The Swan Thieves

The Swan Thieves
Elizabeth Kostova
Little, Brown and Co., 2010. 564 p. Fiction

The reverence of art is a tranquil occupation in D.C.’s National Gallery, until a man tears out a pocket knife and lunges at a painting with ferocious malevolence. When the criminal is found to be Robert Oliver, a famous artist himself, the police are bewildered but unable to elicit more than a sentence from him, after which he refuses to speak--to anyone. Eventually Oliver finds himself in a psychiatric facility under the care of Marlow, a 50’s something psychiatrist whose artistic background renders him sympathetic to his patient. Marlow slowly finds himself more and more intrigued by the mystery behind Oliver’s bizarre attack--which has something to do with the painting Oliver attacks, an impressionist rendering of "Leda and the Swan Thieves", and the beautiful woman he never ceases to paint. However, his silence is broken only by his cryptic burst, “I did it for her.”

The Swan Thieves is an artistic, multi-layered achievement comprised of mystery, love story, art history and the ever ambiguous hint of madness. Each chapter offers one more piece to the intricate puzzle, which only serves to keep the reader captivated and begging for the next. Unfolding slowly, the tension builds with beautiful ease until the reader is nearly frantic to discover the truth. As the author of major bestseller, The Historian, Kostova knows how to create an atmosphere and it wafts from between the covers like a lingering fog, not disappearing even after the book is shut--which won’t happen much as it’s difficult to put down. You won’t find it as fearsome as The Historian, but the slight air of eroticism will waylay a few readers and the final resolution doesn’t have quite the panache as the rest of the book. However, Kostova fans and art lovers should approve.

DAP