Review by Booklist Review
Just three calls. That's all it takes to upend the lives of the Kemp siblings. First, their father Vic, a popular artist, invites them to lunch to enthuse about his long-awaited latest painting and gush over his newfound love, the much, much younger Bella-Mae. Next, they get a text stating he's abandoning his London studio and moving with Bella-Mae to his vacation home, an aging Italian lakeside villa, where they're to be married. No invitation, but they should come visit. The third call comes days later: Vic has died, drowned in the lake he knew as well as his own bathtub. Netta, Susan, Iris, and Gustav, nicknamed Goose, rush to Lake Orta, ready to confront the enigmatic Bella-Mae over Vic's inexplicable death, the contents of his will, and the whereabouts of his promised final masterpiece. Over the course of her emotionally potent and psychologically chaotic family saga, Joyce (Maureen, 2023) reveals the toll of unresolved conflicts, the danger of taking family bonds for granted, and the power of art to assuage grief and longing.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Famous artist Vic Kemp's four children gather together in their family's Italian villa after his death: Netta, a driven lawyer whose drinking is starting to gain control of her; Susan, who is married to a much older man with children; Gustav (nicknamed "Goose"), who once tried to mount his own art exhibition but had a breakdown; and Iris, the youngest, most fragile daughter. Before his death, Vic had suddenly and quickly married Bella-Mae, a woman 50 years younger than him but with strong powers of observation. Reeling from the loss of their father, the four siblings are left with questions. Who was Bella-Mae, and why had their father never introduced them to her? How did their father, a strong swimmer, drown in a lake that was so familiar to him? And did he rewrite his will to leave everything to Bella-Mae? Readers will get caught up in what Joyce's (Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North) characters have to contend with, particularly a larger-than-life parent who affected, even damaged, their lives and careers into adulthood. VERDICT Joyce is skilled at creating fragile, complex characters, and book club members will enjoy hashing over this insightful family drama.--Jennie Mills
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Siblings journey to an Italian lakeside villa to investigate the drowning death of their father. Famed artist Vic Kemp invites his four children to a bombshell of a London lunch. A playboy for decades, the 76-year-old is in love. Twenty-seven-year-old Bella-Mae has had a startling effect on Vic: He has forsworn alcohol, preferring her "special" tea; lost weight; and is planning his final masterpiece. The siblings, between 30 and 40, are alarmed. Netta assumes her father is prey to a gold digger; Susan is worried her caretaking will be usurped; Goose, also Vic's studio assistant, is hurt he's been left out of this latest work; and baby Iris only wants what's best--whatever that is. The four are unbreakably close, having raised each other after their young mother's death and their father's haphazard parenting, and yet are devoted to him and his domineering allure. This compelling family tableau turns thrilling when Vic--thinner, secretive--texts that he and Bella-Mae have married at his Italian villa. A few weeks later he is found dead in the lake. As the siblings converge at their summer home, the novel begins to skirt the edges of a whodunit, but as they attempt to solve the mystery, their relationships with each other begin to fray. Each of them has been damaged by Vic, and at an explosive lakeside dinner, long-simmering resentments are revealed. This dramatic conclusion, hinted at in the prologue, is not the end--instead the novel marches ahead 10 years for a summation that is, although pleasing, a bit strained in its insistence thateverybody gets a slice of happiness. The glamorous art world, juicy family discord, an Italian villa, potential murder--it's hard to ask more from a summer read. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
