Welcome to the website for Novels: Art, History, Mystery, and Such offered through OLLI, the University of Delaware's Osher LifeLong Learning Institute during Spring 2023.
The course is being offered in two formats:
In person, on the Newark campus, Thursdays at 9 to 10:45 a.m. (501 S. College Avenue, old Girl Scout building, Room D217)
Virtual, through Zoon, on Wednesdays at 10:45 a. m. (that's our old time slot)
Those of you who have taken my courses before know, all too well, that selecting books is always an arduous task for me. But here they are for spring term. Lots of familiar types--historical novels, traditional mysteries, but with an "art" and "animals" theme holding them together. So, there are a couple of unusual choices on this list, but I think you will enjoy reading them.
Maggie O'Farrell, The Marriage Portrait (353 pps.)
From Amazon's description:
Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble?
As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court’s eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess’s future hangs entirely in the balance. Full of the beauty and emotion with which she illuminated the Shakespearean canvas of Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell turns her talents to Renaissance Italy in an extraordinary portrait of a resilient young woman’s battle for her very survival.
NOTE
Just this past fall, we read Hamnet, Maggie O'Farrell's fictionalized history of Shakespeare's son, but more so his obscure wife Anne, more correctly named Agnes. So I was eager to read and review this follow-up novel. And succumbed. Historically, the novel is set in Renaissance Florence with which I have been enamored for decades because of its art, and as equally fascinated by its infamous politics, namely the Medici family. So that will provide the class session on background to this novel.
But also, this novel is exquisitely written, as was Hamnet. So read consciously, noting for example Lucretia's encounter with the captured tigress early in the novel. I can't resist an exceptional writer.
Jane Smiley, Perestroika in Paris (248 pps.)
From Amazon's description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-selling author: a captivating, brilliantly imaginative story of three extraordinary animals—and a young boy—whose lives intersect in Paris in this "feel-good escape” (The New York Times).
Paras, short for "Perestroika," is a spirited racehorse at a racetrack west of Paris. One afternoon at dusk, she finds the door of her stall open and—she's a curious filly—wanders all the way to the City of Light. She's dazzled and often mystified by the sights, sounds, and smells around her, but she isn't afraid.
Soon she meets an elegant dog, a German shorthaired pointer named Frida, who knows how to get by without attracting the attention of suspicious Parisians. Paras and Frida coexist for a time in the city's lush green spaces, nourished by Frida's strategic trips to the vegetable market. They keep company with two irrepressible ducks and an opinionated raven. But then Paras meets a human boy, Etienne, and discovers a new, otherworldly part of Paris: the ivy-walled house where the boy and his nearly-one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother live in seclusion.
As the cold weather nears, the unlikeliest of friendships bloom. But how long can a runaway horse stay undiscovered in Paris? How long can a boy keep her hidden and all to himself? Jane Smiley's beguiling new novel is itself an adventure that celebrates curiosity, ingenuity, and the desire of all creatures for true love and freedom.
NOTE
Just recently published, in 2020, this novel has been a national bestseller, perhaps because Jane Smiley is a Pulitzer Prize winning author, for A Thousand Acres, the novel based on Shakespeare's King Lear that we read and discussed last term. She's clearly an accomplished writer, so why would she focus her talents on a story about a horse in Paris. As one reviewer wrote, "Plenty of children’s books feature animals at their center, but fables for adults are rare." A Thousand Acres, based on the classic tragedy, was a difficult read, but Perestroika is not. So, let's investigate why this famous author has employed her writing expertise on a horse. But then Geraldine Brooks did a fabulous job. Is there something in the wind here?
Daniel Silva, Portrait of an Unknown Woman (448 pps.)
From Amazon's description
In a spellbinding new masterpiece by #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva, Gabriel Allon undertakes a high-stakes search for the greatest art forger who ever lived. Legendary spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon has at long last severed ties with Israeli intelligence and settled quietly in Venice, the only place where he has ever truly known peace. His beautiful wife, Chiara, has taken over the day-to-day management of the Tiepolo Restoration Company, and their two young children are discreetly enrolled in a neighborhood scuola elementare.
When the eccentric London art dealer Julian Isherwood asks Gabriel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the rediscovery and lucrative sale of a centuries-old painting, he is drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse. Gabriel soon discovers that the work in question, a portrait of an unidentified woman attributed to Sir Anthony van Dyck, is almost certainly a fiendishly clever fake. To find the mysterious figure who painted it—and uncover a multibillion-dollar fraud at the pinnacle of the art world—Gabriel conceives one of the most elaborate deceptions of his career.
