The Crimson Portrait

by Jody Shields

Genre:  Historical Fiction

“She knew Julian had been called to her just as a bullet, a deadly projectile, the heat of an explosion, had been called to her husband. Countless hands had worked to heal this man, soothe his skin, hold a glass to his lips, a needle to his arm; he had been passed over water and land to meet her.  There were no coincidences during a war.”  

These foreboding words reveal the twisted mind of Catherine, the heroine of The Crimson Portrait by Jody Shields.  World War I is raging, and Catherine has lost her husband; her pain increases with every wounded soldier that comes to inhabit her country estate, which has been turned into a temporary hospital.  Every day brings more soldiers with severe injuries to the face, making them unable to function in regular society.  Catherine becomes attached to one soldier, Julian.  She is drawn to him because he reminds her so of her lost husband. 

Dr. McCleary and Dr. Kazanjian work tirelessly to give the soldiers a chance at recovering their identities.  They hire an artist, Anna, to create masks to reconstruct the faces of some of the soldiers.  Catherine becomes involved in Julian’s case, with her husband’s image in mind.

Publisher’s weekly writes, “Shields’s writing weaves dark mythical symbolism with matter-of-fact medical nitty-gritty to reveal what happens when class, ignorance, hopefulness and despair coalesce.”  Shields captivates readers with her foreboding tone, multiple character plots, and her ability to convey sorrow and loss mixed with renewed vigor for life in the face of destruction.  Shields’s slow pace may not appeal to everyone, but for those who enjoy novels that deal with intense human emotion, this one’s for you!