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Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful & Ethereal Novel
Review: I was immediately impressed by the quality of this book--the thick paper, beautiful illustrations, and wonderful articles & pictures from the era in which the story is set. This is a beautifully told tale about a young man who finds his spiritual home in the Middle East and about his life there until the relatives of the family that sold it to him decide to fight to get it back. There is an element of mystery, romance and in the background is the fear that he will be ejected from the home that has become an extension of his own mind. I couldn't put it down!
Rating:
Summary: "...how would she have felt in my arms?"
Review: I've read several of Barbara Hodgson's books before reading THE LIVES OF SHADOWS. They are a lovely blend of the read and the fantastic and they are always illustrated with the elegant and beautiful drawings done by Hodgson, herself, drawings, that make the books come alive.THE LIVES OF SHADOWS is my favorite Hodgson book. It's a literary romance, a ghost story, a detective story, a history and more. Set in Damascus between 1914 and 1945, THE LIVES OF SHADOWS tells the story of Englishman, Julian Beaufort and his love affair with Bait Katib, an ancient house with its history literally written on its walls. When Julian first encounters Bait Katib it's occupied but its owners, who are elderly, agree to turn the house over to him if he only continues writing its history. The house, they believe, deserves to have its story told as much as does any living, breathing human being. Julian agrees, but he must return to England where he is delayed for the next ten years. When he finally returns to Damascus, the owners of the house are dead, leaving Julian free to claim Bait Katib as his own. Julian does claim Bait Katib and, for the next twenty years he lives for the house...and for Asilah, the missing daughter of the former owners, with whom he becomes obsessed. Then, one day, Julian's peaceful, reclusive existence is shattered when relatives of the former owners arrive and claim the house as their own. Without tangible proof that he actually owns the house, Julian decides the only thing he can do is write about the twenty years he's spent there. As he writes, he feels a ghostly presence, the presence of Asilah, the missing daughter. Asilah, it seems, has been sharing the house with Julian. Now, he writes his history of the past twenty years in English during the day while Asilah writes her history in the same notebook in Arabic at night. Eventually, the two narratives meet and merge and Julian comes to a startling conclusion. THE LIVES OF SHADOWS is a beautiful story that is beautifully told. People who demand stark realism in their fiction should probably give this book a pass, though. But those who love "ghostly presences" and poetically romantic novels will probably love THE LIVES OF SHADOWS. The author's beautiful illustrations make it easy to suspend disbelief and embrace the story of Julian and Asilah. Barbara Hodgson isn't an author suited to everyone's taste (who is), but those who like her style will be enchanted with her work. Whether you "like" her books or not, she is a superb storyteller and a fine writer. I'm sorry her readership isn't larger; it certainly deserves to be.
Rating:
Summary: A subtle ghost story
Review: This was my first attempt at reading one of Hodgson's books. I've seen her other books and picked them up several times but have never taken the plunge. I did this time and was extremely pleased. I suppose it was the combination of subject matter -- a house that inspires loyalty and love -- along with the intriguing illustrations that prompted me to read this book. The story is interesting and well done. Julian is well-drawn. He doesn't want to admit his shell shock and unwillingness to confront the world after his war experience but does so indirectly through his focus on the house. All of the characters are interesting and the slow revelation of "ghosthood" is interesting and subtle. Hodgson's emphasis is not on the ghastly but on the bittersweet aspects of ghost stories. I recommend this book to all who like a different kind of ghost story and enjoy a solid writing style.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful story on beautiful pages.
Review: Tonight I finished reading this gem and was immensely saddened that it had to end, albeit predictably as another reviewer noted. Still, what a lush, nuanced story, complemented with rich visual elements, providing a backdrop of artifact that actually serves the story rather than detracts from it. Though she can't really be compared to Nick Bantock, though they are both artists who can write well, Ms. Hodgson's latest seems to firmly ally itself with the genre most notably cultivated by the "Griffin and Sabine" series: visually pleasing epistolary with a twist of the fantastic. A most welcome diversion indeed.
