Julia Lombardi has no memories of her life before a couple of years ago. In the meantime, she has worked as a model for artists living in post-World War II Rome. When the famous surrealist Salvador Dalí offers her the chance to work as his model for Persephone in an eerie gothic garden called the Garden of Monsters, she jumps on the chance, despite her misgivings. Dalí is offering her a lot of money, and it will only be a week. No matter how bizarre the infamously eccentric artist is or how insufferable his domineering manager wife is, it will only be seven days. What could possibly go wrong?
However, as Julia soon sees, a lot can go wrong in seven days. The Dalís are even more strange and difficult than she had ever bargained for, Dalí himself begins to insist she is Persephone and forces her to eat pomegranate seeds, she hears unsettling whispers in the garden, and she can’t shake the feeling that their intense, mysterious, magnetic, handsome host Ignazio is someone she knows from somewhere. Amid the days of indulging Dalí’s increasingly tyrannical artistic whims and the nights of feasting on elaborate, sumptuous themed banquets in the historic palazzo attached to the garden, Julia herself starts to wonder if she is Persephone. . . .
I’ve been a Crystal King fan for a few years, ever since I first read her excellent debut novel Feast of Sorrow, recommended by Vanessa at Food in Books. This book, her third, is something of a new direction in her writing. In her previous work, King focused on bringing historical culinary figures–specifically cookbook writers–to life in vividly detailed, relatively realistic historical fiction.
Dalí did go on to write an eccentric cookbook, which was an inspiration for some scenes in this book, but this novel is far more of a gothic fantasy and romance, with a strong dollop of surrealism and classic Greek and Roman mythology. At its heart, it is a retelling of the Hades and Persephone story, with a unique twist. It’s a change in focus that may not appeal to all of King’s previous readers, but it is very well done. The result is a lush, dark, sensual, and wild ride.
I particularly loved the highly atmospheric setting. The palazzo and garden are based on a real location in Italy, and King does a wonderful job of bringing the locations to life. Each member of Julia’s group–which includes a photographer and an assistant, as well as the Dalís–has a different reaction to the garden. For many, it’s just a highly eccentric backdrop, befitting Dalí’s at times performative antics, while for Julia, it’s a deeply unsettling place with possible clues about her real identity.
The gothic elements of the book are also well-developed. I particularly enjoyed how subtly unsettling the sparse staff of the palazzo was, and a very gothic tension and sense of dread hangs over the whole novel. The mythology aspects–a long-time interest of King’s–are also well integrated. I also really liked the depiction of the Dalís. The depiction was often not flattering, but it matches the historical record fairly well for both Salvador and his wife Gala.
I recommend this book for fans of both gothic fantasy and gothic romance, especially those with an interest in mythology and art history. Though the setting is historical, the book doesn’t really come across like historical fiction, beyond the presence of the Dalís. The focus is far more on the atmospheric, often otherworldly physical setting.
*Also available as an audiobook on Hoopla.
Also be sure to check out Vanessa’s review of In The Garden of Monsters. Like Crystal King, Vanessa always does a great job of combining books with food. 🙂
Are you a Crystal King fan? Do you like gothic fantasy and romance novels? Are you a Dalí fan? Tell us in the comments! As always, please follow this link to our online library catalog for more information on any of our items or to place them on hold.
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