8/17/2007: This book has one of the most boring and anticlimactic plot lines that I''ve ever read. It was only the plight of poor Defoe that kept me interested enough to finish reading it. An explanation of Imogen''s "issue" would have helped...as would some sort of intense moment, somewhere. ( )

Whoa! This was such an excellent story! I had no idea that I'd like it so much while I was reading it because nothing much seemed to happen for fully the first half of the book. I was also unhappy that the younger guard's love interest, Imogen Linny, seemed delusional, thinking that she was actually a person in a Dutch painting ("Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam'"). I never knew, at that point of the novel, how important that fact was to the very detailed plot to follow. The only thing I can say about the tempo of this book is to go along with it and wait to see what happens. You will not be disappointed.

Basically the story moves from the narrator, Defoe Russett, to Imogen as she goes deeper and deeper into her delusion while well-meaning folks try to help her. Those folks, though, are not sure, if by feeding her fantasy, they are helping her or harming her. It will be for you, the reader to decide at the end of the book. I actually liked the last part of the book the best, although it was a series of letters. They were so descriptive and astonishing! They described what happened to Imogen after she was escorted to Amsterdam to meet the artist who painted the woman she imagined herself to be.

I read this book because I liked The Bird Artist, another novel by the same author. Bring on more of his books! What a treat they've been so far! ( )

Odd but evocative novel set in 1930s Halifax, Nova Scotia. Love, obsession, art. Strangely compelling and beautifully written. ( )

Set in late 1930s Halifax, Nova Scotia, this story of love, obsession, identity, and art takes place as Canadians are just beginning to hear of the horrors Hitler is bringing to Europe and to Europe's Jews. The writer holds the reader at arm's length, leisurely edging towards the heart of the tale, a spell-binding gem which takes up the last 100 pages. Unfortunately, the story should have been a novella, not the 300-page novel it is. I say unfortunately because I think many readers will give up in disinterest before they get to the wonderful conclusion. ( )

howard norman writes novels that are almost twilight zone, strange character inacting with "norman people' that get caught up in a werid experience. he is a excellent writer ( )