It is amazing how a certain region can have a hold over things which originate from that area. A unique product of an area can create impressions with people who live thousands of miles away and they may not even be aware of it. And it is that concept that David Macfarlane explores in his wonderfully complex novel The Figures of Beauty.

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It was unusual to see tourists. Carrara was off the beaten track. A correspondent for an English travel journal had recently complained: "Thanks to a surfeit of marble, there is not the shadow of anything that can be called 'society' in Carrara." This, so far as Julian Morrow was concerned, was not a bad thing.

The plot deals with a series of people that have some sort of connection to this region of Italy known for it's marble. A young man travels there in 1968 after fleeing the riots of Paris and meets the love of his life. A Welsh marble merchant meets a Canadian couple on honeymoon there and shows them the beauty of the region. A women from the area travels to Canada to meet the father she never knew. A young boy working in the quarries witnesses a terrible accident and his life changes in unexpected ways. And the infamous artist Michelangelo makes a cameo to explore the area. Macfarlane brilliantly weaves these stories together to talk about the influence of the region.

Link to my complete review ( )