Jane Alison is an expat Australian author who seems to have a higher profile overseas than here.  Perhaps this, her second novel after 2001's The Love-artist, will gain her a local readership.  An interesting group of characters-two artists, an architect, a film location scout, a fundraiser, a food historian and an aristocratic philanthropist-come together and fall apart in New Orleans and Venice.  Despite its contemporary setting, much of the book has something of a Henry James or Edith Wharton feel with its languorous, artistic Americans abroad in Venice.  Metaphors of liquidity and decay abound as buildings and relationships alike saturate and overflow.  The short chapters give the narrative a formal, elegiac pace that sometimes slows to a crawl-this book isn't a racy page-turner, more of a dreamy journey.  Interestingly, while the book has what many might think of as a 'feminine' feel, it is the male characters-particularly nervy architect Anton and obsessive food historian Max-who seem to me to be the focus of the story. I liked this unusual novel a lot and, given bookseller support, I can see it working well as a hand-sold recommendation for literary readers and book groups.

Tim Coronel is AB&P's assistant editor

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