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Title details for The Crimson Portrait by Jody Shields - Available

The Crimson Portrait

by Jody Shields
Josephine Bailey
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
This haunting love story—the magnificent new historical novel by the author of the national bestseller The Fig Eater-makes unforgettably real the ravages of love and war. Spring 1915. On a sprawling country estate not far from London, a young woman mourns her husband, fallen on a distant battlefield. The eerie stillness in which she grieves is abruptly shattered as her home is transformed into a bustling military hospital. Recoiling from the chaos, unhinged by grief, the young widow finds unexpected refuge in a tender young soldier whose face, concealed by bandages, she cannot see. Their affair takes a fateful turn when she confronts—and seizes upon—the opportunity to remake her lover in the image of her lost husband.


The Crimson Portrait is a novel of glittering surfaces that belie dark truths. Its rich cast comes into focus as the novel peels back layers of suspense and intrigue to illuminate the abiding mysteries of affinity and desire.
"Shields's writing weaves dark mythical symbolism with matter-of-fact medical nitty-gritty to reveal what happens when class, ignorance, hopefulness and despair coalesce."—Publishers Weekly
"Lovely writing..."—Kirkus

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 1, 2007

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400123384
      • File size: 253856 KB
      • Duration: 08:48:51

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      It's 1915. A young British war widow agrees to have her estate become a military hospital for patients whose faces have been damaged almost beyond repair. When she falls in love with a patient, she is tempted to have his face remade to look like that of her dead husband. Josephine Bailey's smoky voice matches the mood of the story, and her pace is as considered as the writing. A bit too considered for this reviewer, who worried that the story would sink into significant pauses. It can also be difficult to track conversations among the doctors and patients, as Bailey does not clearly differentiate male voices. A worthy effort, but not quite as spellbinding as advertised. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 18, 2006
      A majestic English estate sees new use as a makeshift hospital for WWI's wounded in Shields's beautifully haunting second novel. After losing her husband, Charles, in WWI, Catherine honors his wish to turn their home over to the army's medical unit, and it is soon filled with men wounded in combat, such as Julian, who, though half his face has been destroyed by shrapnel, reminds her of Charles. Dr. McCleary, who left retirement to work at the hospital, bonds with Julian while trying to keep Artis, an aspiring doctor and former groundskeeper, from being drafted. Also on staff is artist Anna Coleman, who sketches the wounded for medical records and lends her artistic talents to an undertaking proposed by Dr. McCleary: he wants to create a mask for a patient with an irreparably damaged face; Anna is to paint the soldier's pre-injury face on the mask. When that soldier turns out to be Julian, Catherine secretly embarks on a plan to resurrect her husband through her new lover. Shields's writing weaves dark mythical symbolism with matter-of-fact medical nitty-gritty to reveal what happens when class, ignorance, hopefulness and despair coalesce.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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