Extraordinary!!! Such richness and clarity combined in storytelling is rare. The Woman Who Heard Color is forcing me to reexamine and revise what I've given 5 stars to in the past. I really did feel like I was living alongside the characters in this novel, particularly following Hanna through the decades (which both felt like they zipped along AND took their time.. which was an interesting feeling!) while also feeling like I had a "birds eye" view of her story via Lauren and Isabella's tense livingroom dynamic. As others have noted, I too was looking for more on the synesthesia angle, as I have a bit of that myself, and feel that the novel's title does not accurately reflect the vast majority of this novel.. and at times it was annoying when a scene that happened in the previous chapter would be covered again in the next chapter (from a very similar angle)..but these were minor issues that I do not feel detracted or distracted from the novel as written. This is one of those books with an embarrassing cover that makes it look like a stupid romance novel when the content is engaging, interesting and well written. I could not put it down and really enjoyed the story and the characters. Perhaps it is my obsession with Nazi-era stories but I thought this was a fresh take on stories about Nazi Germany during World War II. The art gallery owner's perspective; the personal loss and rags to riches; the family secrets. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this guilty pleasure of a book.
more than 3 stars, but maybe not quite 4!Found the subject very interesting.
—quaja
Nice story, engaging read.
—marubert
Really powerful book !!
—Susan
