The Lost Glass Plates of Wilfred Eng

Without giving anything away, I'll say that this first novel is so good that I almost wept when the girlfriend of our hero, Robert Armour, said she was leaving him. How often do we meet characters so wonderful and fully-formed that we would dearly like to meet them? How often do we find a novel that we read in its entirety in one evening? In my experience, not often. This is a touching, sexy, funny and intellectually-satisfying story set against a background of the history of photography. I highly recommend it. I look forward to Mr. Orton's next work. A+!

With apologies to our host, I bought my copy of Lost Plates from the author himself, at the shop he runs. He seemed humbly grateful, insisting on adding an inscription to his autograph ("To D---, with many thanks," as though I'd somehow aided in launching the book). Orton needs no assistance. Besides being a well-written, cleverly executed story that he refrains from sprinkling with ubiquitous Seattle references, Lost Plates showcases Orton's mastery of juxtaposition. The text is offset by diary entries, the first seemingly unrelated to the story but which later become interrelated and offer insight and perspective. The greed and lack of integrity that sometimes exist at the highest levels of the museum culture is set against one minor character's purism. And Robert Armour himself, we suspect, is reliving Wilfred Eng's own life crisis: Do I commit to my art or my partner? A compelling read; set aside time because you won't want to stop.

Thomas Orton meticulously weaves the threads of passionate love, wrenching betrayal, and art world intrigue into this seamless, superbly written novel. His astute protrayal of the art world enlivens the book, his characters are wonderfully complex, and his storyline unfolds with great intrigue and surprise. Orton's beautiful, sophisticated writing style makes me eagerly await his future work.

This supremely engrossing story is irresistable on a couple of levels, the first being the what is is -- hallucination? delusion? -- that there REALLY was a Wilfred Eng who has faded from public memory because of his renegade status and because he was Chinese in a time of Exclusion. I still actually feel that way: that this is somehow a true story or one that will prove true eventually. I really love the twists here of ethics and conscience, of how much we imagine we'll do for the sake of art and riches, also, for the deep truth of how we fall in love with our proto step children and that love lasts when the love for the parent is tarnished or else somehow fades. BRAVO, THOMAS ORTON!

When I sat down with the pre pub galley of Tom Orton's "Lost Glass Plates of Wilfred Eng" in the middle of a work day, I expected to read a couple of chapters and return to business. Instead, I put aside the work I should have been doing, and kept on reading, entranced by the plot, humbled by Orton's writing. At the day's end I walked home, reading the galley as I weaved through passing pedestrians -- stopping only for street lights. Once I started reading this beautifully written, fast paced book, I could not put it down.