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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
2.5 stars.
Its too descriptive for my taste, and I didn’t love the story or the way it was written.
Its too descriptive for my taste, and I didn’t love the story or the way it was written.
Great narration. It meandered a bit in the middle, but I was passionate about the outcome by the end, and even looked up the artist of the fictional painting.
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The book is compound of a lot of story lines which can be a bit confusing. There are few main characters, some of them likeable, some of them not, but the main theme (which I liked the most) is the art. Importance of art, glory of art, price of art. Though, when some characters manipulate the greatest-paintings-ever-made poorly, you want to tear your hair or somebody's else.
Overall, a book for art lovers, for love lovers, for history lovers, for cutthroat businesses lovers.
Overall, a book for art lovers, for love lovers, for history lovers, for cutthroat businesses lovers.
I had so much fun with this book. There are, in my opinion, some kind of noteworthy flaws, but the best part about this is that I didn't really care. The characters were varied and nuanced, the writing just… wonderful and really appealing to me, and the art world is such an interesting place that Ms. Rothschild explored in such a spectacular way. In terms of flaws, the romance is seriously underdeveloped and insta-love-esque, and the quantity of characters made it all a little hard to keep track of, but those concerns pale in comparison to the joy that I felt reading this text. I loved it.
This book follows the story of a painting titled The Improbability of Love. It details how a 30-something-year-old woman named Annie buys it in a junk shop, totally unaware of its value (which is incredible. It's REALLY valuable) and lives with it, until everyone finds out about its value and it is auctioned off (that's not a spoiler, the first chapter is about the auction.) There are many characters and many storylines feeding off of that principle one.
SPOILERS DISCUSSION
One very small and annoyed comment: there is NO use of the oxford comma in here. None. Plenty of lists, but no oxford comma. I happen to really like the oxford comma and think that it should be (and in many places is) used automatically. The fact that Ms. Rotchschild didn't use it in her text is, like, fine, but every single time I read a sentence where it should have been used and wasn't, it detracted from my enjoyment (I know, I'm weird.)
So, I'm going to get the less positive (and therefore less fun) stuff out of the way first. What was up with Jesse and Annie's relationship? That was kind of ridiculous. Jesse just fell in love with Annie right off the bat, and insta-love is a trope that I have less than zero patience for. And he's like properly in love with her, like talking about how his life would be so terrible if she had to stay in jail and how she brought vibrancy into his dull existence… but like, they hadn't gone on a date and had only really hung out a couple of times, so I have no idea how he fell so hard and so fast (and this book was otherwise pretty good at managing interpersonal relationships, so I don't know what exactly made this one so far off of the mark? Was it a marketability thing, like a book with a romance is more appealing? But if you're going to add a romance, make it at least a little bit believable.) I don't know, of the flaws of this book, the romance was definitely the most notable for me.
The other one is just the sheer number of characters who you have to keep track of. That's part of why I would like to reread this book, to come at it kind of remembering who everyone is and what their story is, and it's not that they're all the same, just that everything kind of ran together in my mind because there was a lot.
And now to the wonderful parts!
I really liked Annie and I loved her love for food and these really extravagant and detailed meals… They were so wonderful to read about and I loved the history and research aspects. Just decadent and lovely and, again, extravagant. Also, the descriptions of how excited and motivated Annie was about her cooking. Love.
I also adored all of the art. I love art and art history and I learned some really interesting tidbits from this book. Also, the elegance and decadence of the art world and the people in it was really fascinating and made me feel very… important and elegant along with it. Also, the money that people spend. Ridiculous, but also so much fun to read about and immerse myself in.
Also, Ms. Rothschild's writing style is not one I'm particularly accustomed to, but I loved it. It really fit the mood and content of the plot exceptionally well. It's not even that it's a super new or innovative way of writing; it's just kind of clipped and uses lots of big vocabulary words and generally is a pleasure to read.
Also, the mystery elements of this book were so intriguing and kept me on the edge of my seat. I had to find out what was up with Memling and what Rebecca was going to do and how everything fit together. It was exciting and caught up in this really high-up, high stakes world where money (lots and lots of money) can make anything happen and… I don't know, it was so great. It added another great level to the story.
I also got SO FURIOUS when Rebecca started talking about how she could so easily frame Annie, and then later when Delia couldn't find the damn manuscript and then found it and was going to pretend that she hadn't… I was so frustrated and furious and kind of surprised that I got so worked up about it, because the rest of the story had made me feel pleasant (not like overwhelmingly so, just like having a good time) and my reaction was a lot more pronounced than any of my other emotions whilst reading.
And all of the other characters just kind of spinning around this world were so great. I loved this world that was created and all of these people who were connected to each other and to art and all of it. I love big casts of characters, and though sometimes I couldn't keep up with everyone in here, I still loved that they existed and the jumping from perspective to perspective and all of it. Wonderful.
