The Sense of Paper is a curious book -- it is a novel of obsessions -- and of secrets -- historic, artistic, sensual, and post-traumatic. While toying with the idea of writing a book about Turner, Charlie Hudson, an erstwhile war reporter, has a chance meeting with Sir Alan Matheson, a highly regarded painter and expert on Turner. As Charlie becomes immersed in the worlds of Turner and of Matheson, the reader is treated to a fascinating history of papermaking and the importance of paper to the watercolor genius of Turner. But the book is an odd mixture of good psychological novel writing, murder mystery investigation and romance that verges on chick-lit. I found the plot and the art history intriguing enough to keep reading, even though my toes sometime curled with the descriptions of clothes and hair-dos. I think Holden needs an editor who will let her serious writer emerge. ( )