This book is a delight. I would say it was a more than worthy successor to The Memoirs of Colonel Gérard Vreilhac except that I know it was written first. I am so glad a publisher has recognised its merits. As a successor it is great; as a first novel it is stunning.

The story is told by Ben, an American artist who is taking a sabbatical from his teaching post at an American university. He is spending the year in Europe, painting and visiting museums. At the start of the narrative he is somewhat wrapped up in himself, rightly aware of his own talents but rather dismissive in his attitude to other people.

Ben meets Jean-Yves when he takes lodgings in Jean-Yves' sister's house, and the deepening friendship between the two men provides the stimulus for character development and growth for both.

Jean-Yves is a troubled young man, product of a disastrous and abusive childhood, who, despite a stint in the army, has no qualifications and must struggle to make his way in the world and gain independence. Ben must be a mentor as well as a friend.

Romance blossoms between them, very, very slowly. We are half way through the book before there is any explicit sexual contact but the unresolved sexual tension prior to that keeps the reader who is looking for romance turning the pages. The later, mature romance has its crises and pitfalls which are not fully resolved until the last chapter which ends in hope and questioning rather than on a happy-ever-after note. The author has given us a novel of reality rather than a trite love affair, and the Pygmalion nature of the relationship is neatly outgrown and overturned into something rich and rare but not necessarily predictable.

Throughout the novel, Ben's art underpins the story. His sketches, drawings, watercolours, oils and acrylics leap from the page in painstaking detail. Every artistic endeavour echoes the relationship with Jean-Yves, even when the young Frenchman is not the model for the portrait in question. The cover has been skilfully developed with input from the author to give us an idea of Ben's great painting of his lover: “Boy Wading in a River”.

Ben's art and art interests take the men to museums and galleries, to statues and fountains, to buildings and points of scenic interest, in southern France and in Italy. It is well worthwhile to research all the artists and exhibitions mentioned in the book - an appreciation of what Ben and Jean-Yves are seeing adds depth to the story.

Jean-Yves has his own artistic skills: he is a talented chef and his culinary delights punctuate the narrative with their own brand of colour and texture. The reader almost wishes for a companion recipe book.

Much of the book is a journey: a journey of self discovery for both protagonists; a journey away from the small village where they meet, as far as Sicily then back to France and eventually to and from America; a journey through changing landscapes and seasons. The scenery and the weather echo the art in providing an outward and visual map of the internal journey. As in The Memoirs of Colonel Gérard Vreilhac, Anel Viz gives prominence to France, her cities, her countryside, her culture and her language. The amount of French used develops with Ben's mastery of the language and adds to the sense that we are in an intrinsically French story.

We get to know Montpellier, Antibes, Bandol, Dijon and the countryside around Millau. We also follow Ben and Jean-Yves on a journey to Sicily via Florence, and Paola, and back via Rome. The information about the places and the art is detailed and extensive but is always delivered lightly as a background to the story and the obvious erudition and travel experience are never intrusive.

Minor characters are present in abundance and all are given fully three-dimensional treatment. For Ben, the background figures include the hustlers he has contact with in France when he is lonely, the priggish authority figures at his university when he wishes to exhibit nude paintings, the intolerant authority figures in an American hospital and his various landlords.

For Jean-Yves, the background characters are his family, and we get to know not only his sister and her fiancé but his wider family including aunts and cousins. The sister is an unsympathetic character but is pivotal to the story as it is through renting a room in her house that Ben meets Jean-Yves.

Throughout the novel the author shows the varying aspects of tolerance and intolerance towards homosexuality in America, France and Italy, and discusses different ways in which people realise and come to terms with their own sexual needs.

This is a rich and satisfying book, taking the reader into the lives of well developed characters who meet and overcome intriguing hurdles in their search for happiness through a beautifully described landscape. I have now read it more than once because I helped to 'beta' the original version; of course, there was very little to do! I have been privileged to re-read the final published book for this review. I urge you to read it. I know you will enjoy it.

Silver Publishing 2010.  

ISBN 978-1-456552-43-5 paper $17.99 // 978-1-920468-58-3 e-book $7.99

 

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