Stephanie Cowell

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

I have so much to say about this book.

Let’s start off with the good sentiments.
So this book has a lot going for it, the characterization of Robbie and Anton was really very solid. These were two fully fleshed out characters with their own motivations, personalities, and weaknesses and I really enjoyed getting to know more about them and getting a peek into their respective histories. The writing also has moments of brilliance and several times the author really outdoes herself with encapsulating something complex and rich in only a brief sentence or two. For instance, one I especially liked comes from the chapter “Conversation” in Book One, the context is Robbie musing on how his desires, which seem so benign and natural to him are vilified as perverse in the eyes of society, the church, and the law. (note: this quote comes from an advance copy of the book and not a final edition)

“Men were beautiful things: Why could God create such things and not allow them to be touched? Wasn’t it natural to touch a beautiful thing?”

Excellent stuff.

The author also excels in portraying the mix of apprehension and longing endemic between two men in Edwardian England who see each other as potential partners but unsure of how, or even if, to make the first move. These early chapters showing the beginning of their relationship were some of the finest in the book.

Now for the not so great elements.

At times the pace of this book was jarring and disjointed. Sometimes events and characters would shift perspective, setting, or even whole countries, in only a few words. This took some getting used to and by the end it wasn’t quite so disorienting but it still made the story feel jumbled in places. The dialogue too, both internal and verbal, could use some work. Almost all the characters speak in the exact same, matter of fact, way and sometimes their exchanges are as abrupt and full of non-sequiturs as the scene transitions. Additionally, the book felt repetitive at times and certain phrases (“his face grew stern”) are relied on to an all too noticeable degree.

Finally, my biggest problem with this novel was the eternal back and forth between Anton and Robbie, perpetually breaking off and then mending their relationship in an everlasting emotional tug of war that exhausts the reader and saps even the abundant vitality of this otherwise charming and earnest book. I lost track of the number of times either of our main characters left the other, always “for their own good” and then regretted it and eventually returned. It strains the heartstrings and after the third or fourth “final” break up or reconciliation it’s difficult to care or wish for anything except maybe a permanent resolution, of any kind, to this Sisyphean “will they, won’t they” pattern.

These characters also seem to learn nothing from any of their many break ups. Anton always goes on repressing his feelings and hoarding his words and Robbie always manages to drink too much too fast at the most inopportune times. And in every break up neither of our leading men ever just talk or even attempt to communicate! Our leading men would rather jump at any opportunity to board the earliest train out of London or Nottingham depending, rather than speak for even a few moments longer about their relationship or their emotions.

I understand relationships are hard, and they’re work, and it must have been fiendishly challenging to do that work in this time and place with a prison sentence or denunciation hanging over you. But people don’t behave this way. People learn and grow emotionally (which they do in the novel, to be fair, though never enough to prevent another inevitable, tearful, break up), and when they’re in love and want to be together they don’t invent reasons to leave and return ad infinitum over the span of decades as happens in this book. By the end I found myself thinking, these aren’t people, or even characters, they’re puppets.

I can appreciate an author trying to write a gay historical romance story where most of the roadblocks to a relationship are internal and stem from the challenging nature of relationships rather than from the explicitly homophobic society they live in (though that plays its part too); but this novel just didn’t accomplish that and for me and didn’t quite stick the landing. Despite its shortcomings I couldn’t seem to stop reading it, even as I grew frustrated with its compounding issues.… (meer)

As the title implies , the heart of this novel is the love story between Monet & Camille. And on that level it works very well. It is a really sweet love story. But there's more to this novel than just the love story. It also tells in harrowing detail, the financial struggles such now famous artists, as Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas and others, had to go through before they became the renowned artist they are today. And what's so uplifting about the story is the way in which they all supported each other throughout the difficult times. They were rivals looking for the few commissions to be had, and yet they stuck together through it all. In many ways, their individual fame and success was a group effort.… (meer)

Nel 1777 a Mannheim, in Germania, tra gli ospiti di casa Weber capita un giorno anche Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Ed è così che a modesta famiglia di un copista di musica – il paziente Fridolin eber, la tenace Frau Weber e quattro graziose fanciulle – approda al palcoscenico della grande musica. All’inizio è amore a prima vista tra Mozart e Aloysia, la più bella delle quattro ragazze.
Il padre di Mozart, tuttavia, incita il figlio a pensare alla carriera e non alle sottane. Stufa di aspettare, la bella Aloysia sposerà incinta un pittore di discreto talento. Mentre la primogenita Josefa, segretamente innamorata anche lei del giovane musicista, si sente superata ingiustamente e se ne va di casa, e la più piccola, Sophie, per sfuggire ai soffocanti “progetti” della madre corre a rifugiarsi in convento, sarà la terza, Constanze, a salire con Mozart all’altare. Romanzo storico in cui la felicità della scrittura si unisce al piacere delle vicende narrate, Il matrimonio delle sorelle Weber ci porta direttamente nel cuore dell'animo femminile, nei sogni, nei desideri e nelle disillusioni di quattro giovani donne e della loro madre, e, insieme, ci offre il ritratto perfetto di un'epoca di grande creatività e civiltà… (meer)