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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Fun and interesting read. Set in London present day, our down on her luck chef Annie buys a masterpiece from an antique shop. This lost painting is one of the characters in the books and has fascinating and funny insights into the lives of its illustrious and famous long chain of owners. Some romance for Annie, murder, mystery, intrigue, scandal, deception, and a host of loveble and colourful characters from British scocialite Barty to Russian Oligarchs. Great holiday read, visually evocative and fun.
There were perhaps too many charcters and points of view than necessary.
British Female Author - Literary Comedic Fiction
Published 2015, shortlisted Baileys Prize,
Won Everyman Woodhouse Prize (UK literary comedic award) and Waterstones Book of the Year
There were perhaps too many charcters and points of view than necessary.
British Female Author - Literary Comedic Fiction
Published 2015, shortlisted Baileys Prize,
Won Everyman Woodhouse Prize (UK literary comedic award) and Waterstones Book of the Year
Content Warnings
Minor: War
This book sucked me! The plot kept me reading compulsively. I adored reading about this cast of eccentric and flawed, lovely, and horrible characters. I also loved how Rothschild centred the book around the power of art - how it can invoke emotions, and action in its audiences.
Annie is nursing a broken heart and stalled career when she stumbles upon a small painting in a thrift shop. While the reader knows from the start, it takes much longer for Annie to realize the painting is a lost, important work by a famous artist. The opening scene, which in the novel's timeline occurs after much of the rest of the book, shows the preparations for an auction featuring the painting and introduces several heavy hitters expected to lead the bidding. In addition to chapters narrated in the first-person by the painting, other chapters focus on Annie, a love interest who happens to be in the art world, Annie's boss (who is one of those heavy hitters), and several other characters.
There are too many story-lines to identify them all here, but they include: Annie's relationship with her alcoholic mother; Annie's endeavors as a high-dollar chef with an interest in elaborate theme events; Efforts by more than one person to track down the painting; and A WWII story involving family, lies, and Hitler's art squad. Characters range from a flamboyant and extravagant man who makes helping people rise socially a business and an art; the smitten love interest, Jesse; a wealthy woman brought up in the art world; and, of course, the painting. Oh, and there's a lot about art, food, and, as the title promises, love.
There's so much here that it's hard to start...and perhaps that's where I can start. There's a LOT in this book and not entirely in a bad way. It keeps the reader alert and engaged and gives backstories to many of the players, although it does go a smidgen too far into "throw it all in the pot" realm (common for first-time novelists like Rothschild). It took me quite a while to get a handle on all the names (tip: flag the descriptions in the intro chapter for help!). However, I enjoyed the range of players even despite this struggle which says a lot about the author's talent for crafting characters. I wouldn't say they are perfectly fleshed out, some are pretty one-dimensional, but there's talent in the crafting. I got a bit tired of the gushing over the painting and its depiction of love, but I still wanted to pick the book up every night.
All in, this is a solid novel but not a favorite book. I think it falls at the upper ends of my 3.5 star range (of 5). I'll round up to 4 when ranking systems require it without hesitation, but it just isn't quite a "true" four for me. I'm not a follower of art (although the novel certainly suggests there is value in even lay opinions on art) and imagine it might read differently to an aficionado. There are clear viewpoints presented, a clear underlying belief in the power of art and love. I found characters and plotlines that I really liked and others that felt too thrown in. I loved the food scenes, but they seemed superfluous (another see-saw-like opinion...). There are too many coincidences for my taste but (yet another teeter-totter) it bothered me much less than it would in other hands. This can't be called an easy novel given the attention it demands if the reader wants to keep track of all the plots and characters, but the writing is smooth and inviting. I wanted to read it, but I didn't feel the need to slow down to avoid leaving it behind (a hallmark of a great novel, in my opinion).
