Doesn’t the synopsis sound divine? I thought so too. I checked this book out from the library because the synopsis coupled with the cover won me over. There’s an ethereal sense about the girl on the cover, perhaps the curve of her cheeks that whispers of vulnerability and I’m going to wax poetic until I stop myself.Okay, I’m done.Anyway, the book didn’t deliver as I had hoped it would. It was sort of like seeing the potential, knowing it was in there but failing ultimately to find it manifested. I liked the way Ivy was characterized and the other characters too were superbly delineated. The villains, the supporting characters, most of them were granted the attention I love in my books.There is this painter in the book who is called “The Italian.” Now, if you’re into art and paintings, you’ll probably know more than me but I didn’t. I couldn’t understand what his importance was to the story and honestly, the book ended and he still didn’t seem to have gained much importance to the narrative. There was no point to him. So why is he granted that much importance? Because he’s the famous artist (I think one of the Rossetti brothers, I’m only familiar with Christina Rossetti and that too because of her Dear John poem) and…This book had sparks of brilliance that failed to materialize into a full blown fire. None of the plot lines were explored to my satisfaction and the ending was just an abandonment of the narrative. What happens to Ivy? Why doesn’t the mother get punished? And what about the Italian? There was no disclosure, no poetic justice (or justice of any kind), there were no developments of character…it seemed more like a vignette (albeit an extended one) than a novel. I am not saying that all novels have to linear or follow the pattern of a beginning, middle and end. What I’m saying is that when I’m reading a book, I expect to take away something from it other than a lingering annoyance. It is because I cared about the characters and because they were intriguing that I read the book. The entire book is one giant tease. Honestly. Which is a pity because it could have been so much more.
