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 ...
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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.
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Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading. Grubby book may have mild dirt or some staining, mostly on the edges of pages. Damaged cover. The cover of is slightly damaged for instance a torn or bent corner.
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Good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
The story is a tangle of relationships with a single thread the binds them together and that is the joy of painting.
If you are and artist you will feel this to your bones. If you are not an artist you will wonder how you can discover if it isnt to late for you to become one.
Thats how an author becomes great.
Barbara M
Mar 24, 2011
Great
This book, like The Historian, is a wonderful read.
robert j
Nov 11, 2010
Very disappointing book, particularly after reading the exciting "Historian". Frankly, I was exhausted by it at the end and had no idea why i wasted so much time wading through the endless pages of nothing. If you have insomnia problems, this could be the cure.
COVER2COVER
Jun 11, 2010
I am sorry to say that this book was a huge disappointment to me. I so loved "The Historian" that I eagerly bought this one hoping to enjoy beautiful, lyrical writing and suspensful story. I'm afraid the author may have rushed this one.
The story is painfully slow and the writing dull. I was not impressed with the character of Dr. Marlow. He was not a very convincing psychiatrist, (and not all that ethical, either). The characters are flat and the story does not begin to actually move until the last hundred pages, and then everything just wraps up too neatly. I almost had to snort out loud at his patients' miraculous recovery and how the "Dr." just allows him to walk out the door after speaking a few sentences! I hope that Ms. Kostova will step back, take a breath (and her time) and make a comeback with the gift she showed in "The Historian". I don't mind waiting.
TeriK
Feb 2, 2010
Almost a Masterpiece
Why would an accomplished artist enter the Nat?l Gallery, pass by one exhibit after another, only to suddenly pull out a knife and attempt to destroy a beautiful painting? The Swan Thieves moves seamlessly from the age of early impressionist painting to the modern psychiatric hospital, from the New York art scene to a small North Carolina college. Elizabeth Kostova has given us a tightly controlled look at the development of one artistic mind, and anothers attempt to understand it. The fact that she accomplishes this without Robert Oliver speaking more than a few words demonstrates her great understanding of the craft of writing. I recommend this book.