Rating: 
Summary: "He senses something special beyond what he sees."
Review: Unusual in its combination of story and illustration, Hodgson's latest novel, set in Damascus, is a ghost story for believers in magic, lost palaces, and the felicitous communion of two spirits. But it is not "just" a romance. In fact, the narrative moves along so precisely and with such unadorned language that it is as much a day-by-day journal of the restoration of an ancient house, which is at the heart of the action, as it is the story of a ghostly love. Julian Beaufort, a young Briton on a 1914 graduation tour of the Middle East, falls in love with an old house in Damascus, once part of a large complex, and succeeds in buying it from the family which has occupied it for 210 years. World War I and a civil war in Syria delay his return to Syria until 1926, and when he finally gets back, he discovers that his house is the only one in the neighborhood to have survived the bombings and subsequent fires in Damascus. Aided by the maid of the former owner, a porter he meets at the railroad station, and his Arabic teacher, he begins the restoration of the house to its former grandeur, a project which takes twenty years. The architectural drawings of various rooms and wings, and the sketches of details he plans to restore seem to grow larger and more vibrant while he is asleep, however, and we discover that Asilah, the missing daughter of the former owner, is "helping" with them from her hiding place, connecting psychically with Julian. Hodgson, who is also an artist, has filled the novel with old newspaper photographs and stories, snapshots of Damascus, family portraits, Arabic writing, pressed flowers, transparencies, maps, close-ups of architectural detail, sketches, and even Julian's to-do lists. The reader does not need to "suspend disbelief" here because this detritus from Julian's daily life "proves" his existence. Asilah, and the palace which she explores and describes to us, may or may not exist, but we are willing to accept her existence at face value because we "know" that Julian exists. Fun to read, with illustrations which will fascinate even those who are not art historians, this novel is a welcome change of pace, a delightful and beautiful book satisfying on several levels. The abrupt ending, designed to surprise, is not really unexpected, but that is a small quibble for a book that is so visually pleasing, a rare picture book for adults. Mary Whipple
Rating:
Summary: "He senses something special beyond what he sees."
Review: Unusual in its combination of story and illustration, Hodgson's latest novel, set in Damascus, is a ghost story for believers in magic, lost palaces, and the felicitous communion of two spirits. But it is not "just" a romance. In fact, the narrative moves along so precisely and with such unadorned language that it is as much a day-by-day journal of the restoration of an ancient house, which is at the heart of the action, as it is the story of a ghostly love. Julian Beaufort, a young Briton on a 1914 graduation tour of the Middle East, falls in love with an old house in Damascus, once part of a large complex, and succeeds in buying it from the family which has occupied it for 210 years. World War I and a civil war in Syria delay his return to Syria until 1926, and when he finally gets back, he discovers that his house is the only one in the neighborhood to have survived the bombings and subsequent fires in Damascus. Aided by the maid of the former owner, a porter he meets at the railroad station, and his Arabic teacher, he begins the restoration of the house to its former grandeur, a project which takes twenty years. The architectural drawings of various rooms and wings, and the sketches of details he plans to restore seem to grow larger and more vibrant while he is asleep, however, and we discover that Asilah, the missing daughter of the former owner, is "helping" with them from her hiding place, connecting psychically with Julian. Hodgson, who is also an artist, has filled the novel with old newspaper photographs and stories, snapshots of Damascus, family portraits, Arabic writing, pressed flowers, transparencies, maps, close-ups of architectural detail, sketches, and even Julian's to-do lists. The reader does not need to "suspend disbelief" here because this detritus from Julian's daily life "proves" his existence. Asilah, and the palace which she explores and describes to us, may or may not exist, but we are willing to accept her existence at face value because we "know" that Julian exists. Fun to read, with illustrations which will fascinate even those who are not art historians, this novel is a welcome change of pace, a delightful and beautiful book satisfying on several levels. The abrupt ending, designed to surprise, is not really unexpected, but that is a small quibble for a book that is so visually pleasing, a rare picture book for adults. Mary Whipple
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