Two lovers who have traveled across time. A team of scientists at the cutting edge of memory research. A miracle drug that unlocks an ancient mystery.
Bryan Pierce is an internationally famous artist whose paintings have dazzled the world. But there’s a secret to his success: Every canvas is inspired by an unusually vivid dream. When Bryan awakes, he possesses extraordinary new skills… like … skills… like the ability to speak obscure languages and an inexplicable genius for chess. All his life, he has wondered if his dreams are recollections, if he is re-experiencing other people’s lives.
Linz Jacobs is a brilliant neurogeneticist, absorbed in decoding the genes that help the brain make memories, until she is confronted with an exact rendering of a recurring nightmare at one of Bryan’s shows. She tracks down the elusive artist, and their meeting triggers Bryan’s most powerful dream yet: visions of a team of scientists who, on the verge of discovering a cure for Alzheimer’s, died in a lab explosion decades ago.
As Bryan becomes obsessed with the mysterious circumstances surrounding the scientists’ deaths, his dreams begin to reveal what happened at the lab, as well as a deeper mystery that may lead all the way to ancient Egypt. Together, Bryan and Linz start to discern a pattern. But a deadly enemy watches their every move, and he will stop at nothing to ensure that the past stays buried.
A taut thriller and a timeless love story spanning six continents and 10,000 years of history, The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack is a riveting debut novel unlike any you’ve ever read.
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I highly enjoyed The Memory Painter. It was a great poolside read. Okay, you probably shouldn’t think too hard about the science or logistics of reincarnation, but overall it was fast moving, fun, and humanized historical events I vaguely recall from high school world history.
A mind-bending drug, a series of time-travel dreams — or are they reincarnations? — take the reader on a dazzling trip around the world into history.
Reading these segments that gift Bryan with unusual skills and the ability to speak obscure languages is, for the reader, akin to “living” history.
When Bryan meets Linz, he senses that they have loved in the past. Encountering her brings on more dreams. He is determined to convince her of their connection. Initially skeptical and even afraid of Brian, she takes the drug, and together they find the truth.
The Memory Painter is a well-written intriguing story, which I enjoyed for the most part. Unfortunately, the connection between Bryan and Linz didn’t gel for me the way I thought it should for lovers who had transcended time and distance the was they did. Nor did I find it to be the “taut thriller” as described in the blurb.
Beyond that, the book provides the reader with food for thought. Are we reincarnated? Are good and evil passed on through generations? Questions for which there are no easy answers.
BLURB:
Two lovers who have travelled across time.
A team of scientists at the cutting edge of memory research.
A miracle drug that unlocks an ancient mystery.
At once a sweeping love story and a time-travelling adventure, Gwendolyn Womack’s luminous debut novel, The Memory Painter, is perfect for readers of The Time Traveler’s Wife, Life After Life and Winter’s Tale
Bryan Pierce is an internationally famous artist whose paintings have dazzled the world. But there’s a secret to Bryan’s success: every canvas is inspired by an unusually vivid dream. When Bryan awakes, he possesses extraordinary new skills . . . like the ability to speak obscure languages, or an inexplicable genius for chess. All his life, he has wondered if his dreams are recollections—if he is re-experiencing other people’s lives.
Linz Jacobs is a brilliant neurogeneticist, absorbed in decoding genes that help the brain make memories—until she is confronted with an uncanny rendering of a recurring nightmare at one of Bryan’s shows. She tracks down the elusive artist, and their meeting triggers Bryan’s most powerful dream yet: visions of a team of scientists who, on the verge of discovering a cure for Alzheimer’s, died in a lab explosion decades ago.
As Bryan becomes obsessed with the mysterious circumstances surrounding the scientists’ deaths, his dreams begin to reveal what happened at the lab, as well as a deeper mystery that may lead all the way back to ancient Egypt. As Bryan and Linz follow the trail, they slip through a kaleidoscope of lives—from imperial Russia, to feudal Japan, to Newfoundland and aboriginal Australia. A pattern emerges: a great love, a great enemy, and the prospect of a powerful, ancient truth buried deep in the past. But the deadly foe is watching their every move, and he will stop at nothing to ensure that the past stays buried.
http://www.darlenejonesauthor.com
Excellent. It spans 10,000 years. It’s a love story. It’s about memory experiments. It’s superbly plotted. You care about the characters. I was swept away to wonderful worlds and times. An inspirational page-turner. It doesn’t get better than that. 5 stars!
I was entranced by this reading. Just found a second in the series! Yeah, start it today! Original and a wonderful read!