Today's review addresses a book set in nineteenth-century Paris. It blends historical research with fictional developments and imaginative details. According to the description, it was inspired by "the real-life model for Degas’s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen and a notorious criminal trial of the era".
Cathy Marie Buchanan's "The Painted Girls" follows the van Goethem sisters as they struggle with poverty, addiction, morality, and "civilization", all against a backdrop of ballet and art and crime.
Antoinette and Marie, the two elder sisters in the family, find their own ways to hold themselves - and their mother and younger sister, Charlotte - together after their father's death. Every bit of money they earn though, their mother loses in bottles of absinthe.
Marie heads to dance, where she begins modelling for the artist Edgar Degas. Antoinette finds work in the theatre, and becomes lost in the love of a dangerous young man. While Marie struggles with her role and identity, Antoinette must choose between honest labour and more profitable venues of income open to young willing women.
The details in this book were rich. The setting positively dripped with intricacies. Reading it, you were transported to the smells of the bakery, the filth of the streets, the blisters and sweat of the dance studio, the steam of the laundry.
The story itself is disturbing; this is not a feel-good romp through Paris' history. There is scandal, and drama, and darkness, and art...
I should have loved this book.
I didn't.
It was... okay.
The plot was lost somewhere in the pacing. Even the suspense of the crime - a murder trial, even! - was kind of... forgettable. It was fine, and in the moment, I was interested, but I was not caught up in it.
I am okay with slow pacing. I am okay with switching between character perspectives. Hell, I do that in my own book!
But I need to actually CARE about the characters in order for that to work. I just didn't.
I wonder if the story would have been more effective had the author chosen to stay only one sister, so there could have been some development that made us care.
All in all, there are good "bones" here; it just didn't come together for me. My mind wandered; I felt myself skimming through parts. There are so many elements that should make this story amazing; it just fell flat for me.
However, there are many people who feel differently. A glance on goodreads shows many 4 and 5 star, glowing reviews. Perhaps, then, I am missing something?
My overall feeling in reading this book was akin to a shoulder shrug. It was fine, but just that: fine.
What is a disappointing book that you've read?
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