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3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Rating: 4/5
Pages: 561
Started: 21 May 2023
Finished: 27 May 2023
Summary:
Robert Oliver, famed and eccentric painter, is psychologist Andrew Marlow's newest patient. Arrested after attempting to attack a museum painting with a knife, Oliver is delivered to Marlow's care, but refuses to speak any more than to give Marlow permission to interview those from Robert's past. Frustrated by Robert's silence and captivated by his repeated painting of a mysterious woman, Marlow embarks on a journey to discover who the painted woman is, and how she fits into Robert's mental illness.
Told in chapters alternating perspectives of different characters--Marlow, and various people associated with Robert via interviews--with letters interspersed, Kostova weaves a rich and intriguing tapestry of stories and art, love and loss, madness, beauty, and justice.
Thoughts:
This was a beautiful book. I always love a good art mystery, and Kostova did not disappoint in either the art or the mystery. The whole book really did feel like a masterful tapestry, with the reader given the task of untangling each story to find a whole truth.
The protagonist was not particularly likable. He was a middle aged man, and not a very moral one at that. He did not have an excessive amount of personality beyond being a psychologist, and his choice to pursue Robert Oliver's case with such obsession and tenacity made me a little uncomfortable; the man crossed a lot of lines. But all the other characters made up for him. Oliver himself was fascinating, a difficult character but a very specific one that made him easy to get to know. I also quite liked his wife, and his girlfriend. But it was the painted woman, and her letters to her lover, that were my favorite part of the book. They felt loving and delicate and decadent. Their being figures in history, their stories already played out, took away apprehension about their possibly being caught, and the beauty of characters falling in love with each other and with art was such a joy to read.
Just like The Historian, this book has a perfect blend of history and lyrical writing; the descriptions of art were done with such care and appreciation that, while reading the book, I found myself noticing beauty in other places more and more. However, also like The Historian, the ending of this book felt a bit rushed. The mystery was answered, but there was only understanding and death, no real justice or retribution. It made the book feel more historical, but less satisfying. Regardless, Kostova is a very talented author and I will be keeping an eye out for her next book.