I Always Loved You / Robin Oliveira - 3***

[Book Concierge]

I Always Loved You – Robin Oliveira
Book on CD narrated by Mozhan Marnò
3***

The subtitle – A Story of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas – is all the synopsis anyone needs. This immediately drew my attention as I love art, the Impressionists in particular, and I love reading historical fiction about artists. Also, I loved Oliveira’s debut work: My Name is Mary Sutter . So, I had high hopes.

I liked learning more about the journey these artists took to become the icons we know today. No story focusing on these two artists could possibly be told without also touching on the other Impressionists: Manet, Morisot, Pissarro, Monet, Renoir, and they are all here as well. I appreciated all the period detail and the exploration of the various tangled relationships. I was unaware of some of the medical issues that plagued Degas and Manet, having previously been content merely to study the product of their years of work. Similarly, I didn’t know about Cassatt’s family situation, or Morisot’s complicated love life. I had previously been content to merely gaze with astonishment and admiration at the works of art they created. But while I appreciate now having learned all these details, and while these elements added color to the story, they failed to really move me.

I grew as frustrated by the relationship between Mary and Edgar as Oliveira indicates Mary was. Despite what the title may imply, I didn’t find much love here. I absolutely hated Degas; what a selfish, arrogant, inconsiderate worm! And I was somewhat puzzled by Mary, so strong and determined one moment and so self-pitying in another. I found the relationship between Morisot and the Manet brothers a much more compelling story.

Final verdict: interesting historical fiction that held my attention and shed some light on the background of these artists, but it failed to fully engage me.

Mozhan Marnò does a stellar job performing the audio version. She sets a good pace and her facility with French names and phrases helped me feel I was in Paris.



LINK to my review