Relief
by L. E. Butler
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This novel about a love affair between two women, a painter and a dancer, in 1912 Venice is richly textured and vivid. It's almost as much about Venice as about the women. The city's artistic subculture is self-consciously decadent. Recreational drugs abound, as does exploitation of the poor by the rich, of the rich by the poor, and of both by gallery owners and other entrepreneurs. But the art is real and luscious, and so is this novel.
More complete review at www.HistoricalNovels.info.
More complete review at www.HistoricalNovels.info.
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Relief
- Original publication date
- 2008
- People/Characters*
- Katie Larkin (young widow); Rusula (ballet-girl)
- Important places*
- Venice, Veneto, Italy
- First words*
- When I came here as a little girl, i used to imagine all of Boston Common going still, becoming as static and airless as a painting. i used to dream of slipping into the scene and moving about undisturbed, pushing gently at t... (show all)he spattered green branches, crossing a path of multicolored brushstrokes, wading into a river of oily indigo.
- Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And at night, I would paint until my arms gave out, filling my room with Rusula's colors, with her shape. The paintings would sell, or they wouldn't. I'd have to paint them, all the same. I could already see them: warm repellent, irresistible, so saturated with color that they gave the illusion of emitting light. I'd have no peace until they were painted, and I would never be able to paint enough.
Nervous footsteps pattered along the pavement below, stopping just before my house. I turned to the window. Sparks of red and violet ricocheted across my ceiling, reflections from the jeweled crowd passing below. A girl's voice called me, and I rose.
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- Members
- 12
- Popularity
- 1,873,726
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.17)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 1
