Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Jun 2004, 430 pages
Paperback:
Apr 2005, 448 pages
Both a mesmerizing thriller and a passionate exploration of the power of truth to effect reconciliation and restore faith.
La Muta, "the mute woman." Amidst a country rocked by scandal and
corruption, inhabitants of the idyllic city of Urbino, Italy, birthplace of
Raphael, are more concerned with a sudden outbreak of miracles than with
politics. But what unspeakable secret lies hidden in Raphael's enigmatic
painting? Its restoration will drive a living mute to a shocking act of
violence and spark an investigation into a nearly forgotten war crime and a
series of events that will shatter the silence gripping this community
forever.
Both a mesmerizing thriller and a passionate exploration of the power of
truth to effect reconciliation and restore faith, Waking Raphael spins a
tantalizing web of silence and lies to recreate an Italy where the romantic
and the violent, the comic and the tragic, are spellbindingly interwoven.
MIRACLE NUMBER 1
A Galilean Transformation
‘You see how he glances furtively over one shoulder, as if . . . as if he
were escaping from the scene of a crime.’ It was Charlotte’s first
rehearsal to camera, and the unforgiving television lights revealed her to be
more nervous than the young man in the portrait she was describing. ‘But is
he the perpetrator of the crime or just a witness?’ she went on. ‘I
believe the artist wants us to ask such questions, feel ourselves part of the
plot. The picture, you see, represents a window into another space and time–in
this case the fifteenth century. Everything in the painting is designed to
reinforce the fiction that this young man, with one hand apparently on the
picture frame, is about to vault from his world into ours.’
‘To me he looks like Paolo,’ said Donna. ‘The same sexy mouth.’
Ignoring the girl, Charlotte continued, ‘Another example ...
If you liked Waking Raphael, try these:
by Michael Ennis
Published 2013
Against a teeming canvas of Borgia politics, Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci come together to unmask an enigmatic serial killer, as we learn the secret history behind one of the most controversial works in the western canon, The Prince.
by Carson Morton
Published 2012
What happens when you mix a Parisian street orphan, a hot-tempered Spanish forger, a beautiful American pickpocket, an unloved wife, and one priceless painting?
The Wren, the Wren
by Anne Enright
An incandescent novel about the inheritance of trauma, wonder, and love across three generations of women.
The September House
by Carissa Orlando
A dream home becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel.
25 Copies to Give Away!
A daring CIA operation threatens chaos in the Kremlin. But can Langley trust the Russian at its center?
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
