It's difficult writing a negative review of this book. I can tell that Siri Hustvedt's heart is in it and that I must applaud. Unfortunately, it's the more intellectual aspect that takes command. This will, I believe, divorce many potential readers from the book and it's for these people that I post a two star review as a warning.

Too much of this book was a labor for me. I'm no dummy. At least, I don't think I am. I have a BA from San Jose State and did well enough in philosophy. But at my age, I find references to Kierkegard and the many art and culture references distracting and interfering with my emotional response to the novel.

An incredibly original creative foray for the novel. Far more complex than a write your own adventure. I like the influence of choice from the different starting points to the views criss crossing between the 1400s and the 2012s. A book that makes you reflect and re examine what you believe and why you formed that view. The stories were both engaging and in their moments. The history of a 1400 fresco painter on commission who believed he should have been paid more was contemporary. The grief in the young girl from today was grief no different to grief from the 1400s. How to be both is the lesson in the ned, the ned to be both is ever there.