A review by delaneyswann
A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Reading this book is incredibly pleasurable. Matar’s prose is considered and the subject matter ranges, returning the Sienese paintings that are the focus of his trip to Siena, but lingering on the inability of writing to express gratitude and disappointment, community, architecture and history. The most emotionally resonant part was the author coming to terms and grieving the decades-old disappearance of his father. The concept of the book feels resonant to putting on your favorite comfort TV show in order to allow some time to pass as you process your feelings. I would recommend, especially if you enjoy genre-bending memoir, art history, or mediations on community,