In the Company of Angels: A Novel
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In the Company of Angels, by Thomas E. Kennedy is a beautifully written novel set in Copenhagen, Denmark. Straightaway, that makes it a unique experience for me.
There are four different narratives, first and foremost, Nardo (Benardo Greene), a Chilean who has suffered physically and mentally at the hands of the Pinochet regime for about two years. He is now taking refuge in Copenhagen and being treated by a psychiatrist at the Torture Rehabilitation Center. We are given a window into the life of this psychiatrist, Thorkild Kristensen, who feels plenty of stress and self-doubt. Concurrently, we meet Michela Ibsen, a woman who will become intimately involved with Nardo. Michela's domestic life has exposed her to both emotional and physical trauma. When this novel begins, Michela is dealing with end-of-life issues for her parents and dealing with a very intense relationship with a younger lover, Voss. Voss is someone I'd describe as a sick puppy, a sort of "poor little rich boy" who has never felt loved or needed, and Michela has enough past experience and maturity to end this affair; he's a self-destructive young man with a mean streak. Meanwhile, Michela's father, Mikhail, is suffering mightily during his last days in a nursing home.
Believe it or not, Kennedy does provide enough humor in this intriguing journey to keep the reader from feeling the utmost despair. Nardo and Michela do prove to be a real love match, two people who instinctively know how to hold the other one up.
This is a beautifully written novel that addresses what meaning life has for us and what love is.
*This was a freebie from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program:)
There are four different narratives, first and foremost, Nardo (Benardo Greene), a Chilean who has suffered physically and mentally at the hands of the Pinochet regime for about two years. He is now taking refuge in Copenhagen and being treated by a psychiatrist at the Torture Rehabilitation Center. We are given a window into the life of this psychiatrist, Thorkild Kristensen, who feels plenty of stress and self-doubt. Concurrently, we meet Michela Ibsen, a woman who will become intimately involved with Nardo. Michela's domestic life has exposed her to both emotional and physical trauma. When this novel begins, Michela is dealing with end-of-life issues for her parents and dealing with a very intense relationship with a younger lover, Voss. Voss is someone I'd describe as a sick puppy, a sort of "poor little rich boy" who has never felt loved or needed, and Michela has enough past experience and maturity to end this affair; he's a self-destructive young man with a mean streak. Meanwhile, Michela's father, Mikhail, is suffering mightily during his last days in a nursing home.
Believe it or not, Kennedy does provide enough humor in this intriguing journey to keep the reader from feeling the utmost despair. Nardo and Michela do prove to be a real love match, two people who instinctively know how to hold the other one up.
This is a beautifully written novel that addresses what meaning life has for us and what love is.
*This was a freebie from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program:)
