I was so annoyed by all the superfluous details and dead-end tangents in the first half of this book that I almost gave up on it several times. It did finally get better. In fact it was a great story. It just needed a ruthless editor and to be about 1/2 as long as it was. I'm going to read her first novel now. It sounds like it may be better.

I really enjoyed The Historian, this author's previous book. This book had a similar sense of romance about art (not just it's history but the tactile, sensual pleasure of painting). Unfortunately, I found that I simply didn't like the modern-day characters in the story; they were all self-absorbed and self-serving. The characters revealed in the letters (that of a 19th century painters) were much more engaging; I wished the plot had been more involved with them. In the end, I admired the writer's skill, but I found little to sweep me away emotionally.

LOVED The Historian, a far superior novel.

I probably would have abandoned this one had I not been listening to it while I worked.

Disappointing, pointless, characters barely interesting