The Last Painting Of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith

The other day my son remarked that I had not posted anything here in a while. This was the right remark at the right time as I'd been meaning to add a book post before 2020 finally wandered off. Not that any of us will miss it but it did have some highlights along with the low light. 2020 election results and the arrival of vaccines at the tail end, all four of us together under one roof and the absence of daily commute are a few of the favorite things of last year. I'll note down just one of the few books I managed to finish in this very busy year.

When a book is being read on Kindle, it is not lying face down where you left off, inviting you in on your return. To add to this, past and present lives of two major characters from two different centuries got intermingled enough for me to get lost and leave. That is, until I took it up again when it showed up in my Kindle library as 57% read. 

The key that holds this book came to me on this second attempt. Each chapter is a beautiful painting by Dominic Smith and each word a masterful brush stroke. Every sentence, part of a scene coming together to create that fully framed painting. 

 Dominic Smith created Sara de Vos out of the life stories of many women painters of 17th century that he had gleaned from research. It was so real that as soon as I finished the book, I started searching for Sara de Vos's painting 'At The Edge of The Wood'. I was frustrated that links for the book kept coming up instead of links to the painting. This is how I found that there was no such artist or painting! Apparently this painting provided some inspiration to the author.

The second protagonist in the story is also a woman painter living in New York in the 20th century. Eleanor Shipley restored paintings in the early phase of her career and the one mistake she did was to do a forgery of the single known painting of Sara de Vos. 

Through Dominic Smith, it dawns on us how skilled one needs to be to do a forgery. I had never thought of this angle before so this was very revealing. To faithfully represent the original painter and to pass through many inspections,  a forger has to have in depth knowledge of old paintings and the tools used to create them in those times. Same skills used by a restorer of paintings. Same difference between hacking and cyber security if you ask me. 

Dominic Smith is a painter of words and writes as if he has a scene right in front of his eyes. You don't want to miss any of the words because then you could very well be missing that little hint of sunshine or the shadow from a tree that gives depth to this masterpiece of a book. If you love paintings, then this is your book without doubt.

Two Books. No, Make That 3.

There is always a book waiting in the wings begging to start, midway through or almost done. Of all the books I read these months past, these 3 couldn't be left without giving a mention here. This doesn't mean the rest of them I read were garbage. Many were decent reads if not great, like Christin Hanna's The Nightingale, A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles or The Silent Patient by  Alex Michaelides. But the three books detailed below, reside in my cache memory till I give a formal farewell before shelving them away in the core memory.

Becoming By Michelle Obama
No introduction is necessary for the much admired former first lady's soul inspiring memoir. One thing that stands out is the sheer volume of information imparted with such an economy of words. I envision Mrs. Obama, sitting serenely scanning her entire life, her brain churning all the memories and deftly yielding a comprehensive summary in lucid prose that became this book.

She is extraordinarily gifted and I understand this great nation was blessed to get the Obamas as a package. His brilliance, universality, and love of humanity, blending perfectly with her insight, unbound intelligence and pure energy. They truly complete each other. That the country was governed by this union of spirit and wisdom for 8 years is a matter of simple good fortune. Where I used to think of her as a really smart person, I now believe her to be a pure soul untouched by evil. This is her strength and the bedrock of her personality. The role played by her parents, brother, and extended family is an important one in the making of Mrs. Obama. Her father with the unwavering work ethic, of infinite love laced with the right dose of humor, her mother a watchful, caring, and diligent presence who did everything possible to nurture all aspects of her individuality without interfering and her brother who loved and protected her unconditionally. Together they created their own little heaven with the little they had which then spilled over to the Obama family of four.

I don't like being a fan of anyone.  I am a true believer of personal power so long as one puts in the effort. But I have to say that the universe somehow conspired to give us this true soul and her spouse to be inspired from. Personal tragedies often shape what we become and inspiration is the mantra that can make a difference in that struggle. And lucky for us, we have inspiration in a bottle.. I mean.. a book.

All The Light That We Cannot See By Anthony Doerr
The protagonist in this story is blind and we are shown the world through her inner eyes. The tap, tap of her stick against the pavement keeps us in suspense whenever she is on the move. Anthony Doerr is a painter of words who brings to life this world war II era story in occupied France replete with a museum, secret boxes and keys. The girl's story is intertwined with that of an orphan boy in Germany who became a soldier of the same war on the other side. The two worlds keep colliding and blending, strewn so with pearls from Doerr's bountiful cache of words. Delightfully written, with evocative chapters, this is a must read.

Where The Crawdads Sing By Delia Owens
The book kept popping up every now and then in various booklists but it wasn't until a friend recommended it that I added it to my phone notes. From there it reached the next logical step of purchase with my self prescribed book-a-month allowance. Here is the thinking behind the allowance: at this stage in my life, if I cannot buy a simple book to read and enjoy, then why-oh-why do I exist? There, I am happy we are on the same page:-)

Author Delia Owens grew up in the coastal lands of Georgia which may have prompted the writing of this book about a little girl bringing herself up in the marshlands off the Carolina coast. Every sentence is alive with fantastic critters from this coastal world inhabited by the Marsh Girl. The beauty of a great blue heron is so palpable that I envisioned I touched it. I lived among the gulls and canoed across lagoons looking for fish and digging for mussels, collecting feathers from the myriad of visiting birds, and pocketing shells churned out by the sea from every part of the world. More than the story or the lonely girl child, it is this living, throbbing, coastal life that kept me captivated. More so because it transported me to the rain drenched lush green land of Kerala that I had spent my magical childhood in. Short and sweet. A book to read.

