In Ingold’s latest, he paints a tender-hearted portrait of painter Robert Turghoff and his romance with Yvonne Curtiss, a mysterious, complex, conflicted woman who becomes his lover and muse. Turghoff, a twice-divorced father of two living in Long Branch, California, described by a colleague as not “particularly inspiring or [his] hands any more graceful than those of the average artist,” latches on to an idea to paint a series of murals, in a bid to rev up both the town and his career. When Yvonne—married to Iraq war veteran Gil Curtiss—enters his life, he’s intrigued, and, despite warnings from friends, slides into a deep relationship with her, while mentoring her 12-year-old daughter Carly.In deft strokes and bold lines, Ingold (author of There Came a Contagion) effortlessly brings to life characters who linger long after: Turghoff, who paints to express what he cannot say even to himself and “had a reputation well earned; galleries wanted his work, buyers purchased it” ; Yvonne, a journalist who writes with clarity and empathy but is having trouble at home with her alcoholic husband (and self-medicating to cope); Gil, tormented from his time in Iraq; and Carly, tentative, shy, and fragile, with only sporadic attempts at creating art. Even Edgar Montoya, a minor supporting character nicknamed “Headlong” (because “when he set off running he gave no thought to stopping”) comes across as a fully animated, memorable addition to the cast.
Ingold’s depiction of Turghoff is nuanced, capturing the complexities of his artistic self—the joys of small successes and the frustration when “the channel between mind and hand” is blocked—with finesse. Turghoff’s initial wariness, and Yvonne’s mysteriousness, are all fashioned with skilled surety, making this an in-depth exploration of an artist’s mind, its vulnerabilities, the constant battles with roadblocks to expression, and the resilience born out of loyalty to the creative self.
Takeaway: An engrossing portrait of an artist and his muse.
Comparable Titles: Deborah Moggach’s Tulip Fever, Percival Everett’s So Much Blue.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
