Scan barcode
A review by insatiablewanderlust
The Art of Traveling Strangers by Zoe Disigny
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
2.5
**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**
I had very conflicted feelings about this book. To just start from the beginning, the front matter seemed longer than it needed to be and more convoluted. I found it hard to believe that a woman married to an abusive man would engage in an affair. I would have scratched that. Her continual longing for Alec was just sad and my eyes started to hurt from rolling them. I couldn't figure out why the book was set in the 80s, but then Viv let her bigotry fall out and it made sense. Viv's homophobia was problematic for the 80s, but if set in current times, it would have been unreadable. Both characters were very unlikeable, and not in a "they have human flaws" kind of way, but in a "this book is pretty hard to stomach" way.
However, this book did have a number of redeeming features. Claire's descriptions of Italy and the art were amazing. When Claire and Viv were viewing Da Vinci's Last Supper, I could feel those walls come up and I was back in that dark, musty room and I could see the painting before me. I could see the aspects that Claire was describing. It was very obvious that art history was Claire's thing and she absolutely thrived in those scenes. I would have longed to see that Claire more throughout the book. I also really enjoyed the offer Claire received in Paris. I think I actually screamed YES! outloud because I was so excited for her. I was a little disappointed that we never actually learned what her decision was. I would have loved an epilogue of Claire and her daughter living their best life in Paris.
It would also have been cute, for those not familiar with all the art pieces discussed, to have pictures of "Claire and Viv" with pictures of the art. Like "these were cute pictures we took on our trip". It would have been a fun inclusion for a fiction novel, while still providing pictures of the art for those less familiar with some pieces. Truly I'd like to give this a 2.5, but I'm going to round to 3 because of my love of nerdy art Claire and her potential.
I had very conflicted feelings about this book. To just start from the beginning, the front matter seemed longer than it needed to be and more convoluted. I found it hard to believe that a woman married to an abusive man would engage in an affair. I would have scratched that. Her continual longing for Alec was just sad and my eyes started to hurt from rolling them. I couldn't figure out why the book was set in the 80s, but then Viv let her bigotry fall out and it made sense. Viv's homophobia was problematic for the 80s, but if set in current times, it would have been unreadable. Both characters were very unlikeable, and not in a "they have human flaws" kind of way, but in a "this book is pretty hard to stomach" way.
However, this book did have a number of redeeming features. Claire's descriptions of Italy and the art were amazing. When Claire and Viv were viewing Da Vinci's Last Supper, I could feel those walls come up and I was back in that dark, musty room and I could see the painting before me. I could see the aspects that Claire was describing. It was very obvious that art history was Claire's thing and she absolutely thrived in those scenes. I would have longed to see that Claire more throughout the book. I also really enjoyed the offer Claire received in Paris. I think I actually screamed YES! outloud because I was so excited for her. I was a little disappointed that we never actually learned what her decision was. I would have loved an epilogue of Claire and her daughter living their best life in Paris.
It would also have been cute, for those not familiar with all the art pieces discussed, to have pictures of "Claire and Viv" with pictures of the art. Like "these were cute pictures we took on our trip". It would have been a fun inclusion for a fiction novel, while still providing pictures of the art for those less familiar with some pieces. Truly I'd like to give this a 2.5, but I'm going to round to 3 because of my love of nerdy art Claire and her potential.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Child death and Domestic abuse