Waking Raphael

This marvelous novel has a lot of this and that and more throughout. Many parts: Art including the titular Raphael not to say art restoration; spooky wolf; luscious cuisine including ICE CREAM; part history, WWII and betrayal; fabulously gorgeous Urbino and Umbria -- entirely fine is this novel. I'm sorry to have read it because I'd rather read it again in virgin mode.

WAKING RAPHAEL is another worthy addition to the growing genre of history and art history thrillers populating bookshelves these days. Charlotte, a repressed divorced Brit, has traveled to Urbino, Italy --- the birthplace of artist Raphael --- to restore "La Muta," one of his paintings. While removing previous repairs to the painting, layers of Urbino's history during the war unfold as well. Like the painting of the silent woman, the town's inhabitants and the novel's characters each have their own unique reasons for silence. The silence is, as they say, deafening. With a town's horrible secrets at risk here, the folks of Urbino will stop at nothing to ensure that their age-old mystery remains undiscovered. But this is not to be. A documentary company is shooting a film about the restoration. The on-camera talent is Donna, a dimwitted but attractive reporter, who cannot read even the simplest of text, but clearly has a sharp eye that something here is amiss. Charlotte and Donna begin to realize that the town holds a dark truth below its surface when the painting is attacked by a mute woman. There is some heavy metaphor about silence and breaking silence here. Charlotte is incapable of expressing her feelings. The true mute who lives in San Rocco on the periphery of the town says nothing. Donna speaks volumes, about nothing. The count lives a secret life of adultery, hidden from all involved. Each silence and awakening propels the story onward. With a narrative that was sometimes difficult to follow, WAKING RAPHAEL is redeemed by lush descriptions of Italy, the countryside and the people. The scenes involving food contain sumptuous writing where the reader can taste the tenderness of the prosciutto, the smoothness of the ice cream and gelato, and the delicate cheeses. Magic, religion, art and history weave together to make a compelling story. --- Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara

Middle age art restorer Charlotte Penton travels to Urbino, Italy to work on a fabulous project, restoring a faded Raphael painting, La Muta, The Silent Woman. The renovation assignment is difficult as Charlotte must first peel away the previous "repairs" to get to the basic masterpiece. Then she applies skill, experience and guesswork to mend the painting.Following Charlotte to Urbino is youthful Canadian media star Donna Ricco, who is the pretty girl frontal visage for an arts restoration program. Donna quickly finds the tedious meticulous work boring, but knows she must bear it if she is to get ahead in her career. When a mute woman defames the masterpiece, the two visitors see it differently. Charlotte is appalled but wants to learn why while a gleeful Donna sees a terrific story. As the two North Americans combine resources to learn the truth, they will open up secrets from the war and much more about grandmasters that the town's elderly want left hidden.This engaging tale hooks the reader from the moment that the mute woman desecrates La Muta because the mystery within a mystery is embedded in an incredible background tidal wave of art, history, legends with a hint of the paranormal, local politics, and religion. The lead duo is dynamic opposites except both have energy that will make a marathon runner feel like a couch potato. Fans of crime thrillers with an edge will want to read WAKING RAPHAEL and obtain Leslie Forbes' previous tales, BOMBAY ICE and FISH, BLOOD AND BONE as this reviewer plans to do.Harriet Klausner