The Seventh Unicorn (Berkley Fiction) (utgåvan 2005)

She has a nice touch for her characters and their environment. Just have to get used to the slower pace. ( )

Book Description: "Alex Pellier is passionate about only two things in life: her precocious six-year-old daughter and her work as a curator for the Cluny museum in Paris She relishes the idea of discovering a medieval treasure. Unfortunately, her trip to a convent near Lyon, to examine a storehouse of items dating back to the thirteenth century, seems to be turning up little. But then, tucked inside a book, Alex discovers a centuries-old poem. In another book, a series of sketches. To Alex, these items suggest that there may be a seventh, as yet undiscovered tapestry in the world-renowned The Lady and the Unicorn series."

I've loved the various stories written about these tapestries ever since I read Tracy Chevalier's, The Lady and the Unicorn. This story imagines a 7th and possibly an 8th tapestry being made in the series and hidden away elsewhere for centuries. While the story was predictable, the character of the daughter especially inaccurate, and the dialogue a bit too contrived for my tastes, I still enjoyed the mystery and the art history aspects of the book. It was a good read, but not one I'd read again. ( )

In een klooster wordt een eeuwenoud wandtapijt gevonden. Hoort het bij de zesdelige serie van de wandtapijten die in het Cluny hangen?
De wandtapijten worden redelijk gedetailleerd beschreven, maar het is goed de afbeeldingen ervan even op te zoeken op internet. Vermakelijk verhaal, leest lekker weg, maar geen toppertje. ( )

Cuando Alex, una joven conservadora del Museo de Antigüedades Medievales de Cluny, en París, recibe el encargo de revisar las obras de arte en venta en un viejo convento a las afueras de Lyón, no sabe que se está enfrentando al reto más importante de su vida. Entre los polvorientos volúmenes de la biblioteca del monasterio, Alex descubrirá las pistas que le conducirán a desvelar uno de los secretos mejor guardados de la historia del arte: la existencia de un séptimo tapiz de la célebre serie de La Dama del Unicornio. Decidida a lograr para su museo esta importante pieza, Alex no dudará en enfrentarse en una batalla desigual a marchantes sin escrúpulos o incluso al mismísimo arzobispo de Lyón. Y en su empeño contará con dos aliados inesperados: Jake, un hombre que fue muy importante en su juventud y al que no ha conseguido olvidar a pesar de los años transcurridos… y la sombra de Adèle, la misteriosa mujer a cuya inspiración se debió la creación de los tapices

I liked it. It was a nice, pleasant read with engaging characters. Nothing particularly radical happened to any of them, but what did happen was very logical and neatly executed. Alex's daughter, Soliel (or Sunny) was a delightful minor character, who pretty much stole her scenes. This books uses many of the set pieces of the romance novel, but in a beautifully understated way that really worked for me. There are no continual, sighing reflections on the other person's physique, no trembling glances or limbs and definitely no hard and throbbing or wet and tingling places depending on gender. Instead, the growing conbection and relevant doubts etc we worked into the plot rather than taking it over.

I wish I was more of a visual person so that I could visualise the tapestries and Jake's paintings. But I'm not and there's nothing I can do about that. I have a feeling this is Kelly Jones' first novel. I think she's made a great start and I'll happily read more by her. ( )