On the surface, this novel is about the theft of a painting by Piero della Francesca. At its heart, it’s a novel about relationships and trauma. A Sri Lankan refugee awaiting trial for stealing the painting talks to his barrister about his childhood, the trauma of civil war, his British wife and their daughter, the breakdown of his marriage, and the events leading up to the theft. An English author who crossed paths with the refugee in Italy adds more layers to the narrative.

Ras, the refugee, tells his story in second person. Perhaps the distance this creates is the reason I was drawn more to Alex’s story and his close friendship with art historian Charles Boyar and his wife, Delia, and the tragedy that befalls them.

While several women are important to the story, the reader only sees them from the perspective of the two men telling their stories to the barrister. Elizabeth, the barrister, is the most inscrutable character of all, as she listens but never speaks.

The characters resonated with me, and they have enough life that I think I’ll still remember them months from now. I cared what happened to them, and I wanted to see how their stories resolved. The technical elements, especially the second person passages, were a distraction from the flow of the novel. If the structure worked as it should, it wouldn’t be so noticeable.

This review is based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program. ( )

Real Rating: 3.5* of five

I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.

Similar to Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch in initial conditions...an art crime reverberates through the characters' lives, the painting that's stolen has resonances in the story's structure that only reveal themselves the deeper you get...Roma Tearne did not decide to re-write someone else's idea by any means.

When Ras, one of our main characters, escapes his war-torn country after terrible losses, he looks at the UK with the hungry eyes of a victim in search of a savior. The trouble with that, Ras, is that no external being can save you from yourself. He does experience the blessing of a peaceful country's many opportunities, and he takes advantage of them. Job as a museum curator, marriage, a family, a life...all the good stuff. The issue for Ras is, of course, the unhealed horrors of genocide live in his brain. His wife gives him a daughter, as he sees it, and he dotes on the child. Not so much on the mother. Lavish loving attention but nothing for Mama? The inevitable occurs, and the illusion of normal life is ripped apart again.

Lola, his daughter, is a case study in "when bad children happen to loving fathers." Spoiled by his undivided attention and by nature selfish, she is a Hot Mess. Listening to Daddy's stories of the Old Country is a way to get what she wants, but not in the least a way to feel connected to him or to the weird foreign place he originates. Ras isn't a reflective person, at least not at first, but he pips to his essential trapped loneliness at last. What does he do, go to a shrink? No. He goes to Italy! He will tour the countryside and Look At Art.

He does this, all right. He looks at Piero della Francesca's The Flagellation of Christ a bit wrong.


The rest of the review is at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud because it's too long for here. ( )

I won this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is a DNF. I just could not get into the characters and felt the backstory took up most of the plot. ( )

This is a cleverly told tale. A lawyer is interviewing her client trying to establish his reasons for stealing an internationally famous artwork. He has been accused of an act of terrorism. The lawyer interviews not only Ras, the Sri Lankan immigrant accused of the theft but other people who have had an effect on his ultimate decision. The book takes us on a journey from war torn Sri Lanka to the Italian hillsides and art galleries.
It had this reader seeking out images of the paintings referred to and once again the author has created an empathy within myself for people who experience the loss of homeland, the feeling of dispossession, of being invisible within an alien culture. ( )

I was drawn to this book because of the art plotline but must admit to being a little confused by all of the various subplots. It wasn't a bad read but it wasn't super compelling either. The beginning and ending were fine but it did bog down a bit in the middle. ( )

I'm puzzled. According to my Goodreads Log I finished reading this on March 2. I gave it 4 star (on LT and Goodreads). However, today I looked at the title and couldn't remember anything about it! I reread the blurb and a couple of reviews and it slowly came back to me. Oh, yeah, I really liked it that much.

Maybe I should reread it. ( )

I love the subject matter of this book and the journey that we take from London to Sri Lanka to Italy. Plenty of rich description and an interesting unusual story. Good literary fiction. ( )

This is quite an elegaic novel. Not quite a whodunnit -- we know the guilty part from the outset--but rather an exploration behind the "why" of the international art theft. The story alternates among Ras, the British immigrant from Sri Lanka who stole the painting, and the people in his life, both directly and indirectly, whose influence led him to the theft.

