The Swan Thieves
In her wildly successful debut novel, 鈥淭he Historian,鈥� Elizabeth Kostova wrote the tale of a girl and her father searching for a legendary vampire.
We seem to have hit saturation point for the sharp-fanged ones during the four years since her debut, so this time around Kostova abandons Dracula for something truly terrifying. No, not zombies or werewolves. (They鈥檙e too busy hanging out in the romance section or starring in Jane Austen mash-ups.) This time, Kostova鈥檚 characters are hunting for... an Impressionist painter.
The Swan Thieves opens when a renowned artist attacks a painting of 鈥淟eda and the Swan鈥� in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Robert Oliver is transferred to a pricey facility under the care of a psychiatrist who dabbles in art, where he obsessively paints portraits of a dark-eyed woman and rereads letters in French.
The psychiatrist, Andrew Marlow, is stymied in his efforts to discover what caused Robert to try to take a knife to the canvas by the fact that Robert refuses to say a word after his first day at Goldengrove. And also by the fact that Marlow is a self-satisfied prig.
Here鈥檚 Marlow on an ex-girlfriend whom he hires to translate Oliver鈥檚 letters: 鈥淸W]e鈥檝e remained good friends, especially since I didn鈥檛 feel strongly enough about her to regret her terminating our relationship.鈥� (He also quickly points out that she鈥檚 aged since they broke up.) He wonders if Robert sees himself as the dark-eyed woman. 鈥淣aturally, I conjectured that the image might be an expression of his silent rage, and I also speculated about some possible confusion of gender identity within the patient, although I couldn鈥檛 get him to respond even nonverbally to questions on this topic.鈥� Later, he deplores Robert鈥檚 taste in police thrillers. 鈥淚 could only hope that he wasn鈥檛 acquiring any further taste for violence, from tales of murder, although I saw no signs of it.鈥� (Marlow, of course, listens to classical music and refers to taking a nap outside as sleeping 鈥渆n plain air.鈥�)
Marlow reminded me so much of Lockwood, the narrator of 鈥�Wuthering Heights鈥� that I kept waiting for his judgments to be revealed as gloriously unreliable. Unfortunately, Kostova doesn鈥檛 seem aware that her narrator鈥檚 smugness is an irritant, and a reader is supposed to root for him as he violates his professional ethics at various turns and lusts after the women in Robert life. 鈥淸Y]ou could get a stone to talk,鈥� one character gushes.
Robert, at first, seems immune to Marlow鈥檚 鈥渃harms,鈥� which I took as a point in his favor. But it turns out that his silence is just a plot device to heighten the mystery surrounding his attack on the painting 鈥� and it disappears the instant that mystery is resolved. (The two-page denouement is so abrupt, I read it several times to be sure I wasn鈥檛 missing something.)
Actually, neither Marlow鈥檚 nor Robert鈥檚 actions make much sense outside the novel 鈥� they merely serve the plot. (This was a problem for me with 鈥淭he Historian,鈥� as well: If Dracula murderously guards his privacy, why is he running a demonic book-of-the-month club?) And both novels suffer from long sections that are, frankly, a slog to get through. Kostova can be a lovely writer 鈥� I wish her editor would help her with pacing.
The good news is that the most tedious section of 鈥淭he Swan Thieves鈥� occurs at the beginning: If readers can make it past that, they should be fine. After that, Marlow鈥檚 narration is broken up with the translated letters, which are between aspiring 19th-century painter Beatrice de Clerval and her uncle, Olivier Vignet, a member of the Paris salon. These letters 鈥� and Beatrice herself 鈥� are a high point of the novel. Marlow also interviews Robert鈥檚 ex-wife, Kate, and a former lover, Mary Bertison, who recount their doomed relationships with Robert. Whenever someone else gets a turn to narrate, 鈥淭he Swan Thieves鈥� becomes a much more enjoyable read. Kate, especially, is an appealing character, and her sections help bring her silent husband and the beginnings of his obsession to life.
Kostova鈥檚 fans are likely to enjoy 鈥淭he Swan Thieves鈥� 鈥� there鈥檚 lots of atmosphere and plenty of drama. But Dr. Marlow is not likely to win her new ones.
Yvonne Zipp regularly reviews fiction for the Monitor.
