Review by Booklist Review
An unnamed widower remembers when, as a young lawyer in Frankfurt, he got involved in an odd dispute between a wealthy tycoon and an artist. At first, the two clients were ostensibly feuding over a commissioned painting until it became clear that they were also fighting about the painting's subject: the rich man's wife, Irene, who became the artist's lover. Irene convinces the lawyer to help her steal the painting, and he acquiesces, believing that she is the situation's true victim, but the heist doesn't end as he'd hoped. His memories are triggered when he comes across the painting again, in a present-day Sydney gallery, and decides to find Irene despite the obvious signs that she doesn't want to be found. Though occasionally unsympathetic, unreliable, and unaware, the narrator is versed in the languages of love and faithfulness, if he doesn't fully understand them, and Schlink's prose captivates. Irene's backstory slowly unravels, and along with it that of the narrator. Schlink, best known for The Reader (1995), once again tells a mysterious, character-driven, and history-enriched story in which a man reckons with his past.--Bostrom, Annie Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
At the start of this exquisite novel from Schlink (The Reader), the narrator, an unnamed German lawyer, stumbles on a painting he recognizes, Woman on Staircase, in a Sydney, Australia, art gallery. The narrator recounts how he fell in love with the painting's nude subject, Irene Gundlach, when he met her in his office with the artist, Karl Schwind, years before. Karl wanted to sue the owner, Irene's husband, Peter, to permit Karl to photograph the painting for his portfolio. After finally obtaining access to the painting, Karl discovered a small tear and sought the lawyer's further help procuring Peter's permission to repair the damage. The ensuing case found the lawyer entering into shady dealings with Karl, Peter, and Irene. In the present, the lawyer hires a detective to find Irene. The search for Irene and the unearthing of her true story brings the narrator to a new awareness of who he is and how he wants to live his remaining years. Schlink offers a profoundly moving meditation on how one's life is affected by the choices one makes along the way. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Karl Schwind was an unknown German artist when he painted Woman on Staircase, running off with the model, Irene -Gundlach, and leaving the artwork to her husband, who had commissioned it. Not satisfied with winning the woman, Karl wants his painting returned. He and Irene hire our narrator, a naïve lawyer in thrall to Irene's beauty, to begin litigation against Gundlach. In the hapless attorney Irene sees an opportunity to outwit all three of these men, who want to claim her body and soul. Decades later, while in Sydney for business, the lawyer spots the long-missing painting on display in a museum. Although Irene used and humiliated him, he has never stopped imagining what might have been. Could she be here in Australia? In a fever of hope, he puts his legal skills to work, determined to find Irene and coerce an explanation for her disappearance from his life. VERDICT This poignant meditation on recrimination and regret explores the nature of unrequited love and the gift of redemption. Too often though, it's bogged down by stilted, inauthentic conversations that emphasize the self-absorption of all four main characters. Those familiar with Schlink's earlier book The Reader will find that this new novel lacks a similar heft. [See Prepub Alert, 10/3/16.]-Sally -Bissell, formerly with Lee Cty. Lib. Syst., Fort Myers, FL © Copyright 2017. 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
At two points in time, three men find themselves involved with the same woman in this latest by the bestselling author of The Reader (1997).While in Sydney for work, a lawyer, who narrates the story, sees a painting in a gallery that stirs up 40-year-old memories of one of his first cases back in Frankfurt. It involved a tug of war between an industrialist who commissioned a life-size nude of his wife and the artist who did the work and then ran off with the model. A conflict involving damage to and restoration of the canvas escalates to where the lawyer is asked to draw up a contract under which the artist regains ownership of the painting but returns the wife. Meanwhile, the lawyer, whose ethics prove increasingly elastic, has fallen in love with the woman and agrees to help her steal the painting and flee from both her beaux. He also assumes he will become her new paramour. Foolish man. She absconds altogether with her nude canvas self. Back in present-day Sydney, the lawyer surmises the woman is living nearby and hires a detective to find her, hoping to satisfy a surge of nostalgia and answer some old questions. In no time at all, Schlink (Summer Lies, 2012, etc.) has lawyer, industrialist, and artist all gathered in a remote area of Australia, where the woman has been living a kind of hippie life for many years. The painter and tycoon remain acquisitive and two-dimensional, while the woman's post-flight life is dabbed with suggestions of color. The lawyer is revealed as a lifelong cold fish warming up to his one old flame. But who wins the hand of a once-fair maiden known for her fine birthday suit? Alas, that would be revealing one of the book's few surprises. Despite some touching scenes near the end, Schlink doesn't seem to have the creative wherewithal to bring his characters and themes fully to life. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