ALthough not a gripping page turner, it is quite interesting. ( )

This was an engaging story about the passion for art, especially the art of Piero della Francesca, causing both the downfall and redemption of Sri Lankan exile Ras as he awaits trial for the stealing of one of the artist's paintings. His lawyer, Elizabeth, enlarges the story through her acquaintances with the characters who influenced Ras' life and through his revelations to her about life during the war in Sri Lanka all of which contributed to his ultimate choice to steal the painting. Her need to ferret out the truth for her client led to an absorbing back story. It was interesting that we never really find out anything about Elizabeth. She is mainly the link to the plot and to giving Ras a reason for hope. Although there were times when the story dragged a bit it the writing was beautiful and the overall story was compelling ( )

I enjoyed the way this story was told from two perspectives. I also loved the way the effects of past occurrences are intertwined into the present.

Shortly after receiving this book through ER, I read it. And I enjoyed it. However, due to my own present life conditions in the midst of the whole world pandemic which we all are dealing with, I neglected to write my review. Since being "at home" I have re-read Urbino, and I am happy to report that it holds up well on a second read. I enjoyed it as much - if not more -- as I was able to appreciate some nuances that I missed first time around. ( )

I was impressed by a couple of things: the dual narrators and the author's knowledge of art that clearly shined through the novel A main character Ras tries to succeed with art and art has a profound impact on his life. Readers may sympathize with Ras' and his life challenges especially as he faces the Tamil and the consequences of the Tamil as he's exiled in London. The novel also introduces Alex who becomes Ras' foe as both try to win the love of the same woman (yes, this is also a love story). One is unsuccessful but as the novel moves on (often seemingly dragging a bit) Readers are introduced to Elizabeth who serves as Ras" lawyer (he has stolen a valuable work of art) Elizabeth's greatest challenges rest in her digging to discover Ras' motive and past and putting together the puzzle of Alex as he has impacted Ras' past. I would have liked to understand Elizabeth's motives maybe as a narrator. The author Roma Tearne obviously has a love of Sri Lanka but as the novel moves forward her attitude towards the war (while I sympathize) seems to take control of the novel at times weakening the original story of the novel ( )

Intense and thought-provoking.
Alternately narrated by Ras, who stole a priceless work of art (Piero Della Francesca's The Flagellation) from Italy to bring attention to the plight of his native Sri Lanka, and Alex, who peripherally witnessed the rise and fall of the relationship of Charles and Delia Boyar, weave together the full spectrum of emotions. Told lyrically and artistically, it felt like I was witnessing these events personally as I read them, and often I had to pause to fully let the emotions sink in (when really all I wanted was to keep reading because the story carried on like a freight train of suspense mingled with tender moments). ( )

This book peaked my interest because I thought it would be about Italy and art. Unfortunately, it was a struggle to finish. I wish the author had a third voice in the book that of Elizabeth. Why did she take on this case? What was her interest? I finished the book but thought several times about quitting. ( )

This is a beautifully written book about love, obsession, loss, and art. The author describes settings and works of art so that you can actually see them. A blurb on the cover calls the work "painterly" which is a good description. You can see the light, the colors, the beauty of Sri Lanka, Italy, England, and even mundane settings such as prison visitation room. I highly recommend this work. ( )

The Road to Urbino is an ambitious novel, but experienced author Roma Tearne pulls it off with class. She tells her story through dialogues between two men and an attorney, Elizabeth, representing one of them. We hear what they say, but are also let in on what they’re thinking. Making this seem natural takes a lot of craft.

One of the men, Ras, a refugee from the civil wars in Sri Lanka, is awaiting trial for the theft of a painting, The Flagellation of Christ by 15th-Century artist Piero della Francesca. Obsession is one of the themes that ties this book together, and Ras is obsessed by this painting, which seems to speak to him of his own life and the trials that the war has placed on him and his family. His narrative is seemingly interrupted when Elizabeth moves on to interview Alex, a writer whose path intersects only tangentially with that of Ras. For a time, the reader is left to wonder if, as in the painting that plays such a role in the book, there are really two different stories happening. But in the end, things come together, perhaps not neatly, but realistically.

I enjoyed this book and will be looking for more of Tearne’s work. ( )

I received this from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. I was attracted to the idea of a mystery involving the Art World. Having been involved in the Art World in some way or level, it just seems normal —to me.

Ras, a Tamil from Sri Lanka, having escaped to London in his youth and is now an adult. He’s been married and now divorced from an English woman and has a daughter by her. Both women prefer to have nothing to do with him, yet he still adores his daughter, Lola.

