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For a while I had seen this book pop up on recommendation lists, including mine at Amazon. I was skeptical about it though, based solely on the idea of painting a picture of someone you can’t see. But the more I read the description over and over, and have heard praise for Ford’s writing (his first novel won the World Fantasy Award, and the year “Mrs. Charbuque” was nominated he won for Best Short Story and Best Collection), the more this book intrigued me.
Glad I finally gave in and bought it. It was an excellent read. It has bits of fantasy to it, but in many respects is more of a mystery and at times has a feel of being historical fiction. All a good combination though.
The first thing that struck me with reading it was Ford’s writing. His prose is very good: not too much, yet very satisfying. He doesn’t send you to the dictionary like China Miéville does. But her certainly has a vast vocabulary. The other thing that hooked me was the story itself. It pulled me in very quickly. The combination of the real story, and the stories that Mrs. Charbuque tells was very intriguing.
Ford also did a great job in revealing the secrets to the mystery. Nothing was forced. They were brought in at the right time, or didn’t come across as coincidence. And his characters were well written out, too. I could really feel the frustration that was building up in Piambo as he deals with the problems, even trying to get back a little at Mrs. Charbuque’s tricks. Or dealing with the issues between him and his obsession with the painting, and his girlfriend Samantha.
I would rank this up there with some of the best books I have read. You don’t need to be a fan of mystery or historical fiction to like this book. And you don’t need a vocabulary of a Shakespearean major to understand it. Yet you wonder at the end why is was nominated for a fantasy award. Guess you can just chalk it up to the great writing. ; )
9/10
