Predictable plot? Perhaps, but Isabel Wolff's latest novel is also predictably enjoyable, a relaxing read with appealing characters and an intriguing premise. Gabriella (Ella) Graham's life was irrevocably altered at age 5 when her father, John Sharp, deserted her mother for another woman and disappeared abruptly from their lives. Now 35 and a successful portrait artist, Ella has a loving adoptive father, Roy, and a younger sister, Chloe, who is seeing Nathan Rossi, a handsome Italian- American currently living and working in London. Ella's mother, Sue, is a former ballerina whose last performance before a broken ankle ended her career, was as the tragic Giselle.
Ella has good memories of her early childhood along with unresolved issues related to her loving father's abdication to Australia, and when she suddenly receives a text message from him she resolves to avoid stirring up old hurt feelings by ignoring his suggestion that they reconnect. Sue is in the midst of planning Chloe and Nate's wedding while Ella, painting Nate's portrait, finds herself battling inappropriate feelings of attraction to her future brother-in-law. In the midst of Ella's emotional confusion, her mother, always controlling, insists that John Sharp should be relegated to the past and not forgiven for his destruction of his family and betrayal of his wife and daughter. Wolff adds a couple of nice, but not entirely unexpected, twists to the story that set it apart from your typical chick lit and the addition of step-by-step details about Ella's portrait painting methodology (along with several related sub-plots) will be of interest to anyone that enjoys art.
No comments:
Post a Comment