Pages Colored with Love

Lisette's List: A Novel by Susan Vreeland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


"In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love."~Marc Chagall

This was my first Susan Vreeland, and I'm intrigued enough to read another--Vreeland writes beautifully about paintings and scenery and the hunger for art and artistic expression. The book is conceived as a "trail of the history of art. ... The visible reality expressed through the handling of light and color of impressionism-Pissaro-moved into the solid geometric shapes of postimpressionisn-Cezanne-to the modernism of distortion and cubism-Picasso-and finally to the postmodernism of the expression of the invisible personal reality of dreams. That's Chagall." The flaw is that this history of art is told by characters created to tell that story, who never quite come alive enough to tell their own.

Young Lisette was raised in an orphanage in post-WWI Paris, and she has an eye for art. She marries Andre, a young frame maker, and expects to find a job in a gallery--even cleaning the walls would do. But she and Andre are called to the countryside to take care of Andre's grandfather, Pascal, in his old age. From soirées and cafés to bedpans and roosters--Lisette's life is turned upside down! But Pascal used to be a paint salesman in Paris, a step up from his teenage job as a miner of ochre for paint and dyes in the small commune of Roussillon, and in addition to the stories of paint and artists, he has beautiful paintings from the greats--Cezanne, Pisarro, Picasso--that they can look at and comprehend together. Then, WWII starts, Andre and their friend Maxime enlist, and the rest of the plot ensues. Chagall comes into the story, hiding in a small village before escaping from the Nazis to the United States.

As I said, Vreeland writes beautifully, especially when she is writing about the heart of art and not art criticism and history; she shows what is behind all that jargon. But Lisette does not change, though more than ten years (and the war!) pass; it's as if by being in the countryside she's frozen in time at twenty, though she's thirty-one at the end. Or perhaps it's just that she exists, like her list, like the paintings, as a hook on which to hang some beautiful art.

Despite the flaws, it's a good book--it does fulfill the promise of its Chagall epigraph, coloring the pages with love, and I recommend it to anyone that has an interest in art. (I received an e-galley for review from the publisher and Netgalley.)


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Brown Tells a Mean Tale

Perfect for lovers of romantic suspense, Sandra Brown's Mean Streak will be a four star for many of her fans. It is a total romance fantasy, with a kidnapping that isn't, really. Or is it? Somebody bonked sexy heiress Dr. Emory Charbonneau with a rock--and if it wasn't the mysterious stranger in whose cabin she wakes up, who left her to die in the winter wilderness? 

The mystery man won't reveal his name, some menacing hillbilly thugs presage violence, Emory's husband might be the one who tried to kill her--but her heart, frozen since her parents' deaths, is starting to thaw in the presence of the fearsome giant who has carried her off to--protect her? 

Dear reader, I read it all the way through, because Sandra Brown is a mean storyteller, but I wasn't surprised, and the story wasn't plausible. That's why I call it a fantasy instead of a thriller. But it is fun to follow the twists and turns, and satisfies in the romance department. 

I am a recent Sandra Brown reader, thanks to netgalley and Grand Central Publishing, and while I rate the previous book four stars and this three, I will continue to read and recommend Sandra Brown's books. 

(I received an e-galley of this book for review.) 

As we walk in fields...

The All You Can Dream Buffet by Barbara O'Neal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

...of lavender! Luscious! The All You Can Dream Buffet tantalizes, tempts, seduces--and satiates. Not since reading The Lost Recipe for Happiness have I loved one of Barbara O'Neal's books so well. Her writer's gift is fully showcased again here: prose that lights up the page, characters that light up your heart, love and dreams and sorrow and food and growing things--friendship and broken hearts, hot sex and broken promises. Yes, and the kitchen sink, too! Several of them, in Airstream trailers, no less.

Here's the blurb: Popular blogger and foodie queen Lavender Wills reigns over Lavender Honey Farms, a serene slice of organic heaven nestled in Oregon wine country. Lavender is determined to keep her legacy from falling into the profit-driven hands of uncaring relatives, and she wants an heir to sustain her life’s work after she’s gone. So she invites her three closest online friends—fellow food bloggers, women of varied ages and backgrounds—out to her farm. She hopes to choose one of them to inherit it—but who?

There’s Ginny, the freckle-faced Kansas cake baker whose online writing is about to lead her out of a broken marriage and into a world of sensual delights. And Ruby, young, pregnant, devoted to the organic movement, who’s looking for roots—and the perfect recipe to heal a shattered heart. Finally, Val, smart and sophisticated, a wine enthusiast who needs a fresh start for her teenage daughter after tragedy has rocked their lives.

Fear not, dear readers, buy the book and dream of spring. A feel-good, heart-warming, restore-your-faith, life-affirming little jewel of a novel. Breathe in the wafting scent of lavender tea, prepare your mouth for the luscious burst of scones and honey, and prepare to laugh and  cry with a few friends. Did I mention I really liked it?

(Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance EARC for review.)


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