Ras is facing trial for the theft of a painting by Piero della Francisca, an Italian artist from the Renaissance. The story is told by two characters; Ras and Alex Benson. A central character in both of their narrations is Charles Boyar, an expert on Piero’s work. Alex knows Boyar from college days and after. Ras knows Boyar from a later time when he was working at the National Gallery. Ras was introduced to Boyar by Alex.

Ras tells of his childhood in Sri Lanka and the civil war between the Tamils and Sri Lanka. The environment affected Ras and really hit home (literally) when his mother was killed by a bomb that landed on their home. He and his brother then escaped to England.

Alex tells of his youth and his passion for Delia. When they meet, Alex’s focus is sex, but as years pass and they go their separate ways, he find she becomes an obsession for him. He can’t have her, as she has married Charles Boyar, Alex’s friend.

The two characters tell their story to Elizabeth, the barrister who is assigned to defend Ras. Both slowly reveal their inner selves, yet lean little, if no nothing, about Elizabeth.

This isn’t much of a mystery, but more of a story of the human condition and how it can be influenced and shaped by events when a person is young and the consequences that happen in response to situations that arise.

This is not my typical choice of a read, but none the less, it is a very good read. Roma Tearne handles words and phrases as if she were painting a piece of art. Her descriptives of people, places and actions are such that you feel you are seeing it before you or are even a part of the scene.

It is a read you take slow so you can absorb all and not miss anything. ( )

The Road to Urbino by Roma Tearne is a meditation of sorts on obsession. One character cannot let go of the tragedy that marked his early life. Although he claims to care about his daughter, his life choices suggest that he has never recovered from the trauma of the war in Sri Lanka. Another character obsesses over another man's wife, who was his teenage lover. Even when a terrible tragedy strikes that married couple, he cannot quite offer support without also thinking about the wife as a potential lover.

All this is built around a question: why would a Tamil exile living in London go to Italy to steal a Renaissance painting? Under the patient prodding of his defense barrister, the exile slowly unfurls his story, while the writer who is obsessed with the other man's wife also reveals his history bit by bit to the barrister.

One of the best aspects of this novel is the way it captures the lazy air of an Italian summer evening. Much of the novel is set in Tuscany, where Ms. Tearne does a marvelous job of evoking the landscape, the languor, and the friendships of the Italian countryside.

I am only giving this novel three stars because I won't re-read it, but for anyone who'd like to take a trip to Tuscany in summer, I recommend it. ( )

Ras, a Sri Lankan native and refugee, fled his home to England when his mother was killed in one of the bomb raids during civil war, and has lived in England for decades when, seemingly randomly, he steals an Italian Renaissance painting, "The Flagellation of Christ" because it speaks to him of his own history and experiences, of the awful indifference of human beings to horrors perpetrated on others. Ras tells his story to his attorney, who asks him to go back to the beginning of his life in order to get the full picture of Ras's motivations and background so she can better defend him.

Ras tells his story, in an attempt to explain why he stole the painting, and his attorney as well as the reader tries to unravel the truth about the theft. In this way the book is set up as a mystery, propelling the reader to read further to get at the ostensible secret that is the key to understanding Ras and his actions. The story has enough to hold the reader's interest, especially because Ras's story is compelling; however, the human interest story is the real focus of the novel, and thus I felt the big "reveal" was anticlimactic. Ras's story is about love, loss, and yearning, for his dead mother, for his estranged daughter, and for meaning in his own life. In that sense his story is also compelling.

However, the book goes sideways midway through it, when the author decides to switch perspectives to a second character who is in no way important to Ras's story, and in fact only meets Ras once (and peripherally at that). Why the author chose Alex Benson to have as prominent a voice in this narrative is a mystery. There is nothing of interest in Alex's story, and as I said, his narrative has nothing to do with Ras's. The only thematic connections I can detect have to do with the characters' yearnings for a girl/woman that is beyond their grasp, daughter and lover respectively. Alex is like Ras in his lifelong pining after a woman who does not return his feelings.
Aside from that their tales are disconnected.

