to play the game because she knows that Love can’t win. They both choose their humans as the book gets underway. The chosen humans are Henry Bishop and Flora Saudade.



Henry is an all-American white boy with a bright future ahead of him. His adoptive parents have ensured that he has a scholarship to a great college despite the Depression. Flora, on the other hand, knows all about hardship. An African American girl who grows up on the other side of the tracks, she hopes to one day become a great jazz singer, because her voice is her only hope of breaking free from poverty. Flora sings in jazz clubs every night, hoping that someone will scout her, giving her the opportunity she is praying for.

Love chooses Henry, and Death chooses Flora. If Henry falls in love with Flora, Love wins. If the couple never falls in love, Death wins and Flora will die. Unbeknownst to Flora and Henry, they only have until their seventeenth birthday to meet and fall in love. The gods sit back and watch the game unfold on Earth.

Henry’s parents died when he was a child, and so he now lives with a newspaper mogul and his son, Ethan. Ethan loves Henry like a brother, but he takes advantage of his intellect, expecting Henry to do his homework. Henry is falling behind in his own studies because he’s so busy helping Ethan. His only outlet is playing the stand-up bass. Although he mostly plays classical style, he loves jazz, and he decides to give jazz playing a go.



Meanwhile, the gods disguise themselves as humans to interfere with the game. Death isn’t happy because it looks as if Flora and Henry will meet and fall in love. She disguises herself as a beautiful woman called Helen and goes after Henry’s affections. Henry can’t help but find Helen attractive; Helen is sure that she will win the game now.

Love incarnates as a boy called James Booth. He knows that Ethan is gay and secretly loves Henry. He can’t risk Ethan telling Henry how he feels, because Henry might end up loving him back. Love, masquerading as James, makes a play for Ethan, distracting him from Henry. Flora and Henry have no idea what is happening behind the scenes and how close they are to settling a bet between the gods.

When Henry first meets Flora, he finds her beautiful and charming. He sees how wonderful she is, and she is the only person who seems to understand him. However, as a mixed-race couple, they can’t go anywhere together, and they must keep their friendship a secret. Flora feels she is holding Henry back. Henry knows that falling in love with Flora is a dangerous game, and he is unsure that he wants to play.



Things get worse when liquor inspection officials set their sights on Flora’s club, only targeting the club because it’s run by African Americans. They threaten to shut the club down and Flora doesn’t know what to do. Feeling powerless, Henry wonders if he can use his adoptive father’s connections to help. Despite the odds stacked against them, Henry and Flora become closer than ever.

By the end of the novel, Henry and Flora fall in love, despite Death’s best efforts to thwart the process. The gods learn that they can’t control humanity and that, while everyone dies, Love deserves to win sometimes. It is unclear what the future holds for Henry and Flora, but the gods concede that the game is done—at least for now.