Elizabeth Hand

In the Victorian Age, a mysterious and irresistible woman becomes entwined in the lives of several artists, both as a muse and as the object of all-consuming obsession. Radborne Comstock, one of the early twentieth century's most brilliant young painters, is helpless under her dangerous spell. In modern-day London, journalist Daniel Rowlands meets a beguiling woman who holds the secret to invaluable -- and lost -- Pre-Raphaelite paintings, while wealthy dilettante-actor Valentine Comstock is consumed by enigmatic visions. Swirling between eras and continents, Mortal Love is the intense tale of unforgettable characters caught in a whirlwind of art, love, and intrigue that will take your breath away.

A Novel

Mortal Love

Sarah Sammis

Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand was the third of her novels I've read. It's a three in one story of three different men having obsessive relationships with a muse. The premise is like The Muse (1999) with an execution more like The Angel of Forgetfulness by Steve Stern.

One of the threads is set in a dilapidated house in Maine with an attic full of paintings. The other two take place in a flat in London in the present day. While the three different victims don't see the connections in their lives, to the reader the danger is apparent and frightening.

It's a complex novel, one that unfortunately didn't work for me. Between the different woven threads and the luscious prose, I found the book hard to follow. There weren't any characters for me to grab onto. I suppose I could have wised for the muse to just do the men in as quickly as possible but from the size of the book I could tell that wouldn't happen.

Mortal Love, then, was the point where I realized I like Hand's books but I won't automatically love every single one. Many of the reviews I'm linking to are very positive. Please read them before deciding yea or nay on the book.

Mortal Love A Novel

Reviews