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The Swan Thieves

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The Swan Thieves

By: Elizabeth Kostova
Narrated by: Treat Williams, Anne Heche
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About this listen

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life--solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves.

This order is destroyed when renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient.

In response, Marlowe finds himself going beyond his own legal and ethical boundaries to understand the secret that torments this genius, a journey that will lead him into the lives of the women closest to Robert Oliver and toward a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

Ranging from American museums to the coast of Normandy, from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love, The Swan Thieves is a story of obsession, the losses of history, and the power of art to preserve human hope.

©2010 Elizabeth Kostova (P)2010 Hachette Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

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Superb! This book puts me in mind of the great late-Victorian/Edwardian novelists - Conrad, Henry James, Arnold Bennett; think “Victory”, “Portrait of a Lady “, “The Old Wives Tale “. The plot, such as it is, is incidental; the pleasure is in the characterisation. It is a mystery of sorts but don’t let that put you off! Central to the book is art, specifically Impressionism, and I felt that Kostova had constructed the book in the way that an Impressionist painter might construct a painting, with deft strokes combining to create an image best appreciated as a whole, at a distance. All four narrators are excellent. I have read the book twice but can honestly say that it is improved in performance.

They don’t write them like this anymore

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The style is great, story is twisted and it gives a good insight to psychology and visual arts. It made me more interested in paintings. Narrators are great. There isn't too much action, it is more of a reflective or self-reflective book.

Gives an interesting insight to visual arts

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A warning to the fans of the Historian - this is a very different book, written in a different style. I still listened with interest, as it offers a glimpse into an artist's world and perhaps reality. The story is about the obsession of an artist and it is rich in characters, but something about the way the characters interact and tell their stories, it is not realistic, and it fails to grasp you, or touch you emotionally, as it sounds fake. Still, there is romance in the story and a little bit of true art history, I also liked that the story is read as a play, with a couple of narrators and different accents. Elizabeth Kostova for her love of Bulgaria did not fail to mention this faraway exotic country.

Not enough mystery in there, but a different story

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A compelling novel from different points of view gradually revealing a mystery. Convincingly performed. Recommended

Compelling, convincing, recommended

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I, too, enjoyed Kostova's early work but found this novel hard going. I persevered to the end hoping it would get better, but it never did. Treat Williams gave an exceptionally poor narration which made a dull story even harder to listen to. Don't waste your time/money.

Not as good as The Historian

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