It’s Back to the B’s with The Sidewalk Artist

Every time I’m in Chapters, I love to browse their remainders tables and shelves.  All that fiction, up to 80% off, you can easily get 4 books for $20, that’s like 4 for the price of 1!!!  A total book lovers bargain!

 

Of course, not every book is a gem, but once in awhile I come across a keeper, like Gina Buonaguro and Janice Kirk’s The Sidewalk Artist.  This was quite a lovely read, with beautiful language and characters you couldn’t help but like, sympathize with and root for.  A gentle little book that’s perfect for whiling away a lazy afternoon with. 

 

When twenty-seven year old Tulia Rose’s boyfriend Ethan presents her with an all-expenses paid six week trip to Europe, she can’t help but delay breaking up with him.  No stranger to their relationship woes, Ethan offers up the trip as an opportunity for them to spend some time apart in order to come back together and reignite the spark that’s been missing from their love life.  So off Tulia goes on her six-week jaunt, but noticeably lonely and missing the companionship of her boyfriend.

 

When in Paris, a chance meeting with a sidewalk artist who goes simply by the name Raphael forces Tulia to re-evaluate her relationship with Ethan as she finds herself attracted to this mysterious stranger.  The two bond over art, particularly that of the painter Raphael.  When the stranger shares a love story of a woman he once met in a marketplace buying oranges, Tulia begins to write a book about the 16^th Century painter and a secret love, using the sidewalk artist and herself as inspiration.

 

Tulia is a writer whose first book, based on her relationship with Ethan, was a flop.  She’s suffered writer’s block ever since, until the moment she meets the sidewalk artist, and finds her muse.  From Paris, she travels to Venice, Italy, to learn more about the painter Raphael, and continues to run into her sidewalk artist.  Love blooms, as does her book, but there is still quite a mystery surrounding this sidewalk artist, one which may prevent a happily ever after.

 

A uniquely written love story, we have not only Tulia’s story, but that of the book she is writing interwoven with facts about the life of the painter Raphael, all set amongst the backdrop of Paris, and various locales in Italy.  As readers we are reminded that there are many stories in life and that when one story ends, as with a relationship, there will be more stories yet to experience.  I found this book simply poetical.  The very chapter names, if read together, form a poem, adding to the unique experience of reading this book.  It was a delightful read and is a book I highly recommend.

 

Till next time, happy reading.

L