And when the painting narrated it was such a wonderful mix of, like, funnily self-absorbed and gushing to tell all about the sex lives of historical monarchs and its own story. Though I was originally quite skeptical of narration by a painting, I eventually really came around to it and really liked it.
Also, I loved that we got the "where are they now" at the end about all of the characters. Wrapped everything up quite nicely for me!
I basically just really, really enjoyed this book and will definitely be checking out Ms. Rothschild's other work (with fingers crossed for a more dynamic romance, however.)
FIN!
Wonderful and engaging read: 92%
This book follows the story of a painting titled The Improbability of Love. It details how a 30-something-year-old woman named Annie buys it in a junk shop, totally unaware of its value (which is incredible. It's REALLY valuable) and lives with it, until everyone finds out about its value and it is auctioned off (that's not a spoiler, the first chapter is about the auction.) There are many characters and many storylines feeding off of that principle one.
SPOILERS DISCUSSION
One very small and annoyed comment: there is NO use of the oxford comma in here. None. Plenty of lists, but no oxford comma. I happen to really like the oxford comma and think that it should be (and in many places is) used automatically. The fact that Ms. Rotchschild didn't use it in her text is, like, fine, but every single time I read a sentence where it should have been used and wasn't, it detracted from my enjoyment (I know, I'm weird.)
So, I'm going to get the less positive (and therefore less fun) stuff out of the way first. What was up with Jesse and Annie's relationship? That was kind of ridiculous. Jesse just fell in love with Annie right off the bat, and insta-love is a trope that I have less than zero patience for. And he's like properly in love with her, like talking about how his life would be so terrible if she had to stay in jail and how she brought vibrancy into his dull existence… but like, they hadn't gone on a date and had only really hung out a couple of times, so I have no idea how he fell so hard and so fast (and this book was otherwise pretty good at managing interpersonal relationships, so I don't know what exactly made this one so far off of the mark? Was it a marketability thing, like a book with a romance is more appealing? But if you're going to add a romance, make it at least a little bit believable.) I don't know, of the flaws of this book, the romance was definitely the most notable for me.
The other one is just the sheer number of characters who you have to keep track of. That's part of why I would like to reread this book, to come at it kind of remembering who everyone is and what their story is, and it's not that they're all the same, just that everything kind of ran together in my mind because there was a lot.
And now to the wonderful parts!
I really liked Annie and I loved her love for food and these really extravagant and detailed meals… They were so wonderful to read about and I loved the history and research aspects. Just decadent and lovely and, again, extravagant. Also, the descriptions of how excited and motivated Annie was about her cooking. Love.
I also adored all of the art. I love art and art history and I learned some really interesting tidbits from this book. Also, the elegance and decadence of the art world and the people in it was really fascinating and made me feel very… important and elegant along with it. Also, the money that people spend. Ridiculous, but also so much fun to read about and immerse myself in.
Also, Ms. Rothschild's writing style is not one I'm particularly accustomed to, but I loved it. It really fit the mood and content of the plot exceptionally well. It's not even that it's a super new or innovative way of writing; it's just kind of clipped and uses lots of big vocabulary words and generally is a pleasure to read.
Also, the mystery elements of this book were so intriguing and kept me on the edge of my seat. I had to find out what was up with Memling and what Rebecca was going to do and how everything fit together. It was exciting and caught up in this really high-up, high stakes world where money (lots and lots of money) can make anything happen and… I don't know, it was so great. It added another great level to the story.
I also got SO FURIOUS when Rebecca started talking about how she could so easily frame Annie, and then later when Delia couldn't find the damn manuscript and then found it and was going to pretend that she hadn't… I was so frustrated and furious and kind of surprised that I got so worked up about it, because the rest of the story had made me feel pleasant (not like overwhelmingly so, just like having a good time) and my reaction was a lot more pronounced than any of my other emotions whilst reading.
And all of the other characters just kind of spinning around this world were so great. I loved this world that was created and all of these people who were connected to each other and to art and all of it. I love big casts of characters, and though sometimes I couldn't keep up with everyone in here, I still loved that they existed and the jumping from perspective to perspective and all of it. Wonderful.
And when the painting narrated it was such a wonderful mix of, like, funnily self-absorbed and gushing to tell all about the sex lives of historical monarchs and its own story. Though I was originally quite skeptical of narration by a painting, I eventually really came around to it and really liked it.
Also, I loved that we got the "where are they now" at the end about all of the characters. Wrapped everything up quite nicely for me!
I basically just really, really enjoyed this book and will definitely be checking out Ms. Rothschild's other work (with fingers crossed for a more dynamic romance, however.)
FIN!
Wonderful and engaging read: 92%
Abandoned. Disappointed to do so but just couldn't slog through it.
