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The Swan Thieves

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The Swan Thieves Cover

ISBN13: 9780316065788
ISBN10: 0316065781
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Review-A-Day

"Kostova takes big risks in her leisurely narrative, which interweaves multiple time frames to unfold revelations that many readers will have anticipated. Those revelations are not the primary purpose of a text that explores, but does not presume to resolve, the enigmas of artistic and personal commitment." Wendy Smith, Chicago Tribune (read the entire Chicago Tribune review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient, Marlow finds that order destroyed. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

From the bestselling author of The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love. The Swan Thieves is a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.

Review:

"[Signature] Reviewed by Katharine WeberElizabeth Kostova made a dramatic debut in 2005 with her megabestselling The Historian. The first debut novel to hit the New York Times bestseller list at #1, The Historian has been published in 44 languages, has more than 1.5 million copies in print, and there's a Sony film in the works. A hefty, quirky, historical vampire thriller that took 10 years to write and for which a reported $2 million advance was paid, The Historian has managed through sheer bulk and majestic grandeur to confer upon itself the literary weight of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, even as it offers up some of the easy delights and generic writing skimps that put it on the Da Vinci Code shelf.The Swan Thieves revisits certain themes and strategies of The Historian, chief among them an academic hero who is drawn into a quest for knowledge about the central mystery, only to develop an obsession that becomes the driving force of the plot. Each chapter marks a point of view shift from the previous one, with the narrative shared among a variety of characters telling the story in a variety of ways. The events range from the present moment back to the 19th century of the painters Beatrice de Clerval and her uncle Olivier Vignot, whose intertwined lives, letters, and paintings are at the heart of the story.This time out, Kostova's central character, Andrew Marlow, has a license to ask prying questions as he unravels the secrets and pursues the truth, because he is a psychiatrist. (Before Freud, genre quest novels depended on sleuths like Sherlock Holmes to play this role.) Even though Marlow comes across as a sensible, trained therapist, after only the briefest of encounters with his newly hospitalized patient, the renowned painter Robert Oliver, Marlow develops an obsessive desire to solve the mystery of why Oliver attempted to slash a painting in the National Gallery. Marlow is himself a painter, and the Oliver case has been given to him because of his knowledge of art. But Oliver is uncooperative and mute, though he conveniently gives Marlow permission to talk to anyone in his life before falling silent. Oliver's inexplicable behavior, which includes poring over a stolen cache of old letters written in French, triggers what I can only call a rampant countertransference response in Marlow, whose overwhelming obsession becomes a strange and frequently far-fetched journey of discovery as he persists to the point of trespass and invasion. Is this the crossing of the 'ultimate border' promised by the ARC's jacket copy, the enactment of the fantasy of one's therapist developing an obsessive fascination that blots out all other reality?Less urgent in its events than The Historian, The Swan Thieves makes clear that Kostova's abiding subject is obsession. Legions of fans of the first book have been waiting impatiently, or perhaps even obsessively, for this novel. The Swan Thieves succeeds both in its echoes of The Historian and as it maps new territory for this canny and successful writer.Katharine Weber's fifth novel, True Confections, will be published by Shaye Areheart Books in January." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"The luxurious artistic detail and richly drawn characters will pull in readers, who will be hard-pressed to stop turning pages....[A] strong sophomore effort, which is sure to be a best seller and a suitable choice for book clubs. Highly recommended." Library Journal (starred review)

Review:

"This novel is not as fast-paced as her best-selling Historian (2005), nor does it contain the chills and thrills that gave that one such wide appeal. Yet fans of other novels about painters, such as Girl in Hyacinth Blue (1999) and Girl with a Pearl Earring (2000), are sure to love this one." Booklist

Review:

"Neither Robert's decisions nor Marlow's make a lot of sense, but lush prose and abundant drama will render logic beside the point for most readers." Kirkus Reviews

Synopsis:

Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love to create a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.
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About the Author

Elizabeth Kostova is the author of the international bestseller The Historian. She graduated from Yale and holds an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she won the Hopwood Award for the Novel-in-Progress.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 5 comments:
Helen Johnson, January 1, 2011 (view all comments by Helen Johnson)
In The Swan Thieves Elizabeth Kostova weaves a compelling tale of two eras, multiple characters,and art world chicanery. Her complex but accessible story is unforgettable and unputdownable.
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gaby317, February 10, 2010 (view all comments by gaby317)
The Swan Thieves is another carefully crafted, complex and nontraditional mystery. When the book opens, we follow the narrator and psychologist, Andrew Marlow, as he tries to make sense of Robert Oliver's apparently irrational behavior.

While it is Robert Oliver that comes as the first mystery, his work and obsession lead Marlow and us readers to a tragic secret. As Kostova captures the world of France in the 1800s and transports us to the lives of artists of the time, we join Marlow as he uncovers clue after clue to reveal the true secret behind The Swan Thieves.

Masterfully done, part mystery and part love story, The Swan Thieves is an unusual and complex work.

