Sonia Overall

While this book had its interesting moments and some clever ideas, overall, it fell short for me. Set in the reign of Elizabeth I, the main character, Rob, longs to become a portrait painter and to develop his own style, one that will reveal "truth" as compared to the popular mannerist style of the day. But breaking into the court, particularly one that prefers flattery to truth, isn't so easy. After finding an apprenticeship, Rob' talents are first noted and then suppressed by jealous fellow painters, until he is taken under the wing of a courtesan named Kat. She introduces him to patrons, and although they never consummate their relationship, Kat takes odd pleasure in having Rob paint upon her body (and having him watch her encounters through a hole in the arras. It is through Kat that he meets such notables as Sir Walter Raleigh, miniaturist Nicholas Hillyard, and Simon Foreman. The latter provides him with a substance that transforms Rob's paints so that they may better render lifelike portraits.

While telling Rob's story, Overall brings in a number of other well-known artists, courtiers, and other celebrities of the day: Drake, Essex, Walsingham, the Gheeararts, even Marlowe. And we see the politics of the times at work in the constant spying, jostling for favor, and persecution of Catholics. But somehow, the novel just didn't grab me. Maybe it tried too hard; maybe it was that Rob was not a very engaging character. And it just ended, almost as if the author said, "Well, that's it, 300 pages," and gave us a 1-1/2 page epilogue with no explanation.… (more)

Sonia Overall takes a small historic event and imagines what might have happened in this novel. Set in Margate in the 1830's it is the story of Fanny, youngest daughter of a schoolmaster father, and the discovery of a underground shell palace. It is intriguing but I found myself frustrated by an ending that leaves far too many questions ... some aspects of a novel left to the reader's imagination can work well but I thought this was too abrupt.
I did find the style of writing difficult to adjust to initially, it felt like hard work, but as I got drawn in by Fanny and her story I did enjoy the characterisation and the sense of place is conveyed well.
I do think Sonia Overall is a good writer but this left me feeling that there was more needed to make this a really great book.… (more)