The Gravity of Birds

Guzeman, Tracy

ISBN 10: 1451689764 / ISBN 13: 9781451689761

Published by Simon & Schuster, 2013

Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 4324956-6

Synopsis:

In this compelling debut novel, an art authenticator and an art historian are employed by a famous, reclusive painter to sell a never-before-seen portrait, leading them to discover devastating secrets two sisters have kept from each other, and from the artist who determined the course of their lives.

How do you find someone who wants to be lost?

Sisters Natalie and Alice Kessler were close, until adolescence wrenched them apart. Natalie is headstrong, manipulative—and beautiful; Alice is a dreamer who loves books and birds. During their family’s summer holiday at the lake, Alice falls under the thrall of a struggling young painter, Thomas Bayber, in whom she finds a kindred spirit. Natalie, however, remains strangely unmoved, sitting for a family portrait with surprising indifference. But by the end of the summer, three lives are shattered.

Decades later, Bayber, now a reclusive, world-renowned artist, unveils a never-before-seen work, Kessler Sisters—a provocative painting depicting the young Thomas, Natalie, and Alice. Bayber asks Dennis Finch, an art history professor, and Stephen Jameson, an eccentric young art authenticator, to sell the painting for him. That task becomes more complicated when the artist requires that they first locate Natalie and Alice, who seem to have vanished. And Finch finds himself wondering why Thomas is suddenly so intent on resurrecting the past.

In The Gravity of Birds histories and memories refuse to stay buried; in the end only the excavation of the past will enable its survivors to love again.

Review:

‘A fabulous debut’ Stylist

‘I really loved it! A deep and compelling page-turning story handled with the lightest of touches. It’s gone straight to the place on my bookshelf reserved for my favourite reads’
Louise Douglas, author of The Secrets Between Us

‘The Gravity of Birds is a beautifully written book, splattered with painterly language as befits the art world this beguiling story inhabits’
Kathleen MacMahon, author of This is How it Ends

‘A beautifully written, compelling story. I absolutely loved it’
Lucy Clarke, author of The Sea Sisters

‘One of those rare, exquisitely written novels that haunt you long after you've finished the last page. It is a novel not to be missed’
Alyson Richman, author of The Lost Wife

‘Part mystery, part psychological drama and intriguing love story. This is a stunning debut’
Ellen Sussman, author of French Lessons

‘A richly textured novel’ Oprah

‘A riveting debut’ Good Housekeeping

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Gravity of Birds
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 2013
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good
Edition: 1st Printing.