A review by kleedc73
Blue Nude by Elizabeth Rosner

4.0

This book is as much a work of art as it is a book about art and artists. The language flows like water and the sum is much bigger than its parts. The book is very simple from the flow of plot but is packed with complexity and emotion behind the scenes. The book centers around two main characters, an artist and an artists' model. The artist, Danzig, is German and the model is Israeli and both have dark histories surrounding the Holocaust/WWII and the historical animosities between their cultures. Despite this darkness, the two are drawn to one another as artist and muse and the chemistry awakens Danzig's lost passion for producing his own art. Both of the main characters are facially calm and closed off but have a world of emotional history behind their calm exterior. "Smooth waters run deep" is a good label for both. I didn't find either of them particularly loveable but they were totally compelling. I read this book in a single day; somehow I just couldn't put it down. The author did an excellent job of bringing art to life and also bringing a fresh perspective and new life to a difficult subject matter that has been addressed in a million ways already.