Johanna, an artist, and Matt, a music critic, couldn't be more different, but by a simple twist of fate, she plucks him from a crowd at a Dylan concert. What follows is a heady and intense relationship buffeted by the usual suspects that gently rocked the '80s. Matt's lessons in art—as well as life—at the hands of Johanna, drive the novel into pockets of feminism and quiet revolution. All of this is tempered by deeply held traumatic secrets.
A meditation on art and unrest, Visions of Johanna celebrates life, love, memory and the undying power of the deep connections that sustain us. The novel follows Johanna and Matt as they pursue their dreams. But burdening problems collide with these artistic desires and other forces conspire against them. Ultimately, the two are done in by their inability to share aspects of their past they believe they must hide from.
Within this book's pages, tragedies haunt, acts of moral goodness manifest themselves, and benevolence reigns with a finality that absolves all.
Sarno explores many heavy and formidable topics, but he does so with sensitivity and delicacy, covering weighty issues like suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other aspects of mental illness with grace. He’s skillful at depicting Matt and Johanna’s shifting relationship, characterized both by moments of transcendent connection as well as darker times—including a wrenching account of a despondent Johanna’s lowest moments. Ultimately, Matt shies from a real commitment because of unresolved trauma from his childhood. This leads to a slow, painful breakup but also later to Matt’s own healing, as he learns to face his past and open himself up in relationships.
The somewhat painful reunion a quarter century later is both moving and evocative of their earlier ups and downs, as Matt has learned to approach those he cares for with a sense of grace that the break-up was lacking. Threaded through it all, as the title suggests, is a fascination with the music of Bob Dylan and others–obsessive Matt, we learn, parses a mono edition of Blonde on Blonde to discover “the prominence of different instruments when compared to the stereo edition.” The resulting novel, like the classic song that lends the novel its title, is a slightly rambling but heartfelt and fascinating narrative about the urgency of human connection.
Takeaway: A beautifully intimate romance that doesn't shy away from challenging topics.
Great for fans of: Hazel Hayes’s Out of Love, Sara Goodman Confino’s She’s Up to No Good.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B
