Date Started: 4/9/11
Date Finished: 4/16/11
One-word Summary: Disappointed
When I am rushing through a book to find the point where something will happen in the plot, it is never a good thing. After reading (and loving) The Historian several years ago I was very excited to get my hands on The Swan Thieves. So much so that I actually bought the book in paperback rather than on my e-reader so that I could share it with others once I was finished. After finishing it last night, the only place it is likely to end up is a thrift store.
Find out why (along with spoilers about the book) after the jump.
Where The Historian kept me on the edge of my seat until the final pages, The Swan Thieves meandered along building suspense for far too long. Four hundred pages in I still had no idea what was going on, which I found to be supremely frustrating. When the story(stories) finally came to a close I was happy for the narrator but found Robert Oliver's story incomplete. His entire obsession is explained by an unnamed mental illness? That's it? He became obsessed with Beatrice (dead for over 100 years) after seeing a picture of her at the Met and then spiraled out of control to the point where it ruined his marriage, ruined his affair and left him in a mental institution? As I read I kept thinking there was going to be some actual connection between the two stories: the love story in the 1800's and Robert Oliver's increasing obsession. But nope. Just mental illness.
I wanted to love this book and yet after reading it I can't help feeling like it was the most disappointing book I have read in a while. My expectations were high after The Historian and perhaps that is unfair to Elizabeth Kostova who is obviously a talented writer. It is what it is. I would only recommend this book to people who are art fanatics. For them, all of the references to painting will likely keep the story interesting enough to plod through.
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