I grabbed this book on a whim because I recognized the author, her first book is The Historian, which I rather liked. It was long and predictable but still had an interesting take on the "Dracula" vampire stories.
The Swan Thieves has the same feel as The Historian as it is set in present day, but there are letters from the past and story lines from the past that move the story along. However I didn't really get the book. A genius painter, Robert Oliver is arrested for attacking a picture with a pocket knife. He is sent to a psychiatric hospital where he refuses to talk, the Doctor, who is also an artist becomes intrigued with him and for whatever reason decides to make Robert's sanity his personal mission to find. Who is the strange woman that he is constantly painting? Why does Robert refuse to talk? and how does one go from critically acclaimed artist and teacher to standing in an art gallery brandishing a Swiss army knife?
Dr. Marlow travels through Robert's life first from his ex-wives perspective and then to Robert's most recent love, but the mystery of the black haired woman is not solved, so he continues to dig deeper and deeper into this mysterious woman.
Meanwhile Robert gives him a collection of letters from the real Dark haired muse to her uncle, which helps to solve the mystery of her origins and the secret betrayal she lived with for years.
The reader finds out all about the mystery woman but not why Robert was so obsessed with her, or at least not to my satisfaction. The entire book Robert has been painting the dark haired woman, it what would seem to be real still-life's (only shes dead right?) so where is this coming from? He must be crazy, or Beatrice reincarnate, but no, he was just a really good artist. I wanted a better explanation.
Then one day Dr. Marlow tells me he found out the truth about Leda and the black haired woman and suddenly Robert is cured, talking and planning on getting released.
Umm what?? Now that the big secret is out (sort of) Robert is fine and will no longer obsess about a woman who died in 1910 and utterly destroyed his life, his ex-wife's life, his children's life and who knows who else?
Yeah okay.
It wasn't a horrible read, I did enjoy the Beatrice (dark haired woman) storyline and thought it was executed perfectly but Robert's story felt rushed and disjointed.
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