The Impasto Effect
This complex, well-crafted novel is a page-turning story about the burden of unresolved identity and the complications of long-held secrets. It is a coming-of-age, psychological drama and a romantic thriller. It begins with a first-person narration told by a precocious little Jewish girl, Cecelia. Her freedom of expression is marred by a family secret kept to avoid emotional pain. Will the secret be revealed so that, as a young adult, an unexpected discovery can strengthen her bond to her parents and to her first love? Can family love endure through centuries of persecution that enter the mind of a small child? Cecelia (feeling best as Ceci) struggles to reconcile her emerging artistic identity with her conflicted past, buckling under expectations far beyond what a child and teen should face. A modeling career her mother insisted on from her toddler years troubles her deeply. Her mother’s relentless competitiveness doesn’t leave room for peer relationships. Ceci laments: “No friends. Cold shoulders, when I get magazine covers. Mortification.” Ceci’s genius-level intelligence and celebrity status alienate her from her peers, and when her dad fills her young mind with the persecution history of Jewish people, night terrors, shame, and fears result. The reader lives inside Ceci’s mind and actions as she chooses to transition into college, where she becomes an award-winning artist. Before long, however, her world is further complicated when she falls for enigmatic Drew, an aspiring brilliant doctor whose commandeering ways (“He hasn’t asked if I would dine, just presumed, already reserving a table.”) clash with her newly won independence. He also carries his own emotional baggage, having grown up as a child prodigy. Life goes on for the young couple, though it's risky, as they later move from the East Coast to the West Coast at Drew’s behest. Living near Stanford University in California, where Drew works—a mystery caller of Drew’s returns, bent on violence and death-defying catastrophe for Ceci that ends up preying on her conscience. The reader remains spellbound, moving toward an unknown ending while building a close, compassionate attachment to Ceci. This book about identity and love is ideal for a wide audience in Book Groups using Laurie Hollman’s Reading Group Guide.