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The Bellini Madonna

Elizabeth Lowry
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2009)
ISBN 9780374110383
Reviewed by Enid Grabiner for Rebecca's Reads (7/09)


Thomas Lynch, once a respected and gifted art historian, has a penchant for too much drinking and a fondness for young students, reducing him to disgrace among his peers. He is fired from his professorial position in a small New England college and sets off in pursuit of a fabled missing painting, that of a Bellini Madonna. In newly found letters, its provenance is attributed to a James Roper.

Hoping to recover the painting and receive fame and fortune for the find, he travels to the Mawle, in the English countryside, hoping to wheedle his way into the deteriorating home of Roper’s granddaughter under pretense of inventorying her art collection.  As he secretly searches through the manor in hopes of finding clues, he discovers a diary providing evidence of the painting’s existence and whereabouts. He becomes embroiled with provocative Anna, daughter of the frequently absent landlady, Maddalena, her young relative Vicky and a large menacing gardener. As the search continues, the reader wonders if Lynch becomes the betrayer or the betrayed?

This mystery is complicated by the author through the overuse of erudite prose, compelling the average reader to have a thesaurus at hand. "The Bellini Madona" offers a very complex narrative and plot with a very unlikeable central character. This first novel by Elizabeth Lowry is not easy reading for the typical mystery enthusiast. It is rather for the lover of literature and art who is willing to put in some effort appreciate the humor and intricate story line.

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