A well-written, solidly-researched novel of 14th century England. Finn is a master illuminator working both for the Church and for the heretical scholar Jon Wycliffe. When he and his daughter lodge with Lady Kathryn, the widowed mistress of Blackingham Manor, the lives of all become intertwined.
Depressing, but great read.
The fictionalized account of a missing year in Rembrandt’s life places him in the English port city of Hull as the result of stowing away on a ship to get away from his creditors. The English captain discovers he can draw, and offers him a bargain: He will forgive the fare and return him to Holland if Rembrandt paints his portrait. While there, he is captivated by the Captain’s wife Amelia. So is the poet Marvell, who proposes a wager between the two artists to see whose medium is finer.
Fast forward to the present. Amy Dale, a wandering painter, ends up in Hull where she takes conservation work in her ancestors’ house, which surprise ends up being the same house. She and an engimatic laborer find Amelia’s journal and work out that Rembrandt spent a year of his life there. As they unravel the mystery, the story unfolds.
It’s too bad that Davenport didn’t just stick to Rembrandt. Those parts of the story were powerfully written, and successfully captured the voice of a man who is at first incredibly vain about his talents but comes to the realization that he is merely human. (In fact, the novel purports to explain why there was such a shift in Rembrandt’s self-portraits.)
The modern day, however, was not as finely wrought. Amy was an unconvincing female with unreal motivations. The modern day denouement was anticlimactic and clumsy.
Still, for those who enjoy combining art and literature, this was a pretty good read.
Woke up on Saturday prepared to surf (and miss Harry Potter), but Steve said he wanted to work on the house instead. That was fine by me. So he ripped out the bathroom sink. No half-measures in our little family, oh no.
I wasn’t wild about any of the sinks at Home Depot and persuaded Steve that we really needed to go to Restore, an architectural salvage place up in Ballard. Both of us gravitated towards this really cool (and really cheap because of a crack) sink with old-fashioned handles and a spout that was part of the porcelain.
Went back to Home Depot to get the right hardware. Boy, was that a pain. We were there for two hours. Got home and tried to put it together. That was even more of a pain. Steve ended up jerry-rigging the old plumbing to work with the new. Even so, the whole damn thing leaked.
To make a long story short, it’s a Crane pedestal sink. Very cool, but very expensive to fix. The two parts we need are $85 each. Steve found detailed information here (which he bookmarked on my computer under “Crane sinks my girlfriend makes me buy.”)
He also found this, which is what the sink looks like. 
link
Midway through his jerryrigging, Harry Potter arrived. Naturally, I abandoned any pretense of helping him. Not that it matters, because we don’t have a sink in the bathroom, and won’t until we decide what to do. Abandon this one and get a new one? Order the parts? Steve’s asking a plumber on his job site today.
So how was the book, anyway?
Well, the jury’s still out. This is the problem with anticipating a book so much. It’s bound to disappoint. That’s not to say it wasn’t good. It was. Still, I think the fourth one was the best. Nonetheless, it made for a perfect Saturday night.
