The Adventuress
by Audrey Niffenegger
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Description
The author of the "New York Times" bestseller "The Time Traveler's Wife" returns with another evocative "novel in pictures," the much-anticipated follow-up to 2005's "The Three Incestuous Sisters. The Adventuress" follows the dreamlike journey of an alchemist's daughter. After she is kidnapped by a lascivious baron, she turns herself into a moth and flees to the garden of a charming butterfly collector named Napoleon Bonaparte. The story of how the two become lovers, and how their affair show more ends in tragedy and transcendence, is told through Niffenegger's spare prose and haunting aquatint etchings. With a stunning and distinctive visual style reminiscent of the work of Edward Gorey, this gothic romance packs the emotional heft of the world's great fairy tales. It will delight fans of the author's previous works and enchant an entirely new legion of readers. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Ooooh, this is pretty. Sparse text, next to spare aquatint prints. Very nice. Something between Anke Feuchtenberger and Edward Gorey (perhaps like a comic written and drawn by the former, redrawn and packaged by the latter), but still with its own identity. An allegorical, dream-like story, with a female protagonist - I don't want to say more so as not to give too much away, but if that sounds at all appealing then I'd advise you to read this. I took it out from the library, but it's a book I'd be very pleased to have on my shelves.
The Adventuress is sparse and brilliantly complex.
The plot of The Adventuress is difficult to describe without telling the story myself. I like this succinct description from my library's catalog: "The Adventuress follows the dreamlike journey of an alchemist's daughter." If you've read Niffenegger, you know how she plays with fantasy and reality in a magical way; The Adventuress is no different. Like The Three Incestuous Sisters, it's a unique format. It's most like a picture book for grown-ups. The artwork is mesmerizing, and there are several panels I would gladly use to decorate my walls.
When I finished it (far too quickly), my first thoughts were simply, "wow." It's a quirky, smart, hauntingly beautiful story told with the a sparse show more use of words and mesmerizing and beautiful art. show less
The plot of The Adventuress is difficult to describe without telling the story myself. I like this succinct description from my library's catalog: "The Adventuress follows the dreamlike journey of an alchemist's daughter." If you've read Niffenegger, you know how she plays with fantasy and reality in a magical way; The Adventuress is no different. Like The Three Incestuous Sisters, it's a unique format. It's most like a picture book for grown-ups. The artwork is mesmerizing, and there are several panels I would gladly use to decorate my walls.
When I finished it (far too quickly), my first thoughts were simply, "wow." It's a quirky, smart, hauntingly beautiful story told with the a sparse show more use of words and mesmerizing and beautiful art. show less
A picture book for adults, with a simple but engaging story. I wouldn't be rushing to read any more of this sort of book by Niffenegger but I definitely enjoyed it.
A picture book for adults, with a simple but engaging story. I wouldn't be rushing to read any more of this sort of book by Niffenegger but I definitely enjoyed it.
Read this at the library after enjoying The Night Bookmobile, but I didn't care for it at all. Guess I'll stick with Niffenegger's long-form prose, rather than her art-based stuff.
Wierd and lovely. Originally a limited edition artist book of etchings...
So that happened. Translation for the flagger who said this wasn't a review: It's a book. About some stuff. With some pictures. Am I sorry I read it? Not really, since it only took a couple of minutes. Did I think about it after I finished reading it? Not really. The end.
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Author Information
26+ Works 52,493 Members
Audrey Niffenegger (born June 13, 1963 in South Haven, Michigan) is an American writer and artist. She is also a professor in the Interdisciplinary Book Arts MFA Program at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. Niffenegger's debut novel, The Time Traveler's Wife (2003), was a national bestseller. The Time Traveler's Wife is show more an unconventional love story that centers on a man with a strange genetic disorder that causes him to unpredictably time-travel and his wife, an artist, who has to cope with his frequent and unpredictable absences. The film version, starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, is due for release in August 2009. Her latest fiction novel is entitled, Her Fearful Symmetry. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2006-09-01
- People/Characters
- The Adventuress; Maurice; Napoleon Bonaparte
- Dedication
- For Lisa Ann Gurr and Lawrence and Patricia Niffenegger
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 237
- Popularity
- 136,570
- Reviews
- 8
- Rating
- (3.40)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 1