Jane Smiley's The Duplicate Keys

Note: This too is from an old draft and posting now before 2018 slithers away forever. This year I have read some fantastic books both in Malayalam and English and I'll just post the names in a later post to at least have it as a list here.

I know Jane Smiley of The Thousand Acres needs no introductions. Yet the very fact that a movie got made from her books made me leery of wanting to read her. Yeah, I can be mulish like that. But now it looks like I am ready for a Smiley😊. A winning decision on my part! The Duplicate Keys is a very readable book with some teeth to it. Smiley's expertise in showing a period or time is just enthralling especially since she revels in putting the right kind of people in it. New York is always a haunting place and the period of interest here is the rock and roll era in the music industry. The story is around six friends who moved from the Midwest to the Big Apple with thoughts of making it big and what happened to them when their plans did not pan out exactly as they'd hoped. Of course the cover page proclaims this as a cliffhanger murder mystery and all that but what keeps you going is the characters and their interactions to each other in light of the murders. The murders and the investigation surrounding them  satisfied a certain craving for mysteries in yours truly and made it for lighter reading. Now I know I can come to a Smiley if I want such a combo. Don't get me wrong, this is probably the only murderous book Smiley wrote but a writer who can do it so deeply has my trust.

Miniatures

Molu loves anything mini. This includes the uber cool mini cooper among other things like tiny jars, furniture etc. She is a wizard when it comes to shaping little things to perfection with polymer clay. No, she is not into jewelry. Not yet. Here are some beautiful hearts, a slice of water melon and an almost perfect cone of ice cream with sprinkles she made today.

The Little Paris Bookshop By Nina George

Let me be honest. I picked this book from the new arrivals shelf at the library mainly for one reason. That the full name of the author very much resembles names originating out of my birthplace. But by the time I checked it out I knew that this author is not a native or non-native Malayali . But a book with 'bookshop' in the title just had to be a delightful read. Not only were my expectations met but were exceeded by the end of the delightful journey that was this book. Nina George wrote the book in German although the story takes place in France.

George's adoration of books and love of reading spills out from every page as she takes us through the life of the leading man Monsieur Perdu. He is, wait for it..  a book seller at the aptly named  shop 'Literary Apothecary'! I am telling you there is not much to dislike here.  Perdu is the self appointed physician offering sure footed advise on what books each of his customers need to buy regardless of what they actually came in for. Wouldn't I have loved to be a customer there! There is more. He sells the books from a converted barge moored on the Seine. He keeps the vessel serviced so it is still seaworthy despite its static state. While prescribing ably for his customers Perdu is unable to mend his own wounded heart. He is besieged with memories of beautiful Manon. She had stormed into his life from Provencal France, ruled it for a while and then just left one day without notice. The bookshop with its loyal clientele and the occasional tourist kept him going. After twenty such long years, he meets sweet Catherine who is nursing a recently wounded heart and of course Perdu is there for the rescue with a perfect selection of books. This change prompts him to set off on a journey that will bring closure with Manon.

Perdu travels down the Seine on the now unmoored barge, deftly navigating its many canals and tributaries. He found some unlikely companions in this impromptu journey. Two cats named Kafka and Lindgren who used to frequent his shop and the young successful author Max Jordan who is suffering  from a severe case of writer's block. Later on they are joined by an old Italian friend of Perdu who helps them negotiate some of the practicalities of river travel. It helps that this friend also enjoys cooking. At Avignon he hands off the barge to the friend and goes on foot with Max in search of Manon among the vineyards of Bonnieux. Along with the cast of characters described so far, what ups the ante of this charming book are the ubiquitous books and lengthy discussions on various books. Perdu himself would love to write a book one day. A book of emotions that are neatly organized under each alphabet. Such a great journey to have had! There is even a section for delicious french recipes at the end of the book. If you liked 'The Book Thief', chances are that you will like this one too. 

A Man Called Ove By Fredrik Backman

You have to be a very patient reader to get into this book. If you do, you will be richly rewarded for having known the man called Ove. Be forewarned that you will need a wad of napkins to get through all of it. Ove is a Swedish retiree living in a housing colony made up of all kinds of people. His days are always the same and precisely set around the clock. Grumpy as he is, he finds himself getting involved with the Iranian family that moved into his neighborhood. Through the many interactions he had with them, we see that Ove's heart is in a far better place than many. I found it a little slow, but felt like if I don't finish it, Ove will disapprove. So honestly, I continued for Ove's sake. Such is the strength of his character, even though fictional. It is a good book to read with a refreshing take on this world where honesty and integrity are fast becoming jaded values. Ove might inspire you yet again to strengthen your hold on those and to live life as its true followers.

You Go Girl!

Finally the US can now say it is a developed nation without having to hide the gaping hole to this claim. We are not there yet but it is just great to see a viable woman candidate for the US presidential elections. I am not a Democrat or Republican and not particularly an ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton. But she definitely beats the competition this election year and is clearly a capable candidate in her own right without the need for any labels. Still, when my son (his summer has already started) who is avidly following the elections texted to say Clinton is close to winning the primaries, I couldn't help but feel a certain thrill! I was surprised to see many women feeling the same across race, ethnicity or party lines. Now let us hope this nation can claim its rightful place in history by electing its first woman president. It's been 100 years since women got the right to vote here but better late than never..