Book Report: Mona’s Eyes

I finished this novel/art history textbook before I left for South Carolina, but needed to find time to write it up. Mona’s Eyes is a masterpiece that will live on for many generations. Or so I think. It’s by Thomas Schlesser and was originally published in French. The translator did a superb job capturing Frenchness into English.

The plot sounds really strange when you describe it. The grandfather of a young girl who might be going blind takes her to museums in Paris to view a piece of art per week. She learns and grows. The end.

There’s more to it than that. It’s more fun to discover it for yourself. The bonus is that you get a free Art Appreciation 101 class along with your novel. It’s great. The book jacket is secretly a key to all the art discussed, so you have a reference point. I rearranged the cover many times for handy viewing.

Mona is a bit strange and eerily smart for her age. She also has super vision, other than that impending blindness. And the grandfather is a warm and emotionally complicated guy, too. All the characters are nicely developed and it’s fun to watch the plot unfold while simultaneously learning to analyze art from ancient times to this century.

The only caveat I have about Mona’s Eyes is that it assumes some degree of cultural literacy and a bit of understanding of French history. I had to look up a couple of references, though Schlesser does a pretty good job of working in historical context and art terminology as the action unfolds. I found the educational part really fun.

If you have some time and a place where you can focus, you’ll treasure this book like I did.