Asunder
*Starred Review* Aridjis’ captivating, cerebral novel is set in a modern-day London that, when envisioned via her sophisticated prose, calls to mind more contemplative times of a century ago. Marie is a guard in the quiet, churchlike rooms of the National Gallery, where for nearly 10 years she has observed with equal fascination the body language of visitors and the slow decay of masterpieces. Quiet and unattached, Marie likes the invisibility that her job allows her. In 1914, her great-grandfather was a guard when suffragette Mary Richardson took a cleaver to a revered painting of Venus in repose. Although there are hints of suspense in the connection to that time, just as there are promises of romantic entanglements, Aridjis is most interested in ideas. What is it like to stand silently amid such beauty for a decade? Indeed, Marie’s satisfaction gives way to restlessness on a strange Paris holiday. The novel stumbles a bit when overdone symbolism gets in the way of our own observation of Marie, but Aridjis’ layered, painterly prose evokes this world to perfection. --Annie Tully