The Swan Thieves

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova is a compelling read; a novel that relates a story of obsession, of compulsion, across time and expressed through art. All the significant characters are painters; some by profession, some by avocation, and Kostova is able to convey their very different ways of making art, from inspiration to technique, through the unfolding of this lush, romantic, and well-crafted novel.

Robert Oliver is a charismatic painter who ends up in a psychiatric hospital after trying to slash a painting called “Leda” in a gallery in Washington, D.C. Andrew Marlow, a psychiatrist who is a talented painter as well, becomes Oliver’s doctor; the problem is Oliver won’t speak to him. Marlow, searching for a way to help his patient, finds himself unraveling a mystery: who is the woman in Victorian clothing who appears over and over again in Oliver’s work?

The novel is told in a number of voices; that of Marlow, of Oliver’s ex-wife, of Oliver’s former mistress, and in letters, both contemporary and from the nineteenth century. It also unfolds over time, with the parallel tale of a French woman who is a gifted painter, an early impressionist. The historical scenes reveal a thoughtful attention to detail and careful research; Beatrice de Clerval and her charming older mentor were among my favorite characters. The story of Oliver’s descent into mental illness is fascinating as well, sensitively rendered, and somewhat frightening.

Does the book require a willing suspension of disbelief? Yes, but that’s fine. I enjoyed Kostova’s first novel, The Historian, very much. The Swan Thieves is every bit as good.