This book was so up my alley it's it would have been tough for me not to like. Love the talk of art, the writing style, the use of history, and just thoroughly enjoyed it.
This was probably going to be a much better review until the final couple of chapters which I disliked a lot.
I enjoyed lots of this book, especially the descriptions of Annie's creativity with food and the relationship between Rebecca and Memling.
It only gets three stars because there was a lot I didn't like. Most of the stories were started but didn't seem to go anywhere. The ending was completely rubbish - everything wrapped up in a neat bow with no perspective given by any proper character. It felt extremely rushed.
The parts I hated the most were the parts from the painting's perspective. It seemed trite and childish and didn't work for me at all.
I think the story was good and I enjoyed the parts with the "main characters". I could have done with far less from peripheral characters, no "painting narration", and all the spare room used up with an actual ending.
I enjoyed lots of this book, especially the descriptions of Annie's creativity with food and the relationship between Rebecca and Memling.
It only gets three stars because there was a lot I didn't like. Most of the stories were started but didn't seem to go anywhere. The ending was completely rubbish - everything wrapped up in a neat bow with no perspective given by any proper character. It felt extremely rushed.
The parts I hated the most were the parts from the painting's perspective. It seemed trite and childish and didn't work for me at all.
I think the story was good and I enjoyed the parts with the "main characters". I could have done with far less from peripheral characters, no "painting narration", and all the spare room used up with an actual ending.
This book was a lovely look at the art world in London, intersecting food, art, intrigue, and love. The multiple perspectives were refreshing and revealed enough of the story without finishing the story too early. I really enjoyed this novel!
The Improbability of Love, Hannah Rothschild
A richly layered, complex and highly enjoyable novel about the unscrupulous art world, unrequited love, family secrets, art itself, and so much more.
Still unhappy after the collapse of her long-term relationship Annie is trying to begin a new life as a chef in London. After meeting a man at a gallery dating event, she stumbles on a pretty piece of art in a dark corner of a junk shop and buys it for him. Annie has no idea how that small but lovely piece of art will completely change her life and the lives of many others in London's high powered art scene.
The masterpiece, a little known, but very important work by Watteau that ignited the Rocco movement, has ties to many famous and powerful people over it's 300 years of existence. We know this because the artwork itself talks to the reader and tells the story of "Moi" with a wonderfully original look at how the object experienced the world as a much desired and very effecting work of art. The picture, The Improbability of Love, speaks as a wise philosopher who has seen it all, from the bedchambers of Voltaire's mistress, to Madame de Pompadour and Louis XIV, to the wild and wicked Catherine the Great, and a German Jewish family prior to WWII.
As the book progresses, the story lines become more complicated and include identity theft, stolen art by Hitler's henchmen, Bacchanalian meals, the discovery and then the subsequent cover up of a dark family secret, murder, and the enormous amounts of wealth lavished on art by the rich and famous. The wealthy art buyers include exiled Russian oligarchs who must continually find ways to pay "the leader" so they can retain some of the wealth they made while in Russia and not be killed.
The book is at times a little too long, but that doesn't really matter as the reader moves closer to the big auction and the finale of this marvelously entertaining novel. It has been long-listed for the Bailey's Prize for fiction and that honor is no surprise.
A richly layered, complex and highly enjoyable novel about the unscrupulous art world, unrequited love, family secrets, art itself, and so much more.
Still unhappy after the collapse of her long-term relationship Annie is trying to begin a new life as a chef in London. After meeting a man at a gallery dating event, she stumbles on a pretty piece of art in a dark corner of a junk shop and buys it for him. Annie has no idea how that small but lovely piece of art will completely change her life and the lives of many others in London's high powered art scene.
The masterpiece, a little known, but very important work by Watteau that ignited the Rocco movement, has ties to many famous and powerful people over it's 300 years of existence. We know this because the artwork itself talks to the reader and tells the story of "Moi" with a wonderfully original look at how the object experienced the world as a much desired and very effecting work of art. The picture, The Improbability of Love, speaks as a wise philosopher who has seen it all, from the bedchambers of Voltaire's mistress, to Madame de Pompadour and Louis XIV, to the wild and wicked Catherine the Great, and a German Jewish family prior to WWII.
As the book progresses, the story lines become more complicated and include identity theft, stolen art by Hitler's henchmen, Bacchanalian meals, the discovery and then the subsequent cover up of a dark family secret, murder, and the enormous amounts of wealth lavished on art by the rich and famous. The wealthy art buyers include exiled Russian oligarchs who must continually find ways to pay "the leader" so they can retain some of the wealth they made while in Russia and not be killed.
The book is at times a little too long, but that doesn't really matter as the reader moves closer to the big auction and the finale of this marvelously entertaining novel. It has been long-listed for the Bailey's Prize for fiction and that honor is no surprise.