3 out of 4 stars
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The Girl Who Knew da Vinci, by Belle Ami is a fictional suspense thriller centering around an art historian named Angela Renatus who wins a coveted internship at the renowned Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Instead of being the opportunity of a lifetime and golden career opportunity for the young historian, it turns out to be a nightmare job with a demanding and lecherous boss. In addition to fending off her boss’s advances, she begins having disturbing dreams about Leonardo da Vinci and the Medici family in fifteenth century Florence. You quickly learn that they are much more than dreams, and that she has been seen falling into a trance-like state in front of a painting of Giuliano Medici in the museum. During these episodes, she is conversing with the subject of the painting in Italian through what appears to be a sort of hypnotic state. Although Angela is only aware of the episodes as missing time, at first, she is in fact transported back to the fifteenth century and into the form of Fioretta Gorini, Giuliano’s mistress.
Enter Alex Caine, an art detective on the trail of a missing painting. A wealthy client, Max Jaeger, is eager to find the painting in order to clear his uncle Gerhard’s name. Gerhard had been a German officer during World War II but had deserted in 1944 during the bombing of Florence. Before he disappeared, he had written letters to his mother in Germany regarding a painting that he believed to be a da Vinci. The painting had been attributed to a student of da Vinci’s, but Gerhard was so sure of it being a work by the Master himself, that he took the painting with him when he fled Florence with his lover.
Unbeknownst to Angela, her boss is also searching for the lost painting. He had been a consultant to Jaeger, but abruptly dropped the investigation telling Jaeger that he believed the painting did not exist. In truth, he has decided to pursue the painting on his own, knowing it will be worth several million dollars at auction. He senses a connection between Angela’s dreams and the lost art and begins to plot ways to use her to track it down himself.
Angela and Alex meet, and the sparks fly immediately. Their mutual attraction to one another is very immediate and pretty intense. Angela leaves the Getty after being assaulted by her boss, but not before one last episode with the painting. During this one, Alex walks in and also experiences a conversation with Giuliano Medici. Were Alex and Angela reincarnations of these lovers in a past life? It certainly seems like that, and the paranormal element begins to gain shape. Alex hires Angela as a Renaissance expert to help him find the painting and she goes back with him to his home in Florence.
Anyone picking up this book looking for a thriller needs to be aware that there is a heavy-handed dose of romance as well as paranormal elements. The couple meet in the present day, and transition fluidly between time periods wherein they have always been lovers. The novel assumes that you readily accept time travel and past life regression as completely possible, and the eternal bond they share explains the intensity of their immediate connection. The storyline of the missing painting moves slowly, particularly early in the novel, because it takes a back seat to the development of the romance between Alex and Angela.
Once in Florence, the storyline develops more quickly, and the author comes into her own, relishing the sights and sounds of Italy. As they closed in on the lost da Vinci, I felt myself pulled into the mystery. The story is entertaining, and the author does a particularly good job using small details that make you feel as though you are there with her. I found the mystery of a lost painting quite intriguing, and the author does well in weaving the complex storyline together. My main negative criticism of the story lies in the character development, which I found slightly weak. The mystery is intriguing and well told, the storyline is suitably complex but woven together in a fluid manner, and the setting is well-described and vibrant. However, the characters come across as slightly underdeveloped. The author relies heavily on archetypes to move her characters along. For instance, her development of Alex relies more on accepting him as a “the hero” than in really digging deeply and creating a realistic character. Her development of Scordato is accomplished by setting him up as “the villain” and misses the opportunity to create a rich and memorable character. What you end up with is an entertaining plot line, interesting conflict, and okay characters. They aren’t horrible, but they aren’t great, and consequently let the story down a little. A good villain is more than a laundry list of flaws. They have depth and humanity like the rest of us. At the very least, you want to know why they are the way they are. You want to understand their motivation. Likewise, with a good hero, there is depth and humanity. They need a few flaws to make them realistic, interesting and worth remembering.
I gave this novel 3 out of 4 stars. Although I found the story compelling, the characters left me wanting. I feel the story could have been improved a great deal by digging more deeply into the characters, particularly Scordato.
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The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci
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