The Swan Thieves

By: Elizabeth Kostova

Narrated by: Treat Williams, Anne Heche, Erin Cottrell, Sarah Zimmerman, John Lee

Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life--solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. In response, Marlowe finds himself going beyond his own legal and ethical boundaries to understand the secret that torments this genius, a journey that will lead him into the lives of the women closest to Robert Oliver and toward a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

Ranging from American museums to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love, The Swan Thieves is a story of obsession, the losses of history, and the power of art to preserve human hope.

©2010 Elizabeth Kostova (P)2010 Hachette

Treat was a disappointment

Book is so-so. Treat is a one-dimensional voice. Disappointed.

Oh my! I may have dated Oliver...

...at least his type anyway. Great fiction! many great description of painters and their relationships.

Two stories - one good book

Very well put together book. Some twists and turns but I feel I always knew where the book was going. The narrators did a great job.

A work of art itself

I wasn't supposed to like this book as much as I did. Maybe my feverish enjoyment of it was a happy accident. Maybe it was because so many of the world-building elements just so happened to overlap with my own life. Maybe, even though the characters irritated me for their odd decision making, I also found them fleshed out and somewhat relatable.

Inevitably, I cannot help but compare The Swan Thieves to The Historian... And after much deliberation, I've decided that I like them both about equally. To be clear, I really like them both. The Historian was much more interesting in subject matter, but at times felt overwritten in scholarly detached kind of way. The Swan Thieves felt much more streamlined, corporeal, and grounded, but the premise felt comparatively mundane.

All in all, I look forward to reading The Shadow Land soon as I explore more oElizabeth Kostova's work.

Amazing !

Just loved this book/ audio book. I am an artist myself and have been in an art book club for a while and have read and listened to many artist lives and books about paintings and this one will be in top 10 as one of the best. My only criticism is that’s it a little long. And I wish the author supplied a pdf or a photo of the paintings ( real or imagined ) they included in the stories.

Just.....meh

It's not awful, but I was disappointed, expecting something as great as "The Historian." I kept waiting for something major to happen and I felt like the story just petered out. I thought the narration was AWFUL- particularly that by Treat Williams. I also found the "French" accents to be overdone and distracting. The whole thing was just ok.

Good, not too heavy listen

A good listen and easy to get wrapped up in. You'll like the characters and the pace of the book.
*MILD SPOILER*
The resolution is slightly predictable and the major problem resolved a little too quick and clean right at the end, but this does not diminish the hours of the story and the beautiful building of the characters.

Great read....beautiful

I loved this book (as well as her first, The Historian). The narration was so good! Several different people were used to tell this beautiful story. One of my favorite book listening experiences. I purchased the hard copy for a friend and have recommended it to many. If you love art and love romance this is the book for you.

A great listen!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, I found myself looking forward to my commutes and this is usually a good gauge for me. The narration was quite good and well suited to the characters I thought. I was not bored with the story - maybe because I have an art background and loved the subject, but it was really very well done with a lot going on especially at the end of the storyline. It may not be for everyone - but then what story is!

Slow build to nothing

Kostova is talented. No one can doubt that. Her imagination hit the ceiling in The Historian. But sadly, The Swan Thieves didn't make it off the desk. Her characters were beautiful and deep, but went nowhere. The ever intriguing plot bounced around the centuries, tying in several characters to a certain theme and object. This object was referred to early on, but never really mentioned again, unlike the dragon book in The Historian. In her way, Kostova winds and unravels people and their stories in the only way she can do. However, the climax was predictable, low reaching the "could have" goal, and ....boring. I only kept up the book, all 3 parts, to see if the twists and turns are as good as their predecessor. It was disappointing. The plot and climax could have been so much better. Being a historian allows me to see the research, drive, and complexity of her work, but as a reader, I was expecting much more.