The Swan Thieves: A Novel [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Kostova (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 12, 2010

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlow, 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.

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

[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.
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Review

"The many ardent admirers of The Historian will be happy to learn that The Swan Thieves offers plenty of the same pleasures." (Washington Post )

"A must-read for lovers of historical fiction....The Swan Thieves shows the same meticulous historical research and scene-setting description that elevated The Historian from a vampire tale to a work of art." (Associated Press )

"A compelling story....Fans of The Historian have been waiting a long time for a new work from Kostova. They won't be disappointed." (Denver Post )

"Kostova's eloquent prose possesses the power to both transport and inspire." (BookPage )

"Kostova knows how to craft a breathless ending." (Entertainment Weekly ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (January 12, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316065781
• ISBN-13: 978-0316065788
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (246 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth Kostova's engrossing debut novel is the culmination of ten years of research and a lifetime of imagining--since Kostova's girlhood, when her father entertained her with tales of Dracula, she has envisioned the story that would become The Historian. With her academic spirit and extraordinary talent, she's spun an intricate tale of sprawling mystery and suspense. Kostova graduated from Yale and holds an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she won the Hopwood Award for the Novel-in-Progress.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

165 of 178 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful mystery about art and love. January 12, 2010

By Alayne VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

(Written in December) If you've read Kostova's first novel, The Historian, then you know she likes to tell a long story; and you know that it will be rich, and deep, and full of life and mystery and intrigue and suspense. If you haven't read The Historian then I highly recommend it. The good news is that you can get it now, whereas The Swan Thieves will not be released until January 12, 2010. I actually feel a little bad that I am reviewing this now, since it's not released for a while, but I want it to be fresh in my head, and I promise I won't spoil it.

The Swan Thieves begins by introducing us to Dr. Andrew Marlow, a psychiatrist whose newest patient is Robert Oliver, a painter who attacked a piece of artwork at the National Gallery of Art. Robert has been recently divorced from his wife Kate, has abandoned his latest girlfriend, and now refuses to speak. Since his patient refuses to talk, Marlow must delve into Robert's personal life to find the mystery behind Robert's display of violence and lack of communication, as well as discover the identity of the woman he paints over and over. In doing so, Marlow discovers a long hidden secret and scandal in the world of 19th century art.

This book is like an onion; fold after fragrant fold reveals something intriguing, spicy, and a little exotic. It's a mystery, an old fashioned love story, and a new romance all at the same time. It's not simply about a psychiatrist and his patient, it's about the pressure of people's expectations, and the lengths you go to in order to protect the ones you love. It's about art, and passion, and beauty in barren landscapes.

Kostova artfully switches between the present dialogue of Marlow, who is telling this story to us, and the past entries of ancient letters and scenes from the 19th century, as well as chapters from other characters' points of view. She skillfully rotates the other characters so that we're never subjected to second-hand information. It's almost as though there are several stories woven into one, but each of them as lovely as the one before, and the one after. It's a multilayered novel, with more than one question and answer that Marlow, and now the reader, is searching for. Why did Robert attack the painting? Who are the women in his life, and what do they mean to him? How are the ancient letters he reads over and over related? Is Robert actually ill, or is there more to his silence and obsession? I found myself wondering all of these things, and hypothesizing on my own as to what would happen. There came a point, about seven-eighths of the way through the book, when part of the puzzle fell into place and I realized my breathing was so shallow, and my shoulders were so hunched, that I was completely tense waiting for the piece of information I had just received. I had to swallow the lump in my throat and take a deep breath and relax before I passed out on the train. That would have been great, right?

I am not sure which character I like best in this book, because truthfully Kostova's characters are so tangible and realistic that I can't not like any single one of them, even Robert. If you wanted her second book to follow the vampire theme from The Historian, you will be disappointed. But if you want a mystery, an old-fashioned honest-to-goodness mystery complete from fiction and imagination, then this is a book you must read. You will not regret it.

I'm torn between four and five stars on this one. It's a fantastically wonderful, beautiful book and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

82 of 95 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "We are never really alert to our destinies, are we?" January 12, 2010

By Luan Gaines HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The central figure of Kostova's impressive novel is a gifted artist, Robert Oliver, who is arrested when he attacks a painting hanging in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, "Leda". In the painting a mortal woman is ravished by Zeus in the form of a swan, a theme that is woven through the novel, a mystery begun in the days of the French Impressionists. Thus does the author join the stories of two centuries, the late 19th and 20th, the characters as entwined as their paths through life. When psychiatrist Andrew Marlow accepts Robert Oliver as a patient in Goldengrove, the larger-than-life, enigmatic painter utters only a few sentences before he refuses to speak at all. Both intrigued and frustrated, Marlow makes it his particular mission to learn what has brought this talented man to this state, discovering along the way not only the circumstances of the heartbreaking world of genius but the limitations of his calling.

