The History of the Mystery, The Lost Painting

I’ve read a number of good books already this year. One of my all time favorite writers Carl Hiassen treated us this year to his latest serving of hi-jinks by his zany characters and barely probable circumstances in his home state of Florida titled Nature Girl.

Isabel Allende wove another romantic historical novel of her native Chile with her novel, Ines of My Soul.

But the book that has knocked me out is a book I have been looking at for well over a year, but didn’t buy. I received Jonathan Harr’s, The Lost Painting as a gift from my family for Christmas.

Harr is one of a small number of authors who has the talent to put a story that would normally be of narrow interest into a compelling narrative. As he defines his characters and places them in their settings, in this case Italy, London and Dublin as he begins to define the journey.

In the midst of a growing appreciation for the artist Caravaggio, two young Italian art history students begin the search for a painting that may or may not still be in existence. I guess it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that eventually the painting would be found, because it wouldn’t make for a very good story if it didn’t, but in this case while the destination is glamorous the trip is fabulous.

Not unlike the painter, Harr’s descriptions of the landscape and events are vivid, deep and compelling. As he describes events, I often felt like I was having coffee in a sidewalk café watching the young girl walking from her school to the library on a spring day in Rome. And while he charms me with these characters, he simultaneously begins to build the improbability of their success.

They are young. They are charming. They are persistent. But their task is formidable as they are going over ground covered by experts for years. They need a break. They get a break and it’s all because they are young, charming and persistent.

Harr moves the story to Dublin where he introduces us to an Italian expatriate art restoration expert, who is dreaming to do something memorable and significant in the world of art.

After frequent stops in London, the whole thing is tied together like one of those Robert Altman films where seemingly separate worlds blend together to give clarity to the issue at hand.

Harr’s narrative is compelling because he builds characters you care about and places them on a journey that is exciting, romantic and worthwhile. I only wish I could find another book like this, but unfortunately they are few and sadly far between.