Upon reading other reviews of this book, I've just discovered that Sarah D'Stair is a poet. That makes so much sense. Her prose in this novel is so lyrical, evocative and sensitively constructed. As a result, the plot feels a little loose. But I didn't mind. Reading this book was more of an experience - meandering and deeply felt. A really striking examination of attraction, regret and longing.

In search of a week of renewal and away from it all, Helen Bonaparte signs up for a week-long tour of Italy. The middle-aged academic has left her husband and children behind for the ancient history of places like Venice, Rome, Florence, and Assisi. She’s immediately distracted by and becomes obsessed with the tour guide, Marieke. As the short trip progresses, Marieke becomes the center of Helen’s fantasies, and she’ll have to come to grips with this obsession and re-examine herself and her life.

I was initially attracted to this one by the plot. I’m always down for a middle-aged woman trying to find herself, and if she finds her desires steering toward another ladytype, well, bonus. For me, the highlight of this one is the language. It’s beautifully written and asks some very deep questions of the protagonist, her obsession, and the reader. However, the plot was a bit lacking for me. It dragged on a tad long, and I ended up skimming parts of the second half. Though I loved the language and the thoughts and ideas of Helen, I wasn’t overly invested in the characters themselves.

If you’re looking for a beautifully written journey with a meandering plot, though, definitely give this one a go. I highlighted many lines and passages to revisit later.

this book was… interesting. and i think i know why. looking at the rest of d’stair’s works (which are poetry), it makes sense. this novel is if poetry was turned into prose. and i don’t exactly know if i like it?? but maybe that’s just me.

anyways.. to sum it up, this is a story about obsession. obsession in a highsmith-eqsue-but-make-it-even-more- pretentious kind of way. it’s written in first-person but sometimes helen refers to herself in the third… which, is kinda pretentious.

however, there are some things that i liked. the allusions!! i already mentioned highsmith, but the dante and biblical references kept me going. and the fact that it’s set in italy (which has a very special place in my heart). and also this book is very quote-able, if that makes sense. an honorable mention includes: “Shall my gestures be the one in a Highsmith novel, or simply a set piece for atmosphere along Venetian bridges and swollen storefronts?”

so, would i necessarily pick this book up on my own? no. but would i recommend it to people who seem to enjoy poetry (and more “pretentious” writing) more than i do? i might.

also! shout out to Late Marriage Press for sending me a copy— y’all rock

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Helen and Marieke. Helen is a middle-aged American academic on a week-long group tour in Italy, away from husband and children. Marieke is the beautiful young Dutch tour guide. Helen is immediately enchanted and attracted by the most minute observations:

"Her hands are now only inches away from the bread that will soon be in my mouth. A film of oil from her lipstick lingers on the wine glass. Her hair might brush over my arm if I time it just right."

Her feelings turn rapidly into obsession: "the kind hidden in bedclothes and between the pages of books, buried in fingernail clippings you trim just in case."

This becomes the leading theme of the novel:

"Marieke, the student of art who claims she is no artist. She will become the story I decide her to be."

We get to know all this from an uninterrupted stream of consciousness in Helen's head. The prose is dense, almost poetic. A slow read, but it works for me in a very rewarding way.

Helen in her head is not a pleasant person. Her reading for the trip is a crime novel by Patricia Highsmith. And like Highsmith and Highsmithonian characters, she is sometimes creepy, morally ambiguous, perverse, misanthropic. Even cruel. She hates everything and everybody that comes between her and her Marieke fantasy. As a chatty tourist crosses her ways, she fantasizes that "this Texan should be wrenched down a well, every word pulled from her bloodied throat."

Helen's obsession with the unsuspecting younger woman starts to leak into the real world. A scarf is expropriated, a fork is sucked at by the wrong mouth, a hotel room is sneaked into. The dark world in Helen's head is contrasted by Marieke's beauty and the lightness and joy she radiates. Slowly, slowly the tension raises.

This book is not easy to categorize. It somehow sticks out and keeps apart from my usual reading. I found it very captivating and entertaining. There is not much else to be found of Ms. D'Stairs previous publications. A few poetry collections, some novels and novellas, mostly out of print. Even the novel published before "Helen Bonaparte", "Central Valley" (2017), is not available in any form for purchase. There is a teasing excerpt from this book, "Canal Days", in an on-line magazine, but that is all.

I fear "Helen Bonaparte" has been gravely underappreciated by the reading world. Not by me--a clear five of five stars! I hope that more works of Sarah D'Stair come out or will be made available again.

(based on a free review copy from NetGalley and the publisher)

Helen Bonaparte is a middle-aged American woman on a coach tour of Italy. She soon finds herself more interested in young Dutch tour guide Marieke than the sights, with erotic fantasies pushing her admiration of the cultural delights of the Renaissance and the wonders of Pompeii to the back of her mind. Helen barely spares a thought for her family back home.
While the story-line had promise I found Helen boring and pretentious and the outcome of the tale unbelievable. Her behaviour was creepy and obsessive bordering on sleazy,the kind of person restraining orders are taken out against.
I really struggled with this book,as a novella written in plain English it would have worked a lot better,there were quite a few sentences I read several times but still couldn't make any sense of.
As someone who has written and been published in a very small way I fully appreciate how much work goes into every book and I really hate to be critical but this really didn't work for me.