What do readers think of Broken Colors by Michele Zackheim? Write your own review.

The plot of "Broken Colors", developed through natural dialogue and internal monologue, provides the impetus for the direction of this novel. In an easy descriptive style imbued with charm, wit and pathos, Michele Zackheim creates her heroine, Sophie Marks, as a resourceful, yet often temperamental, talented artist - Ms. Zackheim’s own visual art career establishes a credible base for the development of the story’s artistic theme.

When loneliness added to physical and mental suffering overwhelmed Sophie, I felt impelled to join her search for survival and wondered where she would find the courage to reach fulfillment in her work and relationships with friends and lovers.
In addition, I enjoyed the book’s cultural and historical aspects as the storyline meandered through English history during WWII and exposed its devastating effect on the innocent. It was also easy to imagine sharing Sophie’s bohemian artist’s life in Paris and then to follow her south to Italy where the author painted overlays of bucolic country life and flowing landscapes.

Broken Colors is a portrait of a strong, capricious, yet winsome woman whose struggle with personal tragedy colors her life and her search for inner peace and love.

This was a wonderfully written novel with good characterization and descriptions. I enjoyed it for the insight into how an artist feels and creates. I gave it four instead of five stars because of the romantic elements. (I'm not very fond of romances.)

The author defines the artistic term of "broken colors" as the mixing of two colors to create a third. The mixed color has a muddy cast versus the luminous quality of the pure, unmixed version. Unfortunately, the execution of this story is muddy, with the characters drawn on a two dimensional plane. The story is interesting, but without density or emotion conveyed in a spare narrative style. The most intriguing part of the story is the weaving of the art themes throughout. Perhaps too much ground is being covered in too few pages

My interest in words is much greater than my interest in colors. I found the many 'colorful' descriptions throughout the text tedious to read. I should have known ... given the title. I enjoyed the character descriptions and the poignant ending. Would I recommend it? With reservations...it just wasn't my favorite read.

Michele Zackheim did an admirable job of describing the overall effect that war has on an individual throughout his or her lifetime. Although I was instantly engaged the first few paragraphs, about a third of the way into the book I became frustrated with the main character.

She suffered great losses during the war so it is understandable that it would take significant time for her to get her life in order. However, with each passing chapter I became more and more exasperated with this woman. Just when I thought she would finally get her act together - she missed another opportunity to move on with her life.

I started the book very sympathetic towards the main character - but by the end of the book I just wanted to throttle her. I work with many Holocaust survivors who have suffered greater atrocities but have gone on to have a very full life.

This story starts out sadly. The heroine Sophie never knows her parents because they die at the beginning of World War I when she's a baby. But she's raised by her father's parents in a small English village. They encourage her to be a painter like her father and grandfather. During World War II, a German explosion kills her grandparents and almost kills Sophie. I was depressed by all the death and destruction, but I was glad that Sophie's life with her grandparents is mostly peaceful. I can relate to finding a job that you're passionate about and being encouraged to do it. Sophie is ..... [edited for potential plot spoiler ..... ]. It just took too long to get there.

"Broken Colors"left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, it was visually exciting. The author's background as an artist was evident. It was a good story with important insights about the lasting effect of war on individuals but probably deserved a longer more fleshed out book. I was disappointed in the way certain parts were hurried and it almost seemed as if the author was anxious to get on to the next episode. It read more like an outline than a novel. That said I would recommend the book.

I had a hard time reading this book. It's very well written, but I feel it would be enjoyed only by an artist or someone with an art background.The story is lost in all the colors, techniques and language of art.
The characters themselves were frustrating. So selfish and self-consumed. And the locations - from England to Paris to Italy - so typical of artists. The only real character in the book was the protagonist's friend, Anne, who showed up too infrequently.
I did not care for the book - in fact, I was relieved when I finished it.