Not loved, but mostly enjoyed. The story of Trinidadian emigrants and Odelle was the most popular of the interwoven stories. Working out the link between 1930’s Spain and Odelle was an intriguing journey
A drawback was the feeling that too much was squeezed in, resulting in it taking too long to unfold each idea with its connections to the other characters and times, and consequently feeling contrived.
Everyone agreed The paintings were vividly described, and some liked the Spanish scenes very much . Some of the accents felt a bit awkward and at times the language was too forced or tried to hard to sound literary.
In parts the book was deeply moving and the idea of tracing the origins of a painting appealed to many.
Only Meredith had read Jessie Burton’s previous and highly acclaimed first novel, The Miniaturist.
Quick was a bit unlikely as a character
Was Robles real?Marty says yes
Themes - art, love, deceit, casual sexism and feminism in the 1930s and 60s, race and colonialism, partisanship in times of war, friendship, personal histories.
We rated this novel 7/10. It was described as "mildly intriguing, Trinidadian experience refreshing, topical, curious, affected, enjoyable but not memorable".
Our next book is A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles and we will be meeting at Marty's on Dec 13 Wednesday.
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