Miss Garnet's Angel: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Salley Vickers (Author) "Death is outside life but it alters it..." (more)
Key Phrases: oro pallido, angel panel, lilac dress, Julia Garnet, Miss Garnet, Signora Mignelli (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Guardian angels have attained such trendy status in American popular fiction that it's refreshing to read Vickers, a writer from across the Atlantic, whose subtle depiction of a life touched by a heavenly spirit carries not a hint of clich‚. Her debut novel is an unpretentious gem of a book that charts the late coming-of-age of Miss Julia Garnet, a retired English schoolteacher who spends six months in Venice after her lifelong companion, Harriet, dies. Venice has a magical effect on reserved Julia: a dyed-in-the-wool Communist, she relaxes in her antipathy toward religion, and even begins to visit the local church. There, she becomes enamored of a series of paintings that tell the story of the Apocryphal book of Tobit, a tale that mixes elements of Judaism with the religion of Zoroaster. In the story, young Tobias travels to Medea, part of the Persian Empire, to collect a debt for his father, blind Tobit. He is accompanied on his journey by a hired guide who turns out to be the Angel Raphael. As Julia learns more about Tobias's trek, she embarks upon a soul-altering journey of her own. She falls in love with an art dealer, Carlo, and befriends Sarah and Toby, twins working on the restoration of a Venetian chapel. When Toby disappears suddenly, after discovering a priceless Renaissance painting, Julia finds out that neither Carlo nor the twins are exactly what they seem--but that the Angel Raphael's watchful spirit will help good prevail. (Feb.)Forecast: This touching novel, a sleeper hit in Britain, should win American fans eager for a treatment of religious themes without the gooey sentiment that often accompanies the topic of angels.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review
'Subtle, unexpected and haunting.' Penelope Fitzgerald 'Very kind, very funny.' John Bayley 'Writes like a haunted angel.' The Times 'Rich, complex and haunting!she makes the ancient story as riveting as Miss Garnet's own adventures.' Sunday Times 'The sort of novel I really enjoy.' John Bayley Reveals itself as a surprising exploration of the mysteries of imagination and faith.' Joanna Trollope, Daily Telegraph, Book of the Year 'A refreshing, gentle story.' Anita Brookner, Spectator, Book of the Year 'A subtle, witty tale.' John de Falbe, Spectator 'Delightfully affecting.' Julia Neuberger, Independent, Book of the Year 'Destined for a long life.' David Sexton, Evening Standard, Book of the Year 'If you like Penelope Fitzgerald or Barbara Pym, try Salley Vickers.' Sunday Telegraph 'Original and delightful.' Woman's Journal --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786708239
• ISBN-13: 978-0786708239
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #156,333 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A glowing jewel of a book., March 6, 2003

By	Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Miss Garnet's Angel (Paperback)

Retired school teacher, Julia Garnet, is lonely and at a loss with what to do with her life after the death of her flat mate of many years, and decides to spend 6 months in Venice. A confirmed communist, she is amazed at the ease with which she is falling under the spell of the magnificent architecture, especially the churches, which at first she finds decadent, in view of her strict anti-church attitude. She befriends a young couple who are restoring an old chapel and becomes very involved in their lives, as well as meeting- and being totally charmed by a very dashing art dealer- who wines and dines her.Julia falls in love for the first time in her life and is shattered when things don't turn out as well as she'd hoped. I found this book to have an other-worldly feel to it as though Venice itself was responsible for normally prosiac people acting differently, just as if they were somehow charmed and under the influence of old paintings and statues, particularly those of the angel Raphael, whose biblical story interweaves with that of Julia. It's a gem of a book with such a luminous feel to it that I'm sure I'll read it again fairly soon.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good theme inside bad story, December 31, 2005

By	Maria Álvarez Folgado "alfaris5" (castellar del valles, barcelona Spain) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Miss Garnet's Angel (Paperback)

I wanted to like this book. Badly. Maybe that's why I kept turning pages, seeking for some redeeming feature or moment. Alas, I found none. The theme of the novel is obvious from the beginning: Miss Garnett, the main character, finds herself living a meaningless, loveless life, with (probably many) barren years stretching in front of her. This, the theme of a mid-life crises that sometimes prompts people to make the most daring, sublime...or idiotic...things, is a fruitful one in literature, and many a great writer has chosen to subtlely convey this message inside wonderful stories.

However, subtlety is not to be found here. We are repeatedly hit on the head with this theme from the beginning, and know from page one what is the matter with the character because the annoying authorial voice keeps telling us every two lines in case we forget. We also know from the beginning what is the element that will save Miss Garnett from her loveless life: from the moment she first steps on Venice she keeps having the oddest feelings whenever she enters a church or looks at religious imagery.

Now, don't get me wrong, I feel the greatest respect for religion, and know jungian analysts state that our interest in religious issues increases (or should increase) with this mid-life crisis . Also, I love Jungian theories, and the use they make of religion,literature and art in general -and, surprise surprise, the author has been a Jungian analyst for some time.In fact, there is no problem at all with the theme, only with the way it is conveyed. And with the main character. Because she's so passive that the only thing she does in most of the story is feel oooooodd feelings whenever she steps into a church, and of course to ask herself "what would Marx or Lenin say of all this?" (hint: she has been a leftist all her life). And, while she goes about feeling oooodd and doing nothing, you ask yourself how can other characters (such as Carlo)feel interested in her. But then, it's not long before you learn they are all just cardboard people, characters with no flesh and bone. Utterly boring characters that are used by the author to repeat again and again (without making us feel for one single moment the pain, fear, awe they are supposed to feel) the OBVIOUS message of her novel.

And when the voice shifts and we get a narrator from Biblical times....oh, boy!! What this narrator says sounds so modern and didactical (as if the author wanted to make the story of Tobit understood by VERY STUPID modern-day children, presenting all kind of plausible explanations, like, how could this biblical character have really lived for 180 years?!....logical explanation for stupid children:maybe they didn't count the years in those times as we do now!!!) as to be actually insulting !!!

So, OK, I got the message. But, having been given it by page 5, and having been offered no interesting characters, whose conflicts I can learn something from, or story to delve deeper in the theme and explore it, I wonder why I wasted more time in this book.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A review of this book made it sound quite interesting., March 22, 2001

By	Monica K. Van Ness (Aurora, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

And, though reviews can sometimes lead you astray, this book is a marvelous read! I enjoyed it from beginning to end. To see how far Julia Garnet travels, and how much she learns during this story, moved me. And the changes move along slowly. You aren't battered with them. The reader sees Miss Garnet trying to work things through, so that she can move forward as she needs to. A wonderful character.