Who might enjoy this book? I think it needs to be someone who enjoys some form of art, be it painting or writing, and believes it can be transformative. I can't say what having a background in painting and visual arts in general would impact the read. At the risk of abusing two overused categories, the book is a good middle ground between "chick lit" and "serious literature" and it worked well as pre-bed reading that was more serious than easy-to-interrupt airplane fare and books where the reader needs to work to parse each line.
A copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
There are too many story-lines to identify them all here, but they include: Annie's relationship with her alcoholic mother; Annie's endeavors as a high-dollar chef with an interest in elaborate theme events; Efforts by more than one person to track down the painting; and A WWII story involving family, lies, and Hitler's art squad. Characters range from a flamboyant and extravagant man who makes helping people rise socially a business and an art; the smitten love interest, Jesse; a wealthy woman brought up in the art world; and, of course, the painting. Oh, and there's a lot about art, food, and, as the title promises, love.
There's so much here that it's hard to start...and perhaps that's where I can start. There's a LOT in this book and not entirely in a bad way. It keeps the reader alert and engaged and gives backstories to many of the players, although it does go a smidgen too far into "throw it all in the pot" realm (common for first-time novelists like Rothschild). It took me quite a while to get a handle on all the names (tip: flag the descriptions in the intro chapter for help!). However, I enjoyed the range of players even despite this struggle which says a lot about the author's talent for crafting characters. I wouldn't say they are perfectly fleshed out, some are pretty one-dimensional, but there's talent in the crafting. I got a bit tired of the gushing over the painting and its depiction of love, but I still wanted to pick the book up every night.
All in, this is a solid novel but not a favorite book. I think it falls at the upper ends of my 3.5 star range (of 5). I'll round up to 4 when ranking systems require it without hesitation, but it just isn't quite a "true" four for me. I'm not a follower of art (although the novel certainly suggests there is value in even lay opinions on art) and imagine it might read differently to an aficionado. There are clear viewpoints presented, a clear underlying belief in the power of art and love. I found characters and plotlines that I really liked and others that felt too thrown in. I loved the food scenes, but they seemed superfluous (another see-saw-like opinion...). There are too many coincidences for my taste but (yet another teeter-totter) it bothered me much less than it would in other hands. This can't be called an easy novel given the attention it demands if the reader wants to keep track of all the plots and characters, but the writing is smooth and inviting. I wanted to read it, but I didn't feel the need to slow down to avoid leaving it behind (a hallmark of a great novel, in my opinion).
Who might enjoy this book? I think it needs to be someone who enjoys some form of art, be it painting or writing, and believes it can be transformative. I can't say what having a background in painting and visual arts in general would impact the read. At the risk of abusing two overused categories, the book is a good middle ground between "chick lit" and "serious literature" and it worked well as pre-bed reading that was more serious than easy-to-interrupt airplane fare and books where the reader needs to work to parse each line.
A copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
Eh, bit of a strange one. Parts of it were really moving and lovely, especially the descriptions of the painting itself. But satire side fell a bit flat for me.
I loved this book. I found it occasionally sexy, evocative, and multi-layered with unexpected twists and turns. It might have benefited from some trimming (especially with a few ancillary characters). A really satisfactory read.
Unfortunately I found this book very difficult to read, the plot and narrators/characters are messy. I don’t think telling the story through the painting’s point of view adds anything, although it is an interesting idea.
This novel has been in my “want to read” list for 3 years. I did start it a year ago and quickly gave it up.
There’s a lot of pretentiousness in it. Even the painting is a pretentious character. That said, halfway in I did warm up to the plot, and the main character Annie is endearing.
There’s a lot of pretentiousness in it. Even the painting is a pretentious character. That said, halfway in I did warm up to the plot, and the main character Annie is endearing.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I had to take away the two stars solely because the plot has been wedged into a solution a bit too readily. With all the build-up of formidable characters and enigma crumbling down in a matter of a couple of anti-climactic chapters, the story took a few very sharp twists that came and went by so quickly that they were almost inconsequential.