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The Bellini Madonna
Thomas Lynch was once a brilliant young art historian. Now he is a disgraced, middle-aged art historian, overly fond of the bottle and of his fresh young students. But everything will change now that he’s on the trail of a lost masterpiece.
Thomas Lynch was once a brilliant young art historian. Now he is a disgraced, middle-aged art historian, overly fond of the bottle and of his fresh young students.
But everything will change now that he’s on the trail of a lost masterpiece, a legendary Madonna by the Italian master Giovanni Bellini. Insinuating himself into the crumbling English manor house where the painting may be concealed, Lynch attempts to gull the eccentric and perversely beautiful women who live there — though he himself seems to be the pawn in this elaborate game. A Victorian diary that draws Robert Browning into the painting’s complicated provenance might provide the key—if only Lynch can manage to beat his hosts in the search.
In the end, it will be Lynch’s own vulnerable heart that betrays the betrayer. Interlaced with complex clues and hidden jokes, The Bellini Madonna reels from the lush English countryside to the sternly lovely hill towns of the Veneto, from the fifteenth century to the twenty-first. It is a spectacularly original debut.
Thomas Lynch was once a brilliant young art historian. Now he is a disgraced, middle-aged art historian, overly fond of the bottle and of his fresh young students.
But everything will change now that he’s on the trail of a lost masterpiece, a legendary Madonna by the Italian master Giovanni Bellini. Insinuating himself into the crumbling English manor house where the painting may be concealed, Lynch attempts to gull the eccentric and perversely beautiful women who live there — though he himself seems to be the pawn in this elaborate game. A Victorian diary that draws Robert Browning into the painting’s complicated provenance might provide the key—if only Lynch can manage to beat his hosts in the search.
In the end, it will be Lynch’s own vulnerable heart that betrays the betrayer. Interlaced with complex clues and hidden jokes, The Bellini Madonna reels from the lush English countryside to the sternly lovely hill towns of the Veneto, from the fifteenth century to the twenty-first. It is a spectacularly original debut.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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355 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
July 24, 2008
This is a superbly well written art mystery and love story... The narrator, Thomas Lynch, is a dodgy art historian who has been sacked from his college. A long forgotten passage in one of Albrecht Durer's letters tips Lynch off to the existence of a lost Madonna by the great Venetian master Bellini. His search takes him to Mawle, a decaying English country house... But once there he becomes ensnared in a game of sexual tag with the young mistress-in-waiting, Anna Roper. Funny, clever and disturbing.
May 3, 2019
Excellent writing. It's not a fast read, but it's more about the journey than arriving. Savour it.
July 6, 2009
I read a good review of this book, and it seemed to be favored on Goodreads. Then, when I got the book, the book jacket and quotes on the back were all praiseworthy, even calling it a spectacularly original debut. I'm surprised. I had no sympathy for the main character and found the plot too slow. The writing was bogged down with details and there was just something about the writing in general that turned me off. Frankly, I didn't like any of the characters in the book - and there were only a few. Thomas Lynch is obsessed with finding the Bellini, and then at the end, he's left with all these questions -- and so are we.
January 4, 2011
A brilliantly written book, very engaging. Oddly, the characters - at least the main character in particular - is very flawed and unlikeable. Yet I found this to be a wonderful read. I'm curious what other readers think.
May 26, 2011
This book has to be one of the most boring books I have read in a long, long time. My expectations were really high because of all the wonderful reviews it has recd. Yes, it is stylishly written, and yes it has "the convergence of high art and the low skulduggery". So, what was my problem with the book? a) it feels too much like Nabokov's Lolita, so much so that you know what is going to happen and how each character will turn out, b) the strong dislike for the characters, one just hates them all, I could not squeeze an iota of sympathy for all the miserable characters in the book, c) the whining of the narrator really got to me after sometime, and God knows, whining in beautiful, stylish prose is still whining. The narrative from the old diary is better than the main narrative but as a reader it is pretty obvious where the whole thing is going, and that this highly educated/sophisticated art historian took forever to figure things out made me want to shake him, and shake him till he fell straight out of his asinine midlife crisis.
Why did I not leave it in the middle? Because I kept hoping it will get better, and because I seldom leave books half-read.
Why did I not leave it in the middle? Because I kept hoping it will get better, and because I seldom leave books half-read.
November 26, 2018
I'm sad that this book gets so many 2- and 3-star reviews, because I ended up liking it a lot. Our narrator, Thomas Lynch, is a promiscuous Lothario who gets kicked out of his college professorship for having affairs with students of both sexes. He's an art expert specializing in the artist Bellini, and so he goes on a hunt for a lost Bellini based on some rumors to distract himself from his troubles. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book at first. Our main character isn't always easy to like, and he is so blinded by his own assumptions that he doesn't see some obvious things staring him in the face. I did end up enjoying the book quite a bit, though, and liked that the author did her research about art history and the historical figures who are mentioned in the main character's research. This is Lowry's debut novel, and I'd be interested to see where she goes next.
April 25, 2011
Loved the incredible wealth and smartness of language, the wit and compassion, the complexity of characters, the intertwining of past and present, the pace (it took it's time). The characters, for once, had complexity of real human beings. What I didn't particularly like was that the language used in the diary at the center of the plot was not differentiated from that of the contemporary narrator. Not for everyone, but my book club companions reveled in it.
January 2, 2013
Being an art administrator, I found the historical aspects of the book quite fascinating. The book is written in an intellectual fashion, so some may not grasp the subtleties and irony of the main character's coming to terms with his aging and the loss of a career...The cast of characters, and their personae, address all of our human frailties and vices in some form or other. I do recommend the book, but don't expect light reading; there is definite depth to the story...
February 25, 2022
I'm still reading The Bellini Madonna, but am confidently predicting that it will be at least a 4 star read with a possibility of 5, depending on the ending.
I really enjoyed this and thought it was a fantastic debut novel. The writing engaged me from the first page, and it moved along at a nice pace. Thomas, the art history academic at the centre of the novel, is quite entertaining - he's the type of character I like - obsessed, egocentric, a little arrogant, but at a loss to understand what's going on around him. Anna, the other main character was less interesting - an atypical 'heroine'. The plot reminded me a little of one of my other favourites, "Headlong" by Michael Frayn, but it was not nearly so demanding a read, and was not as funny, nor intellectual. I did feel the ending was not entirely satisfactory, but it didn't detract enormously, and I'll probably read this again.
I really enjoyed this and thought it was a fantastic debut novel. The writing engaged me from the first page, and it moved along at a nice pace. Thomas, the art history academic at the centre of the novel, is quite entertaining - he's the type of character I like - obsessed, egocentric, a little arrogant, but at a loss to understand what's going on around him. Anna, the other main character was less interesting - an atypical 'heroine'. The plot reminded me a little of one of my other favourites, "Headlong" by Michael Frayn, but it was not nearly so demanding a read, and was not as funny, nor intellectual. I did feel the ending was not entirely satisfactory, but it didn't detract enormously, and I'll probably read this again.
April 9, 2014
If you appreciate language, beautiful prose and a book to be savoured and, indeed, languished in then you won't be disappointed.
What this book is NOT is a quick-fix chick-flick with sparse plot, transparent characters and a predictable but explosive finale.
The delights of this book lie in the atmosphere, language and haunting 'spaces' created to allow the reader to sit back in the warm sunshine which I actually felt from the Venice skies and the immediacy of being dropped into this world as an observer where, no, we don't always have explanations for the actions of everyone we meet and where life doesn't always have a movie ending.
A delicious book.
What this book is NOT is a quick-fix chick-flick with sparse plot, transparent characters and a predictable but explosive finale.
The delights of this book lie in the atmosphere, language and haunting 'spaces' created to allow the reader to sit back in the warm sunshine which I actually felt from the Venice skies and the immediacy of being dropped into this world as an observer where, no, we don't always have explanations for the actions of everyone we meet and where life doesn't always have a movie ending.
A delicious book.
December 6, 2017
Onvan : The Bellini Madonna: A Novel - Nevisande : Elizabeth Lowry - ISBN : 312429665 - ISBN13 : 9780312429669 - Dar 368 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2008
June 13, 2019
The beautiful language and subtle pattern repetition make this a book worth reading. I also enjoyed savoring the drowsy, hypnotic pace. However, the narrator is so irredeemably loathsome that i found it difficult to fully immerse myself in the idyll this novel should have been. The reader is immediately led to understand that there is no redemptive arc for this lecherous, damaged, self absorbed, decaying, sodomite vulture, so we are not emotionally involved with him, or indeed any character. In fact, any reasonably astute reader knows exactly where the Bellini Madonna is hidden as soon as they read what seems to be a throwaway passage. Yet we plod on in a not unenjoyable read. Think of this as an unsuccessful Donna Tartt.
July 6, 2020
Took me exactly two months to slog through this book. I bought it because of the promise of an art mystery. The only mystery is why I forced myself to finish it. After the first few chapters that discuss art and beat you over the head with Bellini and Albrecht Durer (one of my favorite artists) minutia, there is very little art discussion in this book and just the musings of one of the most dull and self-absorbed narrators I have ever endured. By the end, it felt like the narrator had been at the villa for years, it was just a few weeks. I'm relieved to finally get this book out of my life.
January 17, 2023
This was just not my cup of tea, maybe right now! Maybe I'll enjoy it later, I was just not in the mood for it. But I do have to say the language was very OVER-done and OVER-sophisticated, you couldn't see the plot underneath all of those pretentious detailed words.
Did not finish. (May revisit it another time <3)
Did not finish. (May revisit it another time <3)
February 1, 2019
Couldn't finish it.
March 16, 2022
Unfortunately I really struggled to read this very boring story .
February 5, 2023
This book was very disturbing, intriguing and captivating.
April 18, 2024
I thought I would never finish this book. An unlikeable narrator whose pretentious writing almost made me stop reading several times.
December 6, 2010
I'm not sure what I think about this one still. It's been two days since I finished it and I'm still foggy about my feelings about it. When I bought this book, the jacket summary sounded interesting if not a little bit more of a bubbled story with much of it taking place in a house in search for the elusive Bellini Madonna.
Sadly, I struggled with this novel. A few times I felt like giving up on it and taking it to my local book store for it to be sold as a used book. But I wanted to see if it got better so I read on. I usually struggle with new authors, it usually takes a few chapters for me to get used to a particular author's prose style. But Lowry's style is trying too hard. Trying to in a way envoke the classic styles of the past that the narrative gets lost amongst the comas and the large, strategically placed words. While elaborate, elegant prose should be celebrated I can't say the same about this novel, it seems forced and I found myself tons of time rereading segments of sentences trying to keep the plot in line.
The biggest issue that irked me through this novel was the way the concept of this story, the search for an elusive painting, was told. It's told in past tense and the novel starts in a depressive state. So while the fact that something terrible obviously went wrong during our narrator's search, the recollection is jumbled. It bounces back from his actual search for the Bellini, to his disturbed childhood and back again. I kept wanting saying to myself that this book would have worked a ton better if it was told in present tense with the sense of excitment in it, but it lacked that excitement.
The characters are a mess. The only lovable one is the young child in the story. The narrator is arrogant, the love interest is boring and then suddenly heartless and manipulative at the end. The ending is a mess. The reveal is disenchanting. I literally reread the climax four or five times trying to gather it up, but I was disappointing. While most endings can get away with being quick and dramatic if their overall storylines are brillantly written and intriguing this is one that lacks those qualities.
I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone, I do plan to reread it in a few years for another chance before I decide what to do with it. If you want give it a try, I'd check it out from the library.
Sadly, I struggled with this novel. A few times I felt like giving up on it and taking it to my local book store for it to be sold as a used book. But I wanted to see if it got better so I read on. I usually struggle with new authors, it usually takes a few chapters for me to get used to a particular author's prose style. But Lowry's style is trying too hard. Trying to in a way envoke the classic styles of the past that the narrative gets lost amongst the comas and the large, strategically placed words. While elaborate, elegant prose should be celebrated I can't say the same about this novel, it seems forced and I found myself tons of time rereading segments of sentences trying to keep the plot in line.
The biggest issue that irked me through this novel was the way the concept of this story, the search for an elusive painting, was told. It's told in past tense and the novel starts in a depressive state. So while the fact that something terrible obviously went wrong during our narrator's search, the recollection is jumbled. It bounces back from his actual search for the Bellini, to his disturbed childhood and back again. I kept wanting saying to myself that this book would have worked a ton better if it was told in present tense with the sense of excitment in it, but it lacked that excitement.
The characters are a mess. The only lovable one is the young child in the story. The narrator is arrogant, the love interest is boring and then suddenly heartless and manipulative at the end. The ending is a mess. The reveal is disenchanting. I literally reread the climax four or five times trying to gather it up, but I was disappointing. While most endings can get away with being quick and dramatic if their overall storylines are brillantly written and intriguing this is one that lacks those qualities.
I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone, I do plan to reread it in a few years for another chance before I decide what to do with it. If you want give it a try, I'd check it out from the library.
October 26, 2015
A curate's egg of a book. There are times when the writing and observation sparkle: Thomas and Anna's on and off courtship has some moments of fun and grime, Harry (the 'gardener') has a roguish solidity, and Anna's mum is am ogre. This wild goose chase for a famous painting, the eponymous Bellini Madonna, is set both in Italy and England. The Italian sections don't work. No idea why, but they don't. They feel cardboard. The English sections, Mawle House for example, are better: the sense of a once famous house awash with grubby paintings which mirror the decline of the family, rings true.
However. I worked out where the painting was many pages before Thomas the art historian did. I shouted at the page when he said there were no more clues because a few pages beforehand he had read the flipping thing. Argh. Hate it when that happens: it's a 'da Vinci code moment' when seemingly intelligent characters say stupid things and ought to know better. And bearing in mind Thomas has been portrayed as a feckless lothario to be true to his character he ought to have run off with the painting and drowned his sorrows and betrayal at the hands of Anna in expensive drugs as he died of alcohol poisoning. So, Elizabeth Lowry, next time you write a book, please respect the intelligence of your readers and allow your characters to stay in character. And that last scene when Thomas reminisces about Anna as a the Madonna? Come off it. If he really felt that way he would have stayed in Mawle, sold the painting, and then run off with Anna, Vicky, and her unborn baby. And anyway, every time he writes about Anna, it's always greasy and plain.
Folks, read this book to see how to not to plot. But also read it for how to do houses.
Oh, and it's worth saying that the first twenty pages are annoying, but it gets better once you are in Mawle. Just saying!
However. I worked out where the painting was many pages before Thomas the art historian did. I shouted at the page when he said there were no more clues because a few pages beforehand he had read the flipping thing. Argh. Hate it when that happens: it's a 'da Vinci code moment' when seemingly intelligent characters say stupid things and ought to know better. And bearing in mind Thomas has been portrayed as a feckless lothario to be true to his character he ought to have run off with the painting and drowned his sorrows and betrayal at the hands of Anna in expensive drugs as he died of alcohol poisoning. So, Elizabeth Lowry, next time you write a book, please respect the intelligence of your readers and allow your characters to stay in character. And that last scene when Thomas reminisces about Anna as a the Madonna? Come off it. If he really felt that way he would have stayed in Mawle, sold the painting, and then run off with Anna, Vicky, and her unborn baby. And anyway, every time he writes about Anna, it's always greasy and plain.
Folks, read this book to see how to not to plot. But also read it for how to do houses.
Oh, and it's worth saying that the first twenty pages are annoying, but it gets better once you are in Mawle. Just saying!
January 6, 2010
What makes a reliable narrator? Someone who observes keenly, who doesn't have a personal stake in the events at hand, whose vision isn't clouded by mind-altering substance or illnesses. Thomas Lynch has none of these characteristics, and as he tells the story of The Bellini Madonna, I was alternately confused, repulsed and charmed by the story.
Lynch, a former art history professor specializing in the works of Renaissance painter Giovanni Bellini, has been searching for a lost Madonna. His quest leads him to wrangle himself an invitation to a rundown estate in the English countryside, where he believes the painting is hidden. During the weeks he stays there, he doesn't know if he's the one doing the duping, or if he's being duped by the women who live in the home. Lynch is almost completely unlikeable as a person, and it can be hard to follow the narrative at times (a drunken narrator isn't very reliable), but the book is still pretty enjoyable, and the dynamic between Lynch and the women in the home is entertaining.
Lynch, a former art history professor specializing in the works of Renaissance painter Giovanni Bellini, has been searching for a lost Madonna. His quest leads him to wrangle himself an invitation to a rundown estate in the English countryside, where he believes the painting is hidden. During the weeks he stays there, he doesn't know if he's the one doing the duping, or if he's being duped by the women who live in the home. Lynch is almost completely unlikeable as a person, and it can be hard to follow the narrative at times (a drunken narrator isn't very reliable), but the book is still pretty enjoyable, and the dynamic between Lynch and the women in the home is entertaining.
Read
March 15, 2013I didn't mind the descriptive narrative. in fact I thought some of it was quite good but it was a struggle to finish it. There was a certain element of losing the will to live which was a pity because it could have been a good book, perhaps.
Having one person narrate the tale maybe led to boredom setting in. as I get older, I sometimes regret wasting time on a book because I feel once I've started I have to finish. I don't entirely regret reading this novel, I enjoyed parts but it was un satisfying in the end!
Having one person narrate the tale maybe led to boredom setting in. as I get older, I sometimes regret wasting time on a book because I feel once I've started I have to finish. I don't entirely regret reading this novel, I enjoyed parts but it was un satisfying in the end!
July 23, 2010
I enjoyed the premise of the book, but found the author's parenthetical asides a little distracting. I understand that she was trying to create a sense of Lynch's state of mind (or lack thereof) but I often found myself going back to the beginning of the paragraph to see what the original thought was before the tangent.
I appreciate being challenged verbally and found myself wishing I had this on my Kindle so I could easily look up 'moue' or some other unfamiliar word.
I appreciate being challenged verbally and found myself wishing I had this on my Kindle so I could easily look up 'moue' or some other unfamiliar word.
August 17, 2010
I wanted to like this book - I really did. A literary mystery involving an art historian...should have been right up my alley. However, I found that I didn't connect with the main character and the pace of the book was just too slow. By the end, I wasn't really invested in the outcome - just happy to finish. I think that there was potential for a good story but got bogged down in the writing style.
June 18, 2010
I am reading this book and I have reread the first chapter several times. I read a review on amazon that said the style reminded her of Henry James. I think that person is correct. This author does have a sense of humor.
I don't know how far I will make it. I can read Henry James in short story form and never finished an entire novel. I think this is not for me so far.
I don't want to dismiss this book -- I see many people did like it. It is just not for me.
I don't know how far I will make it. I can read Henry James in short story form and never finished an entire novel. I think this is not for me so far.
I don't want to dismiss this book -- I see many people did like it. It is just not for me.
August 3, 2011
Very slow and bogged down with unnecessary details. The main character is no where near "fabulous" character like in the reviews. I find myself a little disgusted by him at times.
The writing is very hard to follow at times. The punctuation made the sentences hard to understand at times.
There are some pretty bad climactic let-downs. And I find myself wanting to just stop reading it because it's just so hard to follow.
And above all else, the ending sucked pretty badly.
The writing is very hard to follow at times. The punctuation made the sentences hard to understand at times.
There are some pretty bad climactic let-downs. And I find myself wanting to just stop reading it because it's just so hard to follow.
And above all else, the ending sucked pretty badly.
January 3, 2015
Yet another in the Discover a Big Secret Masterpiece genre, and not the best entry in the genre either. The writing was florid and repetitive (how many times did I have to read that Anna was plain? clumsy? or that Harry was an oaf?). Worse, the Big Reveals were telegraphed long before they actually appeared in the plot. Still, if this is your genre, you may find it enjoyable.
Want to read
July 12, 2009From the reviews (elegant mystery, glowing with wit, alight with mischief) I was expecting a good read, but I am having difficulty getting through this book. The boring, self-centered, lecherous man is creepy, and the "exquisite prose" is too much for me -- Seriously, what is an "upholstered afternoon"?
June 21, 2010
Quite possibly the worst book I have ever read! I wish I could wash my mind of reading it! It was the only book I had with me while I was at a conference for my daughter or I wouldn't have even finished it, but there was some small hope that it would get better. It only got worse and worse! Absolutely stupid! It would take a lot to get me to read anything else by this author.
March 2, 2016
2.5 Premise of the novel seemed promising - however, every time I thought the story was becoming somewhat cohesive (regarding the Bellini painting) it seemed to unravel. Also, the style vacillated between classic historical fiction and very contemporary. The title of the book should have been "Tom & Anna's Weird Co-Dependent Relationship". Not horrible - just disappointing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews