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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This book grabs the reader and does not release. Page after page you will find yourself drawn to the life of Sara de Vos, the owner of her last painting, and the grad student obsessed with her life.
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I confess I found the cover so unappealing that I was prepared to hate the book. I did not hate the book; I loved the book.
The writing is beautiful and descriptive in a way that lets you feel the biting cold of skating in a Dutch winter or the heat and humidity in a cheap Brooklyn apartment. Perhaps because the book is about painters and paintings, the author has worked especially hard on giving his words a painterly character. I felt a part of the story, whether in the Netherlands in the 1600s, in New York in the 1950s, or in Sydney, Australia, at the turn of the millennium.
I loved the characters, both those who gradually proved themselves unattractive or those who initially appeared unpleasant but who grew on me. I loved learning about the art worlds 350 years apart, the details of painting, the smells of paints and the work of how those paints were made. I especially loved the dual stories, the way the characters were fleshed out.
A beautiful work of historical fiction that includes some recent history as well.
The writing is beautiful and descriptive in a way that lets you feel the biting cold of skating in a Dutch winter or the heat and humidity in a cheap Brooklyn apartment. Perhaps because the book is about painters and paintings, the author has worked especially hard on giving his words a painterly character. I felt a part of the story, whether in the Netherlands in the 1600s, in New York in the 1950s, or in Sydney, Australia, at the turn of the millennium.
I loved the characters, both those who gradually proved themselves unattractive or those who initially appeared unpleasant but who grew on me. I loved learning about the art worlds 350 years apart, the details of painting, the smells of paints and the work of how those paints were made. I especially loved the dual stories, the way the characters were fleshed out.
A beautiful work of historical fiction that includes some recent history as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Infertility, Sexism, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
You know when you’re sitting by the window and it’s raining outside and you’re cozily wrapped in a blanket with nothing pressing to do? That’s the feeling of this book, at least to me. Beautiful descriptions and thoughtful detail, and a truly unique story. What a treat.
This is a marvelous book, a wonderful read. Novels about great painters have been attracting readers since, oh, let's say "Girl with a Pearl Earring." Some of these novels work better than others but "The Last Painting of Sara de Vos" works in all ways and is a pleasure from start to finish.
Sara de Vos is not a famous painter, but she was the first woman to be admitted to the painters guild. Women during the Dutch Golden Age painted still life but Sara also painted scenes with haunting characters, such as "At the Edge of the Wood," the painting this novel is all about. Sara and her husband are both painters, and when the novel opens they have fallen afoul of the Guild's many rules and are struggling to right their careers and livelihoods.
The second branch of the story is set in the 1950s when a young art restorer is hired to forge a copy of the painting, which hangs in the Manhattan home of a Dutch American banker whose family has owned the painting for 400 years.
And then, it's 2000 and both the original and the forgery will come together at an exhibition in Sydney with Ellie, the forger, now a respected art history professor, speaking about Sara's work.
Come on, who could resist ANY of this? Each thread of the story is completely developed and the characters are rich and believable. You learn a lot about the Dutch Golden Age of painting, Rembrandt, Franz Hals, their use of light, the love of Dutch people of all classes for painting. This novel is a treat and a pleasure.
Sara de Vos is not a famous painter, but she was the first woman to be admitted to the painters guild. Women during the Dutch Golden Age painted still life but Sara also painted scenes with haunting characters, such as "At the Edge of the Wood," the painting this novel is all about. Sara and her husband are both painters, and when the novel opens they have fallen afoul of the Guild's many rules and are struggling to right their careers and livelihoods.
The second branch of the story is set in the 1950s when a young art restorer is hired to forge a copy of the painting, which hangs in the Manhattan home of a Dutch American banker whose family has owned the painting for 400 years.
And then, it's 2000 and both the original and the forgery will come together at an exhibition in Sydney with Ellie, the forger, now a respected art history professor, speaking about Sara's work.
Come on, who could resist ANY of this? Each thread of the story is completely developed and the characters are rich and believable. You learn a lot about the Dutch Golden Age of painting, Rembrandt, Franz Hals, their use of light, the love of Dutch people of all classes for painting. This novel is a treat and a pleasure.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Grief comes at us all at some point. It's an unbalanced emotion though. It's more like a force than an emotion in a way. It's a boulder on your chest, making breath difficult.
It makes me think, the imbalance of grief. Each emotion has a nearly equal opposite. Love could be it's counterweight. But love has hate,and all the other baggage it carries. There's Elation. But that's so fleeting that it can hardly compare to Grief. Euphoria? Not equal unless sustained unnaturally through chemicals.
Why is Grief such a destabilizer? I don't have the answer, but I know the answer is found, at least partially, in artwork. Art had an abundance of grief... and desire, but the two are on the same spectrum. To desire something is a grievance that you cannot or do not contain that something.
So, a transcendent and creative art piece communicates so much grief that it takes it away from the artist. At least, in part.
This book? It was great. It raised a lot of questions, and I enjoyed the fiction this author built around the artworks.
It makes me think, the imbalance of grief. Each emotion has a nearly equal opposite. Love could be it's counterweight. But love has hate,and all the other baggage it carries. There's Elation. But that's so fleeting that it can hardly compare to Grief. Euphoria? Not equal unless sustained unnaturally through chemicals.
Why is Grief such a destabilizer? I don't have the answer, but I know the answer is found, at least partially, in artwork. Art had an abundance of grief... and desire, but the two are on the same spectrum. To desire something is a grievance that you cannot or do not contain that something.
So, a transcendent and creative art piece communicates so much grief that it takes it away from the artist. At least, in part.
This book? It was great. It raised a lot of questions, and I enjoyed the fiction this author built around the artworks.
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes