Synopsis: Ambitious art historian Bill Maguire searches Paris for a subject for his doctoral thesis and follows up faint clues about once famous abstract painter Alexander Golden. He finds himself in Carmel listening to the death-bed confessions of Joe Rembrandt, an art forger on an industrial scale, and meets beautiful Anna Glover whose life seems somehow connected with the dying man.
He finds Anna there before him and hears yet another version of Joe’s story. Together, they make the discovery that adds love, greed, insanity, academic dishonesty and very likely murder into the mix before leading to a completely unforeseen outcome.
Review: This was sort of an odd duck book for me- it alternated between holding my interest and leaving me bored. I don't think it was really the writing so much as there was some lag in the narrative at times and it went from roller coaster speed to slow and I just wanted to stay on one pace. But Johnston weaves many intricate stories into one cohessive web that will keep the reader guessing what IS the truth and what was a lie told for a further convoluted reason. The twists and turns will keep you reading til the end, it just may take several readings to get there.
About the Author Michael Johnston was born in Leith in 1936 and grew up in the Scottish Borders. At school he was bookish and not keen on rugby. In 1950, he auditioned for the BBC and read a story on Children’s Hour. Leaving school he studied Textile Design but, in 1953, he also auditioned for the BBC Younger Generation programmes and for the next five years worked as an occasional freelance interviewer, presenter and question panel member.
In 1955, he spent a summer working in France. He used his BBC experience to arrange an interview with Françoise Sagan, then a teenage French novelist, which was part of a radio documentary he recorded, wrote and presented. He went on to write several radio documentaries for the BBC including one about the relatively unknown romance between Lord Thomson, Secretary of State for Air in Ramsay MacDonald’s cabinet and the Rumanian novelist, Princess Marthe Bibesco, in which the actress Janet Suzman played the leading role.
In 2001, he embarked on his too long postponed ‘career’ as a novelist and a programme of study with the Open University culminating in a first class BA (Honours) in Literature.
In 2009, Michael was awarded an MA (with Distinction) in Modern and Contemporary Literature by Birkbeck College, University of London. His dissertation was on the impact of Margaret Thatcher on contemporary fiction.To find out more about Michael and his book visit his website at www.akanos.co.uk
Friday, March 8
First Chapter Reveal at My Cozie Corner
Monday, March 11
Guest blogging at My Addiction and More
Tuesday, March 12
Book reviewed at My Addiction and More
Thursday, March 14
Book reviewed by Book Reviews and More by Kathy
Friday, March 15
Book reviewed at The Self-Taught Cook
Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Bostick Communications, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it
Hello Nicole
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for featuring Michael Johnston's Rembrandt Sings on your blog. Thanks for reviewing the book too. I must say I actually found the slower paced sections gave me a chance to breathe and try and workout what was the truth in all the, as you say, twists and turns. I enjoyed it very much.