Not an easy book to read. I had to give up, start again, try again, a little at atime. It took me a long time to read. Too long maybe. And yet I was fascinated. The story apparently belongs to the coming of age genre. I’m not sure. It’s a bit of a mystery, bit of a family saga, set in richesse and and the underworld; it seems to cover an awful lot of ground in an awful lot of pages.
It has some delightful and likeable characters, antique restorer Hobie i would really love to get to know in real life. Boris had a charm of his own, and in his own way was probably the most moral character in the outfit. Theo I found just plain annoying. Ok, so he misses his mother. But what was there to stop him giving the picture back earlier. hmmm. Oh and his dreadful girlfriend.
So why did I give this book five stars? It wasn’t for the plot, I can assure you. Her Secret History did a much better job there. No, it was for the language. the descriptions. the atmosphere. Donna Tartt is past mistress – master , mstr ? at evoking ambiance. I couldn’t get enough of it. But 800+ pages is a shade too long, even for me.