Books On Beechwood

Donna Leon was born in New Jersey but has lived in Venice for thirty years. She loves the city and has set her mystery series with Commissario Guido Brunetti there.

Readers have come to love the intrigue she conjures up, not only in the cases Brunetti tackles, but in the police office life, and also his family life, with a clever wife and two endearing children. In this book Brunetti himself brings Venice to life. Standing on the deck of a ferry Leon writes: “entranced, as he so often was, by the casual, unending beauty of it. Stone, sky, gold, marble, space, proportion, chaos, disorder, glory.”

The story in The Golden Egg goes far beyond Brunetti’s initial assignment and into a world of aristocratic family abuse. A mentally handicapped man in his forties has died of an overdose. When Brunetti investigates the death, he can find no birth certificate, no passport, no driver’s license, no credit cards. As far as the Italian government is concerned, he never existed. It makes for an intriguing story of discovery, what The New Yorker calls “an unusually potent cocktail of atmosphere and event.”

Review by Anne McDougall

This is a skilful, troubling book about art and the world of forgery. It is well-written by novelist B.A. Shapiro, who teaches fiction writing at Northeastern University and lives in Boston.

It tells the story of Claire Roth, a young artist living in Boston’s south end in a Bohemian area filled with other artists. She makes her living copying masterpieces which are sold, legally as reproductions. She also paints her own works, and is hoping to have a show.

She is visited one day by a well-known gallery owner who has a proposal concerning one of the painting stolen in 1990 in the notorious theft at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. This book delves into the fascinating world of forgery and Claire’s doubts and difficult decisions. One of the reviewers wonders whether we can feel the same beauty looking at a forged painting. It is altogether a very good book and reads like any mystery thriller with an unusually good grasp of its subject.

Review by Anne McDougall

With China more and more in the news everyday, politically and economically, this book opens up a whole new aspect of that country: its social and moral scene.

Tie Ning is a well-known author in her own country and also widely translated in other countries, European and Asian. This is the first book, however, to appear in English. It is named after a painting by Cezanne, and is the story of four women who grew up together, survived the Cultural Revolution and are coping with brand new relationships and values.

There are fascinating glimpses of the old China, as when someone breaks into song about Chairman Mao. But the women are struggling with the problems the West has faced: careers, sibling rivalry, love affairs, time for marriage and motherhood.

Tie Ning has published ten books – collections of short fiction, essays, and novels. She is also president of the Chinese Writers’ Association, the youngest writer and first woman to be honoured this way.

Review by Anne McDougall

Ross King is a Canadian historian, now living in England, who has brought to life certain periods of art history through the portraits of famous men. These include “Brunelleschi’s Dome,” “Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling,” and “Defiant Spirits,” on the Group of Seven.

The latest one is “Leonardo and the Last Supper” and it gives an exciting new account of the creation of this famous painting. Leonardo was born in Vinci, a small town near Florence. His father was a well-known notary, but the son preferred drawing, filling notebooks with sketches, including landscape which wasn’t much done in those days. He moved to Milan where his art teacher became Andrea del Verrocchio and he was soon doing work for the duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. The era included many famous artists: Donatello, Massaccio, Fra Angelica. Leonardo got plenty of commissions, many of which, including a huge bronze horse sculpture, he didn’t finish.

This book is full of photographs of his work, as well as the details of painting The Last Supper. Italy was at war with France with the result that funds for art work were often turned over to armaments. It is a fascinating period altogether and King has done wide research to bring it to life.

Review by Anne McDougall

There are not many lively books written about the aftermath of grief. Lisa Moore, the Newfoundland novelist, does this in February.

In 1982, the oil rig “Ocean Ranger” sank off the coast of Newfoundland, killing all 84 men aboard. Helen O’Mara lost her husband, Cal, with whom she had a very close marriage and four children. She carries on, letting the children grow up, take chances, make mistakes, her only approach to parenting being “Because I said so.” When her son’s girlfriend becomes pregnant, however, she tells him: “There’s nothing to know – just come home.”

The book is funny as well as touching. Helen is stood up in a bar one evening after joining a dating service. She is realistic about her need to be close to someone and frightened about gradually learning not to be. One reviewer writes: “You’ll be surprised at this novel’s ability to uplift.” The happy ending is convincing and, like the rest of the book, totally unsentimental.

Lisa Moore won world prizes for an earlier novel, Alligator. She lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador and writes short stories. This is a paperback edition of February which came out in 2009.

Review by Anne McDougall

“February” was named the winner of Canada Reads 2013 on CBC radio.