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Title: A better read can be found elsewhere
Review: After reading the glowing New York Times review, I rushed to buy this book in hardcover. That purchase is certainly the worst I have made in some time, and I would advise others who have an interest in this topic or in works by the author to avoid this novel. In fact, I hate to even give the book away and subject someone else to the tediousness of this work.As an art historian, I anticipated discovering what the very clever Mr. Frayn could do with a highly fascinating topic. I am sorry that he could do no better, and would agree that the long-winded descriptions of the netherlandish political arena were overblown. In fact, they were discursive enough to cause me to lose interest in a theoretically interesting story with completely unappealing characters.For those interested in the topic, I would recommend Robertson Davies' What's Bred in the Bone. It is a far better read on all fronts.
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