A Month in Siena

Author Hisham Matar takes the listener on a melancholy amble around Siena, Italy. His somber voice and precise enunciation enhance his eloquent writing. As he considers great masterpieces from the Sienese School of painting and other works that bring insight to his own life, we learn how the power of art can enlighten us. Meditations on art, love, and existence intertwine with musings on his relationships and the people he encounters in the city as he deals with the loss of his father. Matar's detailed descriptions of several works of art, such as Lorenzetti's unsettling painting of the Madonna and child, are vivid, but the listening experience would be enhanced by viewing images as well. J.E.S. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine