The Art of Devotion in Q&A with Samantha Bruce-Benjamin

Jun 05, 2010 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

From My Blog...[return][return]The Art of Devotion by Samantha Bruce-Benjamin is an alluring, and at times heart wrenching, narrative told by four women; Sophie, Adora, Genevieve, and Miranda, spanning the years 1919-1940. What unfolds in this novel of beautiful, and at times, lyrical prose is an interwoven story from the perspective of four women and how they played their parts, interacted and the lies and deceptions that bound them together. The Art of Devotion is an extremely vivid novel, fil ...more

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Jun 22, 2010 Julie Smith rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed

This review was initially posted on my blog: Knitting and Sundries

AND I wish there were a 1/2 star designation on Good Reads, as I gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars! :)

In this book, you are taken into a world of privilege and serenity through the voices of 4 women:

* Sophie - mother to Adora and Sebastian
* Adora - married to Oliver
* Miranda - married to James who is a good friend of Oliver's, mother of Genevieve
* Genevieve (Gigi) - who reveres Adora and thinks more of her than of her own mother

We ar ...more

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Jul 11, 2010 Isabelle Allen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1930s, mediterranean, daphne-du-maurier, the-great-gatsby, hamptons

I read this book some weeks ago as part of a Hampton Jitney giveaway for the 4th July weekend. I didn't expect anything at all. Then I read it. I cannot rave about this enough. It took about 25 pages for me to get used the changing narrators - there are four different women who tell this story and the pov shifts frequently between them - but when I did I couldn't put it down. The twists are unbelievable, you will never ever see what the author has planned for each character and the setting this I read this book some weeks ago as part of a Hampton Jitney giveaway for the 4th July weekend. I didn't expect anything at all. Then I read it. I cannot rave about this enough. It took about 25 pages for me to get used the changing narrators - there are four different women who tell this story and the pov shifts frequently between them - but when I did I couldn't put it down. The twists are unbelievable, you will never ever see what the author has planned for each character and the setting this aristocratic world in the 1930s, with all of the elegance of that era was just intoxicating. Not to mention the writing, which is lyrical and hauntingly beautiful. Samantha Bruce-Benjamin finds ways to express emotions that will never leave you. I don't think I've done the book justice in my review. I'm not sure anyone can. This book is unbelievable. I have recommended it to everyone I know and I've pasted the reviews I've found of it to try and give you some sense of how extraordinary it is. Buy it. Get it for your book clubs. You will not be able to stop talking about these women and their destinies.

“When a novel begins by paying homage to a great literary classic like The Great Gatsby, it quickly becomes a game of comparisons, and in The Art of Devotion author Samantha Bruce-Benjamin delivers a worthy and captivating story that lives up to its predecessor….a riveting tale of deception and selfishness….THE ART OF DEVOTION is a revival of elegance and grace, reminding us of an era when all literature was lyrical, with a fluidity that makes it appear song-like. Samantha Bruce-Benjamin's debut places her in a class with the best literary minds, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose Gatsby was a clear sign of inspiration." – The Examiner

"A haunting debut novel . . . Filled with secrets, love, betrayal, obsession, and deceit, The Art of Devotion is a beautifully rendered window into one family's dark and complex history on an island in the Mediterranean Sea from the turn of the century until the late 1930s." – Hamptons.com

“Ingenious plot twists.” – Booklist ...more

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Jul 11, 2010 Mary Blithe rated it it was amazing

Shelves: the-great-gatsby, f-scott-fitzgerald, debut, coming-of-age, the-hours

Just buy it. That's all I can say. A friend gave me this to read. This is going to be the most amazing book club pick. It's about four women on an island in the Mediterranean Sea in the twenties and thirties and the stories of who they love and they betrayals of each other. All of the women are so believable and the author does an incredible job of giving insight into them and their motivations in such a human, beautiful way. All of them do things to keep the one they love the most that are horr ...more

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Jul 23, 2010 Holly Wright rated it it was amazing

Shelves: love-it

An incredible story. Nothing I can say will ever do it justice. The writing is reminiscent of another time and place. I cannot believe this is a debut novel. This story is so memorable and haunting that you won't be able to think about anything else. The characterization, the setting, the depiction of the 1930s, all of it is so sweeping and bold in the topics it chooses to examine that it's almost impossible to believe that they still write books like this. They do - Samantha Bruce-Benjamin has. ...more

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