This review has been a long time coming.

I started reading this book months ago but I have been tardy getting through it, due to lots of reasons, but also because the first 3/4 of the book is a bit of a drag. I would read a bit, yawn, put it down… When it came to packing for travel it never seemed worth the space it would take. Perhaps this is due to something being lost in its translation from the original Italian…

Then, a couple of weeks ago, after some more slow page turning, it took a change. All of a sudden I couldn’t put it down. The very slow burn that took up the first 250 pages smouldered into an actual mild bonfire. Things started happening. Some of the red herrings led to events that changed people’s lives. Other red herrings led to nothing, but that too can be interesting. Some of the story that had been beaten up faded to nothing. Other insignificant matters took on more meaning.

If all of the book had been like that final hurrah it would have been a very satisfying read. I certainly enjoyed that pace that it eventually took on. While no bodice ripper, it’s a book which infuses in the reader the feeling of genuine sympathy for the main character. By the story’s conclusion, she becomes more human, less of a caricature.

The key, therefore, to enjoying The Water Colourist, is to persevere. The first half, which came across as somewhat slow and (for the lack of a better term) tedious, is redeemed by the book’s conclusion. It ramps up, and it’s worth it.