Please forgive me for being so late to the game in this one!
It took me about 100 pages to get into the book - and several attempts - but once I finally did - it was wonderful and so compelling! I did find it a sad, painful tale but found it to be believable because so often great artists are 'tortured.' I thought the ending was good as well. Like with most books, I think there are some who would love it (my more 'artsy' friends) and some who would hate it, but overall, I enjoyed the story line.