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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This book reminded me of The Swan Thieves and The Girl with the Pearl earring in the way the stories bounced back and forth between the past and the present. This started out pretty darn slow, but by the time the beatniks depart, it's pace is better. As with other books about paintings,I wanted to see and stare at this painting. After the DiVinci code, didn't you go and peruse all of those works? Eleanor stares and stares at the painting and I left the book feeing like a picture is worth more than a thousand words because I still am left wanting. We are reading this for book club and I know it will. Ring in some interesting discussion.
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2018/09/11/day-1261-the-last-painting-of-sara-de-vos/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2018/09/11/day-1261-the-last-painting-of-sara-de-vos/
A wonderful read — engrossing story, interesting characters, and really good writing. I'll try to return and write a proper review, but this is just to say that I recommend it highly!
This is a multi-layered story about a painter in 17th century Holland (Sara de Vos) and about the owner of one of her paintings in 20th century New York. Marty de Groot's family have owned the painting for 300 years, but one day he realises that it has been stolen and replaced with a replica. That forgery was painted by a young Australian art restorer called Ellie Shipley. Forty years later, Ellie will be curating an exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney, and both the original and the forged copy of the painting will be offered to the gallery. Hence the story moves between 17th century Holland, 1950s New York and Sydney in the year 2000.
I felt pretty ambivalent about this book. There were parts of it that flew past, but also parts that dragged. I enjoyed reading it, but it was also one of those books that I never felt the urge to pick up again or thought about when I wasn't reading it. I never felt invested in the characters. They were competently drawn but they failed to interest me. In fact, that's probably an apt way to summarise how I felt about the entire book: competently crafted, well written, but just not sufficiently interesting.
I felt pretty ambivalent about this book. There were parts of it that flew past, but also parts that dragged. I enjoyed reading it, but it was also one of those books that I never felt the urge to pick up again or thought about when I wasn't reading it. I never felt invested in the characters. They were competently drawn but they failed to interest me. In fact, that's probably an apt way to summarise how I felt about the entire book: competently crafted, well written, but just not sufficiently interesting.
Very Louis de Bernieres. Good storyline & I liked the way the three time periods intertwined. A bit predictable though. Oddly enough, the US spelling in my edition did not bother me at all in the New York sections yet had me gritting my teeth when I got to Sydney. But to be honest, by then I was bored and looking for trouble!
My dad absolutely loved this book so I was quite curious to see what the fuss was all about. While I didn't love it as much as he did, I did enjoy it quite a bit. The story alternates between three people: the Sara de Vos, a Dutch artist in 1631, Ellie, a young art student in 1950, and Marty, a NY resident who happens to own the last painting that Sara painted. It was fascinating to see how the stories played out, especially since we get to see Ellie as a young woman and then fifty years later more established in her career.
An art heist played out over 300 years. In 1950s NY, a penthouse lawyer discovers that the treasured painting over his bed is a fake. In 2000 Sydney, the forger, now an art historian, is trying to live down her past. And in 17th century Holland, the Dutch painter, a mother reeling from the loss of her young daughter, reveals the tragedy that inspired the work. The novel hopscotches nicely between timelines but never really links the characters—painter, owner & forger—in a satisfying way. Clever highbrow mystery plot. The writing’s just OK.
I enjoyed this book very much; almost gave it a "5", but 4.5 is closer. Well-written triptych of stories across centuries. Reading about the sexism of the Art Guild was interesting, as well as life in the 1600's. Sara's story fascinated me, but so did the characters in the present time.
I was please to receive and advance reading copy of this book. It is an intriguing tale that I found hard to put down. It is well written with likeable characters. The story switches between three different time periods which you might think would make it confusing but in this book it just builds the suspense. You are reading three connected stories and wanting to know how each one ends. There is the original artist's story, the story of the owner of the art and then the story of the young girl who copies the art. There is an underlying message about mistakes coming back to haunt you, but it is also a story of a love that could have been.