Kostova succeeds on so many levels in this layered, passionate novel, a study of human failings and the price of true art, from Oliver's own painful journey to the women who have known and loved him, as well as a female artist of great promise, a contemporary of the Impressionists, Beatrice de Cleval, and her mentor, artist Olivier Vignot. From one century to another, Kostova explores the unique and tortuous landscape of the dedicated artist, the power and beauty of creativity and the emotional devastation in its wake. She allows the reader to fall in love with an unattainable genius on an impossible quest, to feel the pain of a wife who isn't enough and a lover who cannot keep what she does not own. Then there is Beatrice de Cleval, one of the few women to be embraced by the great Salon of Paris and the inspiration for her powerful last painting, a seminal work that contains the heart of the mystery.

From one century to another, Kostova never loses focus, her characters beautifully rendered, their hopes and flaws, dreams and failures. A great love story fuels a mystery in 1877 that reaches into the 20th century and the world of an artist consumed by his particular obsession. From the windswept coast in Normandy to the predawn hours as Oliver paints furiously in his attic, the smell of turpentine is pungent, the pain of creativity tactile. Blending Impressionist France with more modern day Washington, DC, this is a sweeping novel of love and its costs, of artistic genius and its demands, a grand tale that is both revelatory and shocking, where spirit escapes the boundaries of daily life. Luan Gaines/2010.

224 of 278 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Plotless and plodding January 13, 2010

By K. Huff VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I had such high hopes for this novel. I really enjoyed The Historian, so I thought I couldn't go wrong with Kostova's second book, a novel about Impressionism and psychology. I'm afraid she suffered a little bit from second-novel-itis this time, as she's written a novel that left me scratching my head quite a bit. I loved the premise: psychology and art are two things that you don't usually see thrown in together in a novel. It's a different subject matter altogether from The Historian, but I was hopeful nonetheless. Oh, how it falls short of expectations. I found that I was struggling to work my way through this sleeper of a novel. And the fact that I just described this book as "work" should tell you a lot about what I thought. Novels should be pleasure, not work.

First, the author gives a lot of detail. A lot. Excruciatingly, extraneously so. Need directions from Washington, D.C. to Greenville, North Carolina? This book can get you there! In many novels, lots of detail can be good, if it's used in the right way, but here it was distracting--Kostova gives us the background stories of even the most minor characters! Even for the major characters, details of their backgrounds are casually thrown in, sometimes simply because it is convenient to the story. For example, Andrew Marlowe goes down to North Carolina to visit Kate, and he says that the reason he knows the Virginia area so well is that he was at UVA. Then he never really follows up on that. Many of the characters and their motives simply aren't believable: in one scene, she has Kate walk into Lord & Taylor in New York City for a Christmas gift for her mother, only to tell her reader in the next breath that a) Kate can't afford the merchandise and b) her mother hates Lord & Taylor! So why go in there in the first place? Oh, yes, because that's where she happens to meet Robert--another advance-the-plot mechanism that just didn't work for me.

Another problem I had was with the lack of tonality. All of the characters' narrations sound exactly the same. In fact, had I not known from the get-go that Marlow was a man, I could have sworn that his character was female!

There are also some consistency issues and repetition: Andrew Marlowe tells us early on that he never does research on the internet, and then twenty pages on he says something to the effect of, "I should probably tell you now that I don't like doing research on the internet." But wait, didn't he tell us that before? And all of the examples I've cited above are only from the first hundred pages or so; there are probably more examples of how ineptly this novel is written and presented to the reader.

This book lacks that "je ne se quois" that The Historian has. In this book, the art bits are well-written and descriptive, but this book lacked that "something else" that made me want to keep turning pages. I couldn't get emotionally involved in the story the way I did with The Historian; the book is nearly 600 pages, and for that length a book should be compelling enough to make me want to read on. This book sadly just wasn't that for me. It's expecially disappointing considering that I had such high hopes for this book--after all, we've waited five years for it! I'm sure my opinion won't be popular, but that's just the way I see this book.