What it is: portrait of a family
Did I like it: absolutely
The combination of the title and the cover art made me think this book would be about the painter Whistler (“did he paint horses too?” was what went through my mind), but the back summary made it clear that wasn’t to be the case. And then I was confused and wanted to know what the title meant so I dove straight in, forgoing the reading challenge right away once again.
It turns out that this book is the story of Daphne and Eddie. For a brief amount of time they were family and then that bond got disconnected. Daphne was nine at the time so she doesn’t immediately recognize Eddie when they randomly meet again at a museum in New York more than forty years later, but they spend hours at the museum café catching up. Meeting her once-stepfather sets off a watershed of memories and emotions in Daphne. Their bond is reignited and over the summer the two get to know each other as adults and do not waste the opportunity to get the answers to questions that had gone unanswered for so long. Daphne’s sister Leda is just as happy to be able to reconnect with Eddie but she is two-years younger than Daphne and as such even has less clear memories of the short time that they were family. All three of them went through traumatic events at the same time, Daphne and Eddie share an event, that just so happens to be connected to Leda’s moment. Now they have a chance to look back at these events together and they realize that they have filled in the gaps in their memories in very different ways. For the first time they get to a complete picture.
And Whistler? That turns out to be something difficult to explain without giving away spoilers so all I can say is that there is a story within the story.
This book is about memories and what we think we know. It’s about choices that were made, either by us or for us. It’s about people that enter your life and leave a solid imprint, no matter how long or short they stayed.
This book wasn’t difficult or complicated or big. It had an easy flow, covered universal subjects, and boy did it pack a punch. All the characters in this book felt real, and it contributed to make the special bond between Eddie and Daphne feel very believable.
The ending was so nicely done and for me it was what lifted the book above the good mark to a good plus.
