The artistic masterpiece

Translator: Faraj Al-Tarhouni Type of Literature: Dutch Literature Number of Pages: 329 pages Publisher: Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority Cover: Hardcover The events revolve around the painter Johan Steenkamer, who is passionate about sensory emotions, has complex romantic relationships, and a troubled family: a father who abandoned the home, an authoritarian mother, and an emotionally disturbed brother. The novel covers with a dramatic sense the three days preceding the grand exhibition of his paintings, and although his relationship with his wife Lisa faces many obstacles, she responds to his exhibition and talks about it with the same vitality she talks about her passion for making jam. Shadows of the past hover around the current event. The author describes the characters of her novel with astonishing detail, and the reader can only strongly engage with the feelings of sadness and loss that befell Lisa after her daughter's death and the reflection of this tragedy on her relationships with family members and others. The novel also touches on the dilemmas faced by contemporary women in their work and subtly alludes to the famous opera (Mozart) "Don Giovanni" in a way that links its hero to the main character in the opera.