The Swan Thieves review

   I know it's been less than a month but I finished The Swan Thieves early.  Once I got into it, I was hooked.  I couldn't help but compare it to Kostova's first novel, The Historian, as I was reading.  In my opinion The Swan Thieves is the better written book.  It centers on a psychiatrist, Dr. Marlowe, and his new patient, Robert Oliver, who attacked a painting and thereby ends up in Dr. Marlowe's care.  (Yes you read that right, he's the attempted murderer of a painting).  Anyways, the book follows Marlow's journey as he tries to unravel why Oliver attacked the painting, and why he keeps painting the same woman over and over again. 
   As with the Historian, much of The Swan Thieves is told in letters written between the characters.  This may sound boring or even confusing, but it's not.  It adds a nice flow to the story.  There really is no mystery, unless you're not paying attention to the story.  I figured out what happened about halfway through the book; however that didn't stop me from finishing it.  The imagery Kostova uses in very vivid and makes you feel like you're there in the story.  If you like art at all you'll probably enjoy the book even more, as it's a big part of the story.   
   Some of the characters could have used a bit more depth to them; Oliver's ex-wife and his former lover had pretty much the same tone and Marlowe himself was pretty one-dimensional.  Robert Oliver and some of the supporting characters had more life and better characterization to them thankfully.  Another problem I had with the book is how quickly Oliver gets well.  He was released at the end of the book after having one (one!) conversation with Dr. Marlowe.  Their only conversation, actually, as he refused to say one word to Dr. Marlow throughout the book.  It seems a little unreasonable that Marlowe would release Oliver from his care so quickly.  But then I'm not an expert on mental hospitals since I've never been in one (not yet anyways, give me few years) so perhaps I'm wrong.  In any case the book was very enjoyable, if a bit flawed.  However despite not being perfectly executed the book does have soul; I can't say that about a lot of books I read.
      

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