The Chrysalis

The Chrysalis, a painting by the fictional seventeenth-century Dutch painter Johannes Miereveld, unites the multiple story lines of Terrell's debut novel. The painting commemorates Miereveld's love for Amalia, the beautiful daughter of a government official. In this performance Carrington MacDuffie grabs listeners by the ears and doesn't let go. MacDuffie navigates the novel's shifting stories and settings with a steady hand. In the parallel plot, Hilda Baum, a Holocaust survivor, attempts to retrieve the painting, which she believes was stolen from her family. In modern-day New York, rising attorney Mara Coyne investigates the ownership of the painting, putting her life and career at risk. The modern stories play as a passionate counterpoint to the wonderful love story of the artist Miereveld and Amalia. R.O. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

April 30, 2007
A luminous portrait by a fictitious artist is at the heart of Terrell's disappointing debut thriller. The painting actively links three separate story lines, presented in alternating chapters. A 17th-century Dutch artist creates a painting as a tribute to his lover and his Catholic faith; in 194's Amsterdam, Erich Baum is shipping his precious artwork to France for safekeeping; a present-day Manhattan attorney defends an auction house against claims by a Dutch woman that the Nazis stole the painting from her family. It's a promising plot structure, but that promise is buried under repetitious explanations of the legal issues, inept pacing and awkward dialogue. Former litigator Terrell earnestly wants to focus on questions of morality and betrayal across three centuries, but her artless writing frustrates those ambitions.