Stylish, sophisticated, and ingeniously plotted, Portrait of an Unknown Woman is a wildly entertaining journey through the dark side of the art world. From its elegant opening to the shocking twists of its climax, the novel is a tour de force of storytelling and one of the finest pieces of heist fiction ever written. And it is still more proof that, when it comes to international intrigue and suspense, Daniel Silva has no equal.
NOTE
With this novel, #22 of 22 in the Gabriel Allon series, we're back to Daniel Silva and one of my favorite plots--art theft. A couple of years ago, we read and discussed The English Assassin, so those of you familiar with this series will recognize some of the characters regularly featured in these books. But Gabriel Allon has now retired, at least formally in the fiction, so we're also going to talk about series novels and their dialectic, as well as the art, of course.
Richard Osman, The Man Who Died Twice (400 pps.)
From Amazon's description
Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim—the Thursday Murder Club—are still riding high off their recent real-life murder case and are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet at Cooper’s Chase, their posh retirement village. But they are out of luck. An unexpected visitor—an old pal of Elizabeth’s (or perhaps more than just a pal?)—arrives, desperate for her help. He has been accused of stealing diamonds worth millions from the wrong men and he’s seriously on the lam.
Then, as night follows day, the first body is found. But not the last. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are up against a ruthless murderer who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can our four friends catch the killer before the killer catches them? And if they find the diamonds, too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus? You should never put anything beyond the Thursday Murder Club.
Richard Osman is back with everyone’s favorite mystery-solving quartet, and the second installment of the Thursday Murder Club series is just as clever and warm as the first—an unputdownable, laugh-out-loud pleasure of a read.
NOTE
This is book #2 in the Thursday Murder Club Mystery series. Many of you may have read the first one, appropriately titled The Thursday Murder Club Mystery, so I thought I would opt for the second in the series. And there's a third, The Bullet That Missed, if you like the series and want to continue reading. For those of you who love the traditional murder mystery, this book falls into that category. It's a light, enjoyable read.
Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These (70 pps.)
From Amazon's description
Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, and an international bestseller, this book is "A hypnotic and electrifying Irish tale that transcends country, transcends time." New York Times. Small Things Like These is award-winning author Claire Keegan's landmark new novel, a tale of one man's courage and a remarkable portrait of love and family.
It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.
Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.
NOTE
Perhaps this is a bit of an odd choice for this course, but then I do that occasionally. Notice, it's shortlisted for the Booker Prize, which always gets my attention, and it's only 70 pages. I read it in one sitting because the story just moves you along. And it's Ireland, in keeping with our theme of a country's literature, such as we've done with Australia, Scotland, and India. This is a somewhat strange, but intriguing little book, written by a quite capable author.
Kate Quinn, The Diamond Eye (447 pps.)
From Amazon's description
New York Times bestseller: In 1937 in the snowbound city of Kiev (now known as Kyiv), wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son—but Hitler’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper—a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.
Still reeling from war wounds and devastated by loss, Mila finds herself isolated and lonely in the glittering world of Washington, DC—until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a silent fellow sniper offer the possibility of happiness. But when an old enemy from Mila’s past joins forces with a deadly new foe lurking in the shadows, Lady Death finds herself battling her own demons and enemy bullets in the deadliest duel of her life.
Based on a true story, The Diamond Eye is a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, of a woman who found her place in the world and changed the course of history forever.
NOTE
Just recently published, in 2022, this novel like all of Kate Quinn's previous novels, quickly made it onto the bestseller's list, with 4.6 stars and over 14,000 reviews on Amazon. And apparently, I just can't resist one of her novels. This one may have a bit of a slow opening, a lot of info about snipers in the beginning, but stick with it. Once again, I was up into the wee hours of the morning, speed reading to get to the ending, where there's a bit of a surprise. And it's based on historical fact.
Shelby Van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures (362 pps.)
From Amazon's description:
A charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus. After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
NOTE
Okay, this one's a little different. Yup, a giant pacific octopus is one of our main characters, and therefore this book is consistent with an animal theme of sorts. Again, a little bit of a slow start, this is her debut novel, but once it gets going, I was again speed reading to the end. And it has a happy ending. Although not technically in the mystery genre, the plot revolves around a mystery, solved at the end. It's a lovely novel that I think you'll like, especially if you're fond of sea creatures.