This was a really nicely paced telling of parallel stories. Although this style of novel - side by side stories of the past and the secrets of those stories unraveling in the "present" - is quite popular currently and potentially approaching being overdone, it was still a well researched thorough story with successful mirrored character development. It was also interesting that, since the time periods were so close together, that one of the characters was able to be present in both story developments - this was a touch of something different. I also enjoyed the adoptive guardian role that Quick played for Odelle, seeing in Odelle (I think) both a combination of her own lost self and a chance to redeem and redo herself from her past failed artistic exposure (or credit, depending on the POV) of Olive. Olive's character type, her mix of hope, naivete and old soul, always makes for a compelling person and story to follow. The role Isaac plays...it's the role that must be played to make the story move forward, but (for all that he has full reasons for his political beliefs and personal actions) he is just a weak person and so hard to like. I also think that, potentially, the dual affair story was too much, too easy, and although Olive could easily ignore the signs due to her youth and trust (and truthfully, her need to continue using Isaac for her own ends), the end of their relationship, and really their lives, seemed just a little too...perfect. And in following, the end of Sarah and Harold's relationship and Teresa's "use" of them and their secrets to help her escape, is similarly too perfect. Though I do like Teresa's character and her ability to both use and discard people, and then it's return to haunt her in her own end - a sign that she really had carried the Schloss's with her all that time (and especially Olive - a nice touch that they both died bald...). A final touch that I enjoyed was the fact that Odelle struggled with whether to tell or keep Olive's secrets the same way Quick had and that it was perhaps part of the reason she drifted apart from Lawrie. Again, the combination of Olive and Quick that we find in Odelle's character is probably my favorite piece. The overall struggle with artistic identity, inspiration, and the point of recognition for one's works are really interesting topics explored by this novel. The opposing views of artists themselves and those close to them, the tension that causes, was very compellingly presented. Overall, an interesting read with some original themes, but with a fairly common plot used to explore them.