In addition, the reading is made difficult by the narrative perspective. Both Ras and Alex tell their stories from the first person POV, and they are speaking and thinking their thoughts towards Elizabeth, the lawyer. However, because they dip in and out of the past, and other conversations, the reader gets confused as to times, voices and audiences. Ras, for example, might be talking to Elizabeth and in the next sentence be talking to his daughter, then to his ex-wife, then back to Elizabeth in the present. It gets unnecessarily confusing. ( )

The Road to Urbino is a tale of lives fatefully intertwined. I was intrigued to request this book by the key words art and Italy. In that respect it did not disappoint. However, the novel begins with a tragedy of all tragedies in Sri Lanka which affects the protagonist's future life and the ensuing plot development. Sadly, there is another tragedy of all tragedies which takes place in Italy later in the book. Cleverly told from the perspective of a number of different characters, the novel is both thoughtful and poignant. We grow to understand each character and their motivations from an intimate point of view. The author does a fine job of tying up all of the plot threads at the end of the book.

Received as ARC. It's hard to say why I got so caught up in this book and the characters' lives. A somewhat strange style of writing but it worked. I would, however, have preferred a more dramatic ending. ( )

A shame--I enjoyed the first half where Ras, a Tamil who has settled in England, is telling his story to his lawyer, motivation for his art theft and his emotional life. A quote I'll always remember: "this group of people [in the Piero painting of The Flagellation of Christ], so preoccupied in their own concerns, they had no idea of the … awfulness taking place in the room nearby. In a flash, I connected it with my own life."
Ras has had a sad and dreary life with his having to leave his country to escape war, a dispiriting life in England, marriage then divorce and a daughter who hates him. BUT, when the story changes to Alex talking to the same lawyer and laying out his life, the novel became confusing and lost me. The only connection with Ras was his meeting him a couple of times. I did like the author's style and her apparent love for art, with such vivid descriptions.

https://media.gettyimages.com/illustrations/flagellation-of-christ-14441469-by-p... ( )

I found the protagonist, Ras, to be a man stuck in time, unable to move forward from his past. During his time awaiting a trial for stealing a painting, his tragic, familial story slowly comes out to his solicitor, Elizabeth. Patience is the name of the game, in that respect, as in order for her to gain the reason Ras stole the painting, she has to bear listening to his life story.

It isn't that he is reluctant to detail the reason he stole it, but in order for him to get to the truth, he is compelled to vividly describe his life, up to that point. He often rambles, in a stream of conscious manner, but within those ramblings, and his recollections, is a story with deeply, intense issues.

I found the story line to be blunt, yet filled with beautiful prose and masterful word imagery. Assimilation, familial bonds, love, loss, war, identity, loyalty to country, social injustice, and so much more is depicted in great detail, through the pages. Res not only encompasses his life, but the life of his ex-wife, his daughter, and his friends.

War is a great force within the book, whether it be physical or emotional. Ras has an inner war, that he has stifled, and that is brought out through his interactions with Elizabeth. The after-effects of familial loss, and a country suffering from war, often causes one's feelings to be curtailed, causing obsessive battles within one's self. The Road to Urbino paints that picture dramatically, and brilliantly.

This is the first Roma Tearne novel I have read, and it won't be the last one.

Thank you to LibraryThing's Early Reviewers for the copy of The Road to Urbino. ( )

This novel is very different in story and style than Roma Tearne's earlier four novels, and it's exciting to see growth and change in a writer. What she did keep is her wonderful flair for painting word images, her concern for the victims of war, the use of art in healing pain, her explorations of memory, and the settings of Sri Lanka, England, and Italy.

The story follows two protagonists. The first is Ras, a middle aged immigrant from Sri Lanka, as he awaits trial in London for stealing The Flagellation, by Italian Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca.

Through his first person narration, we hear about his early childhood in Sri Lanka, where his father disappeared one night and his mother died in a bomb blast. He and his brother spent most of the next years in a Tamil detention centre, until they had a chance to escape to England at the age of 19 and start a new life. Ras marries and has a child, Lola, and then divorces. He ends up working as gallery attendant at the National Gallery, where he is befriended by the charming and kind art curator, Charles.

The second protagonist is Alex, a friend of Charles. Through Alex, we get a fuller picture of the life of Charles and his wife Delia. They, and their circle of friends, spend a lot of fabulous summers in Italy, enjoying la dolce vita--art, food, company, etc. Being a Roma Tearne novel, some sad tragic events occur that change everything.

Everyone in this novel is consumed by an obsession, wherein we find the source of most of the conflict. But all the characters are also scared by war--even though the wars were thousands of miles away, or decades in the past.

It took me about 30 or 40 pages to warm up to it, but then I loved this novel. I actually wasn't ready for it to end, or to leave these characters lives (I especially liked Charles and Delia), which is really unusual for me with any book. ( )