I love this passage (and the entire novel):

“What I feel is the sense of futility that emerges when the past is laid side by side with the present, like two photographs taken many years apart, when it become clear that there is no more time. . .

I feel something beginning to shift in me, and I am not sure I want it to; it is a reevaluation, a tiny release of the grip I have held on anger and am struggling to maintain against the frail specters I saw tonight.”

— The Strays, a novel by Emily Bitto

For years I’ve gravitated to novels with art themes. You too? A few favorites come to mind, and I’m always on the hunt for more:

The Great Man by Kate Christensen

The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman

Take Me Apart by Sara Sligar

The Hare by Melanie Finn

The Goldfinch by Donna Tart

I need more art fiction in my life. Tell me, what art-themed novels have you loved?