Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind by Anne Charnock

Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind by Anne Charnock
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind we get three parallel stories, all of them have something to do with Antonia Uccello, or her father Paolo Uccello, the famous painter.

In the past, we get to follow Antonia Uccello as she is preparing to a life in a convent. Her father decided that's the best solution for her since there she will have a chance to continue to paint since if she would get married, painting would at all probability be denied her.

In the present time, a copyist is getting a commission from a rich Chinese businessman to duplicate a Paolo Uccello painting. He is visiting China with his teenage daughter. They are recuperating from a loss and in a way will this journey will be a new starting point for them. Something good after all the pain.

In the 2200-century is a painting found that could be painted by Antonia Uccello. This discovery is very important for art historian Toniah. She has for a long time wanted to bring light to Antonia Uccello life.

I think one thing that really appealed to me with this story was out of the three parallel stories in this book one was set in the future. I found the idea of time, just around 100 years in the future interesting. The world, almost similar to ours, yet with some differences. And, the largest difference is of course that the families can look a bit different from now. Because of technology, there are now partho families. At first, was I a bit confused about what that meant, then it was explained that thanks to parthenogenetic a woman can have a child without a man. Basically, this is cloning. I found that very interesting. Toniah, the main character in this story is actually a clone.

My biggest problem with this book is that even though all three stories were interesting to read separately didn't they feel linked together that much. I think I wanted something more than a small link, I mean what has the second story, the one about the father and the teenage daughter to do with Antonia Uccello? It felt more like it was linked to Paolo Uccello. I mean I liked the story, but I would have liked it even better if it had been separated from the others. If it had just been one story and not part of three stories. The same can be said for the other two.

Also, the book ended way too abruptly. I felt that the stories never got a closure. Like the last pages of the book was missing. That bothered me to be honest. It didn't feel like an ambiguous ending. It felt like the stories ended when they started to get good.

On the plus side was it interesting to learn more about Paolo Uccello and to learn that he had a daughter that was considered a paintress. Too bad that none of her paintings seem to have survived to present days.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review.