ISBN-10: 0316065781 - Hardcover $26.00
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; First Edition edition (January 12, 2010), 576 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
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MindyBuchanan, February 4, 2010 (view all comments by MindyBuchanan)
I honestly can't see why people would really complain about this book. True, in many ways, it is very unlike The Historian. However, I find that rather refreshing. How boring is it (at least for me) to have an author continue to churn out the exact same storyline over and over and over again (ahem, Dan Brown, Patricia Cornwell)? I admire that Kostova takes years between novels, carefully and artfully researching her subject matter.

She must have delved so deep into the world of art, she either began painting herself or is incredibly intuitive. Kostova writes with a bright understanding of the world of art and history. To me, her research is one of the things that give her fiction such a fantastic tone.

I don't want to give anything away, since this book is as much a mystery as it is a story of love, betrayal, art, mental illness, and the lengths at which we will go to understand them all. It is a slow boiling read that traps your imagination and leaves you wishing for more. Though I would say not so much that you'd want more to the character's stories (the ending was well paced), just more of Kostova's writing in general.

If you're looking for a replica of The Historian, you'll not find it here. However, if you're looking to be plainly set in a wonderful, if not mundane world, where character development slightly outweigh fast moving plot lines, look no further. It's certainly worth the time.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780316065788
Author:
Kostova, Elizabeth
Publisher:
Little Brown and Company
Subject:
General
Subject:
Psychological fiction
Subject:
Painters
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
2010
Publication Date:
20100131
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Pages:
564
Dimensions:
9.54x6.62x1.83 in. 1.82 lbs.
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Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Popular Fiction » Suspense

The Swan Thieves Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$4.50 In Stock
Product details 564 pages Little Brown and Company - English 9780316065788 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "[Signature] Reviewed by Katharine WeberElizabeth Kostova made a dramatic debut in 2005 with her megabestselling The Historian. The first debut novel to hit the New York Times bestseller list at #1, The Historian has been published in 44 languages, has more than 1.5 million copies in print, and there's a Sony film in the works. A hefty, quirky, historical vampire thriller that took 10 years to write and for which a reported $2 million advance was paid, The Historian has managed through sheer bulk and majestic grandeur to confer upon itself the literary weight of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, even as it offers up some of the easy delights and generic writing skimps that put it on the Da Vinci Code shelf.The Swan Thieves revisits certain themes and strategies of The Historian, chief among them an academic hero who is drawn into a quest for knowledge about the central mystery, only to develop an obsession that becomes the driving force of the plot. Each chapter marks a point of view shift from the previous one, with the narrative shared among a variety of characters telling the story in a variety of ways. The events range from the present moment back to the 19th century of the painters Beatrice de Clerval and her uncle Olivier Vignot, whose intertwined lives, letters, and paintings are at the heart of the story.This time out, Kostova's central character, Andrew Marlow, has a license to ask prying questions as he unravels the secrets and pursues the truth, because he is a psychiatrist. (Before Freud, genre quest novels depended on sleuths like Sherlock Holmes to play this role.) Even though Marlow comes across as a sensible, trained therapist, after only the briefest of encounters with his newly hospitalized patient, the renowned painter Robert Oliver, Marlow develops an obsessive desire to solve the mystery of why Oliver attempted to slash a painting in the National Gallery. Marlow is himself a painter, and the Oliver case has been given to him because of his knowledge of art. But Oliver is uncooperative and mute, though he conveniently gives Marlow permission to talk to anyone in his life before falling silent. Oliver's inexplicable behavior, which includes poring over a stolen cache of old letters written in French, triggers what I can only call a rampant countertransference response in Marlow, whose overwhelming obsession becomes a strange and frequently far-fetched journey of discovery as he persists to the point of trespass and invasion. Is this the crossing of the 'ultimate border' promised by the ARC's jacket copy, the enactment of the fantasy of one's therapist developing an obsessive fascination that blots out all other reality?Less urgent in its events than The Historian, The Swan Thieves makes clear that Kostova's abiding subject is obsession. Legions of fans of the first book have been waiting impatiently, or perhaps even obsessively, for this novel. The Swan Thieves succeeds both in its echoes of The Historian and as it maps new territory for this canny and successful writer.Katharine Weber's fifth novel, True Confections, will be published by Shaye Areheart Books in January." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review A Day" by , "Kostova takes big risks in her leisurely narrative, which interweaves multiple time frames to unfold revelations that many readers will have anticipated. Those revelations are not the primary purpose of a text that explores, but does not presume to resolve, the enigmas of artistic and personal commitment." (read the entire Chicago Tribune review)
"Review" by , "The luxurious artistic detail and richly drawn characters will pull in readers, who will be hard-pressed to stop turning pages....[A] strong sophomore effort, which is sure to be a best seller and a suitable choice for book clubs. Highly recommended."
"Review" by , "This novel is not as fast-paced as her best-selling Historian (2005), nor does it contain the chills and thrills that gave that one such wide appeal. Yet fans of other novels about painters, such as Girl in Hyacinth Blue (1999) and Girl with a Pearl Earring (2000), are sure to love this one."
"Review" by , "Neither Robert's decisions nor Marlow's make a lot of sense, but lush prose and abundant drama will render logic beside the point for most readers."
"Synopsis" by , Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love to create a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.
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