The setup and first half of this book is reasonably good mystery. An artist stabs a painting and is assigned to a mental hospital. His psychiatrist, Marlow, searches for a motive, since his patient, Robert Oliver, will not speak to him, except briefly at the beginning to give him permission to speak to others about his case. Marlow interviews Robert’s friends and relatives, going to extraordinary lengths and likely breaching professional ethics in the process. A series of 19th century letters plays a role in understanding Robert’s obsession with a particular artist.

Unfortunately, the execution falls down at about the half-way point. This book is slow in developing. There are long stretches of narration where nothing pertinent to the mystery occurs. Superfluous sex scenes are inserted for no apparent reason. Once the letters are finished, the 19th century characters act like they live in the present. And suffice it to say the reveal is a bit of a letdown.

I appreciated the sections on the artistic process, which are detailed and interesting if you are an art enthusiast. I also enjoyed listening to the audiobook, read by a cast. This was my first exposure to multiple readers, and I enjoyed hearing the different voices and accents. This method was a good choice for this book, as various characters narrate long passages in first person. Overall, it is a mixed bag: not bad, but not particularly memorable.
( )

I honestly could not believe that I was reading a book by the same author who penned the Historian. I wanted to like this but in the end the writing just fell flat. I got the concept, I understood the innuendo and everything else the writer was trying to convey. Kostova gets tangled up in her own two feet when she attempts to have a character switch tenses. It is not effective in the least. As a matter of fact, it is just the opposite. I started to sense this in The Historian, but it seems that she pulled herself out of the mire and managed to save the story. There is no saving this story. In the end it seems like the only reason the characters are bonkers is because they have nothing better to do than be art snobs. ( )

I found much of the discussion of art very interesting, and att forts, was engaged by the characters and their interactions, but around 2/3 of the way through the book, I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to be trying to find out about them. I Finally gave up ( )

Adult fiction. Seemed like they did a pretty good job with the casting/directing of this audiobook, I just didn't have time to finish it (I only got to the middle of disk 2). Then, too, Kostova's stories take time to unwind themselves and deserve an unrushed reading, so perhaps I'll end up checking out the book later. ( )

This is a long, slow read that requested - no, insisted - on the pleasure of my company for a while. I loved it.

First, it's about art and it's about history and about psychology.
Next, it's a well-told story with compelling characters and resolution that's withheld until the end (and not in a genre-template sort of way).

If you don't like to spend many days on the same book, or if you want a lot of action scenes, then this isn't for you. For the rest of us, though, it's heaven. ( )