Review by Booklist Review
Like her best-selling The Miniaturist (2014), Burton's second novel is a smart blend of literary and commercial fiction with intriguing characters and a compelling mystery at its center. In 1967 London, Odelle Bastien, a Trinidadian émigré with literary aspirations, begins dating a man who inherited an unusual portrait of two girls from his late mother. Its discovery excites and shocks Odelle's employers at the Skelton Institute of Art, since few works by the elusive left-wing painter Isaac Robles, who vanished during the Spanish Civil War, are known to exist. In 1936 Andalusia, Isaac and his half sister, Teresa, become involved with the wealthy Schloss family, who are renting a nearby villa. Knowing that her own artistic efforts would be slighted by her art-dealer father, daughter Olive keeps them secret, a choice that has profound aftereffects. Both historical settings are deftly evoked, and the alternating story lines enhance the charged atmosphere. Burton creatively infuses historical fiction with mystery in her exploration of the far-reaching consequences of deception, the relationship between art and artist, and the complex trajectory of women's desires.--Johnson, Sarah Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Burton's second novel (following The Miniaturist) is a complex, vividly drawn tale centering on a mysterious painting from 1930s Spain brought to a London art institute in 1967. The author brings together two striking story lines-one involving Trinidad-born Odelle Bastien, who works in late '60s London at a posh art institute where she becomes the protégé of an eccentric office manager, Marjorie Quick, while adjusting to life in a new country. The other thread centers on Olive Schloss, a young Viennese woman whose family settles in a mansion in Spain in 1936. Olive's aspirations to be a painter are quashed by her father's misogynistic views toward women artists. Her life is overturned by the arrival of Isaac and Theresa Robles, local siblings who come to work at the mansion; he is a passionate revolutionary and artist, and she is a maid, but also a lost teenager looking for connection. The intricate way in which Burton pulls the two plots together is unexpected and impressive, a most original story about creative freedom, finding one's voice, and the quest for artistic redemption. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In Burton's second novel (after The Miniaturist), Odelle, an aspiring Trinidadian poet leading a new life in Britain, meets Lawrie at a wedding. Lawrie has recently inherited a painting from his mother, and that artwork is at the center of a story that moves from 1960s London to a tiny Spanish village in 1936 where a Viennese Jewish art dealer, his troubled English wife, and their talented daughter live amid growing political unrest and become involved with a local family. The threads of issues such as family secrets, racial and gender prejudice, and the nature of talent are woven throughout the narrative, which moves among time periods seamlessly, peeling away the layers to find the truth of the painting and its creator. VERDICT -Historical fiction lovers as well as fans of B.A. Shapiro's The -Muralist and The Art Forger will appreciate the intriguing characters, skillful writing, and evocative atmosphere of two very different eras. Readers who enjoyed Burton's debut won't be disappointed. [See Prepub Alert, 1/11/16.]-Terry Lucas, Shelter Island P.L., NY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A thrilling painting with a mysterious provenance connects two bold young women, one in Civil War Spain, the other in mid-1960s England. British writer Burton (The Miniaturist, 2014) won multiple awards for her first book, an unusual historical novel set in 17th-century Amsterdam, and returns to themes of intrigue, creativity, and female empowerment in her second. The narrator of the 1967 storyline is Odelle Bastien, a Trinidadian immigrant and aspiring writer trying to find her way in London, where racism is more common than job opportunities for bright young black women. But life picks up after Odelle finds work at the Skelton Institute of Art and also meets Lawrie Scott, whose mother recently died, leaving him an unusual painting signed with the initials I.R. In the parallel 1936 storyline, the setting is Andalusia, where the wealthy, art-dealing Schloss family, originally from Vienna, has settled temporarily. Nineteen-year-old Olive Schloss falls in love with local artist Isaac Robles, whose watchful half sister, Teresa, acts as housekeeper to the Schlosses. Olive paints too, secretly but brilliantly, and persuades Isaac to present her work as his, in order to be taken seriously. But their affections are mismatched and become even more strained as "Isaac's" paintings are bought by Peggy Guggenheim and the country's political mood darkens. This split-screen narration, though intriguingly detailed, lacks the freshness and persuasive emotional intensity of The Miniaturist, and its central premiseOlive's refusal to own her groundbreaking workis wobbly. But Burton's devotion to her female characters sustains the novel even when the plotting wavers. Tidily if dully concluded, this second novel fails to hit the same sweet, wholly integrated spot as its predecessor, but Burton fans will be happy to reunite with her committed storytelling. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
