Book Title:  The Painter's Wife

Author:  Monique Durand (Translated by Sheila Fischman)

Publishing Company:  Talonbooks (www.talonbooks.com)

Year:  2006

# of Pages: 174

ISBN #:  10: 0-88922-535-4

ISBN #:  13:  978-0-88922-535-0

$18.95 Canada

$18.95 USA 

Reviewer:  Deborah Ground Buckner 

3 stars 

Journalist and director Monique Durand presents a beautiful word painting in her first novel, The Painter's Wife.  The story is the tempestuous romance of Evelyn Rowat and René Marcil, real-life Canadian artists. 

Evelyn and  René each turned to art as an escape from difficult childhood years with dysfunctional family life.  Evelyn married young to a musician she met in Montreal.  When her work in the world of fashion took her to New York, she met  René, fell hopelessly in love with him, and fled to Nevada to obtain a divorce, then marry him. 

The story is a familiar one that could be taken from the lives of many great artists:  Times of flared artistic temperament, a nomadic existence, a fear of success, a fear of failure.  What distinguishes The Painter's Wife is the author's beautiful word choice, evoking powerful emotions while providing vivid descriptions of the places where the couple seek a home:  New York, London, Paris, Provence, Ireland.    René's letters to Evelyn in their times of separation read like paintings themselves. 

Within the framework of the real life travels and milestones of the couple, Durand has presented a story of an overpowering love shared by two people who never really learned what love can be.