Authenticity

Another totally engrossing novel by my new favorite author. When you hold a kaleidoscope still, without rotating the cup that holds the contents, you can see each glass piece alone yet surrounded and beholden to the other pieces. So it is for the characters here. Roderic, a successful painter, holds tight to Julia, his much younger lover. By Roderic's side is his elder brother Dennis, who has loved and saved and savored him to the exclusion of almost all others in his own life. Julia saves William, a suicidal businessman and frustrated artist. All four have stirring voices and all represent the best of what art can do for us. Italy here is a more vibrant presence than Ireland, the setting, as it should be, with the focus on art. Deirdre show more Madden is a sheer genius.

"Although his son was still so small, William already saw him as an adversary." show less

Although I found this book to have quite a good story with characters who were largely believable and were not unlikable, it failed to really engage me at an emotional level. I think that means that the author didn't present the characters' emotional situations as fully as perhaps she could have done. On the other hand, the fault could just as easily be with me - a lot of the novel was very directly connected with art (painting) and I don't this that's an area I really understand. I'll keep Ms Madden on my "To be read" list for the time being, however, and see how I relate to another of her works