Louisa has a plan. If only her human, Fish, were still around to help her carry this one out, she’d have more confidence, but she knows she’ll have to do this on her own. She just has to stay calm and keep quiet (neither being her strong suit, unfortunately). As she works her way into the church where the auction is being held and finds herself near the painting, she is more overwhelmed by it than she ever could have imagined. It is so much more than the picture on her postcard, so much more alive. And when she finds herself bursting to express herself, she nearly gets herself thrown back into her foster home or worse. But luckily for her, the stranger outside helps her evade being caught and her journey toward change begins.
It is the rare book that has ever moved me quite like this one. In the pages of this novel, Backman encapsulates love and art and youth in words so beautifully, it feels like he is painting with his prose. The juxtaposition of the hardened but naive Louisa with the ornery but kind Ted is the perfect way to present the story of the painting that Louisa has set out to see up close. And it is the telling that is the journey itself.
Each sentence is a masterpiece. On the surface, the words may appear simple, but in the simplicity there is meaning, thoughtfulness, kindness, sensitivity, humanity. Two examples:
“Nothing weighs more than someone else’s belief in you.”
“Art is what we leave of ourselves in other people.”
These are just two, but there are so many more.
And beyond the philosophical there is the emotional. You will feel all the feelings: heartbreak, joy, worry, fear, and anxiety, because you will come to love each and every character in this novel as well. You will find each of the friends become your friends, your humans.
Is this a MUST READ? You bet it is.
kindread spirits 