With Violets by Elizabeth Robards

Review by Mirah W. (mwelday)

I remember being in my high school art class when I first learned about the Impressionists.  The way they painted the everyday moments of life changed the conception of art.  These artists had a different perspective and used their brushstrokes to bring light to canvas in a way that hadn’t been done before.  I can’t imagine the world without the haystacks and sunsets of Monet, the movement and beauty of Degas’ ballerinas, or the faces and events captured by Renoir.

But amongst the men were a few women.  One of the most well-known is Berthe Morisot.  She is the main character in With Violets by Elizabeth Robards.  Robards sweeps her readers back to Paris and gives us a glimpse into the lives of the artists who would change the landscape of what art could look like and how art is defined.

The novel opens with Berthe at the Louvre, copying the masters and trying to create a life of her own with her talent and canvas. She is past prime marrying age, as her mother is always willing to point out.  Berthe’s life is set on a path of happiness, heartbreak and scandal when she catches the eye of artist Edouard Manet.  Manet is a successful artist and he and Berthe begin what will become a heart-wrenching romance.  Even through her tumultuous relationship with Edouard, Berthe never loses sight of her real goal: to be recognized as a true artist, just as the men of her social circle.

Berthe joins some of her male artist colleagues, including Monet and Renoir, to have an exhibition of their own.  Tired of the constraints placed on them, they longed for an outlet to choose for themselves what paintings would be part of an exhibition.  They formed the Cooperative and Anonymous Association of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers so they could independently showcase their works of art.   It is after this exhibition when the term ‘Impressionism’ is first used.

What Robards provides with this novel is a walk alongside the brilliant artists of the Impressionist movement.  We see they were real people with real problems; they argued with one another on the best way to gain a voice for themselves and their work.  Berthe was ahead of her time. She was an independent thinker when women were supposed to be compliant and follow the leads of their husbands.  Berthe followed her dream of being an artist even though it wasn’t what her family and society thought she should do.

I think Robards painted a masterpiece with this novel. It would have been amazing to sit next to Berthe as she painted at the Louvre or traded banter with Degas but being able to read With Violets was the next best thing.

Fata Morgana by William Kotzwinkle

Review by Matt B. (BuffaloSavage)

William Kotzwinkle blends elements of fantasy and mystery in this curious novel.  Set in 1861 in Paris, detective Picard finds he’s getting the crappy assignments simply because he burnt a tenement down in the course of an unsuccessful pursuit of the serial killer Baron Mantes.

Picard’s mission is to investigate the doings of a charlatan who’s separating gullible members of the aristocracy from their money. The swindler is using a fortune-telling machine that pops out predictions on the order of, “People close to you have been taking advantage of you. Your basic honesty has been getting in your way.” Really? Like that’s not accurate for, like, everybody?

The fantasy elements are keen senses of wonder and the macabre, especially in the descriptions of the toy market in Vienna and the climax set at a masquerade ball. There is also the inevitable quest, which takes Picard to Nuremburg, Vienna, and remote districts of Hungary.

Feeling bewitched by feelings of dread and fear of his own demise, he finds himself in odd interviews with a hashish-smoking police chief, a kindly Gepetto-like toymaker, and a primitive family in rural Hungary. These evocative passages reminded PI Lew Archer’s quests for information in Ross Macdonald’s crime novels.

Not being a reader of fantasy, I have no feeling for whether knowledgeable fantasy fans would  like this 1977 novel. I’m confident that mystery fans who are looking for something different will probably like it. Kotzwinkle writes plain English, able to get across the uncanny without resorting to over the top language. He follows the conventions of a mystery fairly. Plus, though the hero is insecure, middle-aged and overweight, he’s quite the hit with the ladies. I suspect this will console middle-aged and overweight male readers,  though fans of erotica may find the sexy passages rather like alcohol-free beer.

Other books by William Kotzwinkle:

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

Doctor Rat

The World Is Big and I’m So Small

Walter the Farting Dog

Tainted Night, Tainted Blood by E.S. Moore

Review by Kelsey O.

First Line:

“The body lay crumpled in the driveway—a heap of cloth that could have been anything if not for the distinctive smell that drifted on the light breeze.”

Kat, aka Lady Death, is back taking down one vampire house after another. In Moore’s follow-up to To Walk the Night, Kat is faced with a new challenge. Someone is also taking down vampire houses and werewolves and they aren’t making it pretty. They are also killing innocent Purebloods. Kat notices that the kills look like what she did before she was changed and before she had silver weapons. But who is doing this and why? When Kat comes face to face with the person behind this new rash of killings, she is faced with a new dilemma. This person, who she once thought dead, is someone near and dear to her heart. But how did he survive and how will she end his murderous rampage without killing him? Kat also discovers a little town that seems to be under a spell. She is drawn to it yet in her mind she knows that something just isn’t right. But when you can forget your troubles and worries, would you want to know the secret?

The town, Delai, that Moore introduces is a mystery and I am curious to see where he is going with this. It has many interesting characters and even when reading about it, you feel peace and wonder maybe this is a good place for Kat. Here Purebloods, wolves and vampires all live in harmony with each other but sometimes something too good can’t be true, right? Moore makes us anticipate what will happen in this serene town and what Levi, the so-called leader, has in store for Kat.

A storyline that I was hoping would progress would be the one between Kat and Adrian. There is an attraction there but Kat is so stuck on fighting it that it at times it is frustrating. Adrian isn’t a golden boy that is for sure and his very neanderthal thinking is obviously a trait that will have to be curbed for these two to have any kind of relationship.

Moore continues his dark and terrifying world with a great second installment in his Kat Redding series. Moore’s characters are raw and edgy. Kat’s sidekick, Ethan and his demon, Beligral, are brought to the forefront more. I wish there could have been more growth out of Kat. She is still struggling with being a vampire and finding a place in this world. Being alone is what is making her weak. She is also still running head on into trouble without thinking and seems to end up in a bloody heap. The best thing she does is form a semi-truce with Jonathan, the Luna Cult leader, so maybe there is still hope for her. In the words of Jonathan, “Things would be much easier if we could learn to work together.” If only Kat would see that.