Nearly five years after her first novel, The Historian, became an instant bestseller, Elizabeth Kostova returns with a sweeping tale of historical intrigue spanning centuries and continents. The elements that the story revolves around include a beautiful woman, a mysterious painting, a secret from the depths of history, and a painter whose talent is hindered by his troubled mind. With stunning prose and dramatic storytelling, The Swan Thieves examines both the luminous talent behind great artistry and the dark, mad existence that talent can enliven.
Psychiatrist Andrew Marlow, devoted to his profession and the
painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned
painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art
and becomes his patient, Marlow finds that order destroyed. Desperate to
understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey
that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a
tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the
coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from
young love to last love. THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession,
history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.