Not so much about birds, more about art, and particularly about the past and grudges and memories and holding on (or out) for a long time. It's a mystery without a murder (rare!) and pretty interesting. I enjoyed reading it.

Interesting how the older sister never gets a voice, but almost everyone else does. Her motives and life remain quite a mystery! I noticed that the book never speculates on her reasons or feelings about her secrets, which is a hole in the story.

This would be a good book club book. ( )

Meer dan veertig jaar nadat een schilder twee zussen ontmoette onthult hij een nog nooit getoond vroeg werk waarvoor zij model stonden ( )

Somehow, this book started slowly for me, but soon I was totally involved, staying up late to read it. It's full of tragedy (starting with the death of the sisters' parents and the younger sister's rheumatic arthritis), butthe characters (the sisters, an artist they knew as young women, his biographer/art historian, an art appraiser) and the mysteries (Where were the sisters and the lost paintings and why did the artist want to find them? Why did they do what they did? etc.) were so intriguing that the sadness didn't overwhelm me.

The writing and storytelling were very powerful. At times, I didn't want to hear any more about pain or physical difficulties, but they were observed so beautifully and were essential metaphors to explain inaction. ( )

Pros: promising beginning, mystery, psychology, art, family dynamics
Cons: too much like a chick lit, too many coincidences, tear- jerkers, etc. ( )

This is my book club's June selection. The book begins at a lakeshore cabin in 1963. Teenagers Natalie and Alice Kessler are vacationing there with their parents and meet Thomas, the young artist next door, who offers to do a family portrait. The action continues in 2007, when Thomas, now a very famous, but reclusive, embittered, and broken down artist, requests an art history professor and a young art authenticator to find two paintings he completed of the Kessler sisters. The sisters themselves seem to have vanished in 1972 along with the paintings.

I enjoyed the book, and the plot and characters certainly kept the pages turning. In the end, though, I have to say I was a bit dissatisfied. This is not one of those books that wraps up neatly, answering all questions, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it left this reader baffled. In fact, I found two major reasons for this book to exist at all -- the connection of the artist to the girls, and the actions of one of the sisters -- to be completely inexplicable. Other character inconsistencies, and Giant Coincidences toward the end detracted from the story as well.