BOOKISH FRIDAYS: EXCERPTING “THE BLUE BATH”

Welcome to another Bookish Friday, in which I  share excerpts from books…and connect with other bloggers, who do the same.

Let’s begin the celebration by sharing Book Beginnings, hosted by Rose City Reader; and let’s showcase The Friday 56 with Freda’s Voice.

To join in, just grab a book and share the opening lines…along with any thoughts you wish to give us; then turn to page 56 and excerpt anything on the page.

Then give us the title of the book, so others can add it to their lists!

What better way to spend a Friday!

Today I’m featuring a book I plan to read soon:  The Blue Bath, by Mary Waters-Sayer.

 

 

Beginning:  (Prologue)

Entering the front hall, Kat saw it coming, but could not stop it.  The swift and silent arc of the sledgehammer came to its own abrupt end as it smashed through the smooth plaster wall.  She squeezed her eyes shut, momentarily stunned by the force and the sound of the impact.  In the loud silence that followed, Kat peered through the dust swirling in the sunlight and stepped closer, her shoes crunching on bits of atomized plaster.

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56%:  Opening her closet, Kat was surprised to find that one of her gowns had been steamed and left out, as well as shoes and accessories to go with it.  The housekeeper must have done it that morning.  There beside the long jade-green dress was a neat list—gown, jewelry, shoes, bag—in her own handwriting.

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Synopsis: Kat Lind, an American expatriate living in London with her entrepreneur husband and their young son, attends an opening at a prestigious Mayfair art gallery and is astonished to find her own face on the walls. The portraits are evidence of a long-ago love affair with the artist, Daniel Blake. Unbeknownst to her, he has continued to paint her ever since. Kat is seduced by her reflection on canvas and when Daniel appears in London, she finds herself drawn back into the sins and solace of a past that suddenly no longer seems so far away.

When the portraits catch the attention of the public, threatening to reveal not only her identity, but all that lies beyond the edges of the canvases, Kat comes face to face with the true price of their beauty and with all that she now could lose.

Moving between the glamour of the London art world and the sensuous days of a love affair in a dusty Paris studio, life and art bleed together as Daniel and Kat’s lives spin out of control, leading to a conclusion that is anything but inevitable.

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What do you think?  Do the excerpts and the blurb pique your curiosity?  What are you sharing?  Please come by with your thoughts and links.

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