First. It is necessary to mention the beauty of the prose. It is glorious. Like, clutch-your-heart-and-read-it-again glorious. The book reminds me of a painting. As though the empty pages were a canvas and the words the paint. Ms. Whelan is a master at using these words to create a painting that is rich, layered and textured.The book deals with the relationships between a child and her parents. Specifically the relationship between a child who was abandoned and the father who abandoned her. It is about painting and a coming of age.The thing is, as beautiful as the writing is, as heartfelt as the sentiments seem, I was not sold on it. For one thing, having been a teenager myself not very long ago (okay fine, some time ago), I am aware of how selfish teenagers are. At that time in life, the bulk of our attention belongs to ourselves. Kate’s selflessness which while being admirable is not very realistic. It’s not that I can’t see a teenager being that selfless, I just don’t find it very believable. Also the fact that she does not seem to resent her father as much as someone in her position would. It doesn’t ring true. Especially when the father fails to redeem himself even at the end of the novel. They don’t have a conversation, a true, real conversation and I am left perturbed by Kate’s decision to change her last name to her father’s. No matter how many justifications were made about his character, actions and words, I felt that all it would do to a child, especially a teenager, would push her away. You need age and a certain amount of retrospection to view your parents as people in their own right.Anyway, that said, the writing is really gorgeous. I had some problems with the story but in the end, I read it through because the prose was too beautiful not to.
