Starry Nights by Daisy Whitney

Starry Nights

Written by Daisy Whitney

Contemporary, Magic

Published November 1st 2014

304 Pages

Thank you to Bloomsbury Australia

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Seventeen year old Julien is a romantic, he loves spending his free time at the museum poring over the great works of the Impressionists. But one night, a peach falls out of a Cezanne, Degas ballerinas dance across the floor, and Julien is not hallucinating.

The art is reacting to a curse that trapped a beautiful girl, Clio, in a painting forever. Julien has a chance to free Clio and he can't help but fall in love with her. But love is a curse in its own right. And soon paintings begin to bleed and disappear. Together Julien and Clio must save the world's greatest art... At the expense of the greatest love they've ever known.

Newly single Julien loves to wander the hallow halls of the Musée d'Orsay, working part time as a tour host while his mother runs the gallery. While other boys his age are partying, the seventeen year old budding artist often sneaks into the gallery at night to admire the beauty without the crowds... Where the art comes alive. Spontaneous performances of Swan Lake among the night festivities, where ballerinas and orchestras escape their frames to perform. But one piece will make the gallery collection complete, the most sought after Renoir in the world.

The Girl in the Garden has been owned by a private collector, a local family and eccentric art connoisseurs that have entrusted the gallery to keep the painting safe. It's history both rich and turbulent. Two artists, both in love with the same girl with Renoir capturing her beauty on canvas. But as night falls, the art at the Musée d'Orsay once again comes alive with the Girl in the Garden stepping out from her frame.

Her name is Clio and it isn't long before Clio and Julien fall in love. In galleries across the globe, an epidemic of faded paintings is emerging, self destructing due to a centuries old curse. But when a villain emerges, it's up to Jullien and Clio to save the beautiful pieces and sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of art.

My Thoughts

Starry Nights reminded me of A Night at the Museum, where the artwork comes alive at night. Set in Paris, Julien is a cultured young man, a rarity in young adult today. He finds pleasure in art, wandering the halls of the Musée d'Orsay where his mother is the curator. His relationship has just ended, where his former girlfriend has left him for another budding artist, so he immerses himself in his part time position as a tour host, while the gallery prepares for it's latest acquisition, the Girl in the Garden. It's love at first sight for Julien, as he takes in her painted beauty and the story behind the portrait. The girl immortalised by Renior who had fallen in love, then the family purchase her portrait to keep her virtue safe from prying eyes.

But as she emerges from her frame, the connection between Clio and Julien is lukewarm at best. She the girl trapped within the canvas until Julien awoken her, and he the forlorn heartbroken teen who has seemingly latched onto Clio, obsessed with her.

I take her hand. Run my index finger along hers. Fell her skin warm to my touch. "Clio." I breathe her name into the painted world we float on. I cup her face in my hands, my palms on her cheeks, holding her soft and close as golden starlight streaks across the night.

For the first half, I was swept up in the romance of Paris, the gallery and the magic of the impressions coming to life. It was truly lovely. But as the mystery of the paintings begun to unravel, it also begun to lose that whimsical touch. The romance was sweet, the hand holding and stolen kisses through the gallery at night was charming, but more suited for the younger audience. The secondary characters were quirky and fun, from Julien's best friend, to the flamboyant apron wearing Bonheu. who's mother was the private owner of the Girl in the Garden. I simply loved him. He created ceramic five legged cows, wore aprons as a fashion statement and marched to the beat of his own drum. He was simply fabulous.

Overall it was lovely, but the mystery surrounding why the paintings were fading and destructing took the storyline in a completely different direction and it lost my attention. One aspect I found odd was that although set in France, the dialect was completely in English and I was hoping it would have explored Parisian street artists, rather than just the Musée d'Orsay and bakery treats Julien liked to indulge in. It needed more Paris, less romance and far more Bonheu and his fabulous aprons.

Entertaining, if you're looking for a quick, fluffy read.