Customer Reviews

Solo Goya: Goya and the Duchess of Alba at Sanlúcar

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White's passion for Spain and its leading figures is evident in his earlier biographies of Diego Velazquez and Hernan Cortes, but here he goes farther, taking on in fiction the mystery of the Spanish painter Francisco Goya's torrid and tumultuous affair with the 13th Duchess of Alba.

What is most inspired about this novel is White's use of Goya's paintings, sketches, and prints to intuit the master painter's moods and feelings---for what better place to learn what lies in the heart and mind of an artist than in his work? From the witches and monsters of Goya's caprichos, to the cryptic contemporary discovery of the words "Solo Goya" painted---and then painted over---at the feet of his famous "Black Duchess," Jon Manchip White builds a story of man tormented by his own demons, and the lady who becomes devoted to him.

Here is the passion of Goya's paintings given life. Here is the deaf painter's life given voice, and that lonely voice finally heard and understood. Here, in Solo Goya, is a romance for the ages.