bookshelf

THE LOST BOTTICELLI

Name: THE LOST BOTTICELLI
Author: Paul Stephano
ISBN: 978-1926847504

by Paul Stephano ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2014

Art history buffs will be elated with this gem, but the bold prose and devotion to the genre is all-inclusive.

bookshelf

As an art curator gets close to finally proving the existence of a long-lost painting, he must fend off accusations of theft and a greedy, dangerous man in Stephano’s debut historical mystery.

Daniel Bradley, curator at the Pitman Art Museum, is traveling to Italy as courier for the Donatello’s Christus, a $50-million statue being loaned for a Donatello exhibit. Daniel is also meeting with his old art history professor, Paolo Bertolini, who relays shocking news—two German brothers claim to have a tondo (circular painting) from Botticelli, one that Daniel, who’d written a book on the artist, surmised was lost more than 500 years ago. But Daniel’s troubles have already started: The Christus is gone from its crate upon arrival in Milan, replaced by a cheap bronze statue, and someone may be framing him for the hefty loss. His situation worsens when Werner, one of the brothers, who’s incurred gambling debts, enters the picture. Werner wants to sell the Botticelli painting for personal gain, and that means threatening Daniel, Paolo and art restorer (and Daniel’s old flame) Laura to expedite the authentication process. The novel brims with art history, including details of Botticelli’s past, and hops back in time to the late 15th century, prior to the tondo’s creation, and its history beyond the artist’s death. But the rich historical background never overwhelms the story, thanks to a remarkable mystery, including damning evidence found on Daniel’s computer; comic relief from Daniel’s cynical and flamboyant friend (and fellow art curator) Jeremy; and a startling death, as well as a kidnapping. Pictures of Botticelli’s art are inserted into the book, which should help readers visualize or remember his paintings. Similarly, Daniel’s metaphors are appropriately (and amusingly) art-inspired; some may be lost on the average reader, but most are literarily visual: Sleep eludes Daniel “like a nymph fleeing a satyr in a Renaissance painting.” The novel’s latter pages are noticeably more intense; thugs are actively looking for Daniel and others, and Stephano neatly resolves both the Christus and Botticelli storylines. There are elements, however, left open; Daniel’s relationship with his minister brother, given only a few details, begs for a sequel, while the unsettling ending stands on its own.

Art history buffs will be elated with this gem, but the bold prose and devotion to the genre is all-inclusive.

Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2014

ISBN: 978-1926847504

Page Count: 352

Publisher: High Interest Publishing

Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

bookshelf

BETWEEN SISTERS

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2003

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...

bookshelf

Sisters in and out of love.

Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.

Pub Date: May 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-345-45073-6

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WOMEN
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FOUR WINDS
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT ALONE
by Kristin Hannah

bookshelf

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

bookshelf

A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.