A Novel of Love and Reincarnation - The Memory Painter

A fairly good read, I liked THE TIME TRAVELERS WIFE (I think that's it) was better. Characters only marginally interesting and the whole memory thing I thought was weak. I read it for a book club; had that not been the case I might not have finished it

Fast-paced, multi-layered plot with wonderful characters that is pure intellectual fun. I can only hope there is a sequel. I expect this book will continue to grow in popularity...it definitely ranks with the best of the big name authors.

Fantastic.It has everything I love in a book - thrills, historical fiction, romance, mystery, multiple locations, and surprises you never see coming. I stayed up all night reading it. I want to read more from this author.

I was completely absorbed by The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack. Last week was unusually busy and I had much less time to read but I couldn't wait to sneak a moment here and there to find out what was happening to Bryan and Linz as they journeyed through their memories.

The plot moves along quickly and is very intriguing. There are twists to keep the reader guessing. It's just such a unique premise that I was simply mesmerized. I love when books shock me with the sheer genius of the idea--like The Time Traveler's Wife or Life After Life.

Character development becomes key as Bryan and Linz realize some of the character traits come from past lives and some are all their own. Each person in the story is an individual, yet also a combination of all their previous lives, remembered and not remembered. Womack excels at making the reader believe that her characters had lived thousands of lives before.

The Memory Painter isn't bound by any one genre and that makes it exciting. With elements of a thriller, historical fiction, science fiction and some romance, Womack's novel is sure to appeal to everyone. I appreciated that the novel was also clean enough to be able to recommend it to all my friends. In fact, it's the book I'll be pushing on my friends this summer.

The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack is published by Picador and released on April 28, 2015.

**I received a complimentary copy of The Memory Painter. No additional compensation was received. All opinions are my own.**

Bryan Pierce is an unconventional artist in Boston. He is successful, and his art sells well, but that is not why he paints. His paintings are memories. Since he was a kid, he’s been having vivid dreams (visions?). In each dream, he is a different person from the past (Alexander Pushkin in 1837, Lord Asano in the Province of Ako, Japan, in 1701, a Viking named Bjarni in Iceland in 986, etc.). The dreams allow him to see the moments in each person’s life that were the greatest struggles and the greatest joys; often he experiences their deaths. When he awakens from these visions, he retains these people’s memories, their talents, and their languages. He immediately creates a painting to memorialize what he has seen and experienced.

When he was a teenager, his parents sought to help him in any way they could. He was repeatedly sent to mental institutions for evaluation and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Because the visions caused him nothing but pain, he used to keep his paintings private. Now, however, he shows his work in galleries for a very distinct purpose: “He put his work out there with the hope that someone, someday, would recognize his paintings for what they were, that someone else in the world suffered from the same curse.”

One day, he decides to try to clear his mind by visiting an exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts called “Mysteries of Egypt and The Great Pyramid.” There, he sees a woman with whom he feels an instant connection. He follows her to Harvard Square, where they play a few games of flirtatious chess without ever learning each other’s names. Later that same night, she serendipitously attends the opening of Bryan’s new show (coincidentally, his work is being shown at her best friends’ new gallery). At the show, she sees a painting of the recurring dream that she has had since she was a child. Quickly, Bryan and the mystery woman realize that their connection may be much deeper than they originally presumed.

I wanted to like this book, but there are too many reasons not to.

The book’s pacing is totally inconsistent. The first quarter of the book is interesting and engaging—it coasts on concept (which is creative and fun and full of possibility) and reads pretty quickly. But then the book loses momentum and stalls out. The middle two hundred pages are repetitive and slow. We are introduced to more and more of Bryan’s dream lives without any movement toward a connection/conclusion. And then, all of a sudden, the last fifty pages rush to reach a conclusion. The book as a whole feels disjointed and messy. And, as I’ve mentioned before, books that start off strong and end up terrible are the worst kind–they leave me feeling swindled.

When balanced against the fun concept and decent beginning, inconsistent pacing, repetition, and a rushed ending wouldn’t be enough to give this book such a low rating. But these attributes put it squarely in the 2/5 zone:

-- The moments that aim to be emotionally evocative come off as cheesy and silly;
-- There is an utterly predictable (and painfully stupid) twist toward the end; and
-- The book sets itself up in a very obvious manner for a sequel (which means, of course, that there isn’t a satisfying ending).

I wish this book had lived up to its potential, but it didn’t.

My purchase of Gwendolyn Womack’s The Memory Painter was something of a surprise. I mean no offense, but when push comes to shove I’m a bit of a penny pincher and rarely buy books blindly. Truth is, I’d not heard of this piece before spotting the striking yellow cover at the Historical Novel Society Conference bookstore and was entirely unfamiliar with the author. I queried a handful of my peers and while they agreed the book looked promising, no one had read it and I wasn’t entirely convinced I wanted to be the first to plunge into a debut. Historically speaking, such ventures seldom ended in my favor, but something about the description sparked my curiosity and refused to let go. I debated a while, but ultimately caved to indecision and acquired the title.

I’ll be honest, things did not start well. I spent the first three chapters wondering what I’d gotten myself into, but all that changed in chapter four. The plot started coming together and the story began to find its feet. The rush, however, was short-lived and by the end of chapter eleven, I felt I could confidently predict how things would turn out. Chapters twelve through thirty-nine didn’t leave much of an impression, the drama was diverting enough, but predictable in my eyes. The pacing intensified in chapter forty and the curve-ball in chapter forty-five found me cheering Womack’s creativity, but the moment was all too brief as the novel concluded only three chapters later.

Did I like the story? Yes, looking back at the plot, I think The Memory Painter a fun crossover piece. There isn’t as much history as I’d hoped, but I enjoyed the elements Womack wove into the narrative. I think the author could have done more with the emotional relationship between Bryan and Linz, but the pair proved enjoyable protagonists nonetheless. I found Finn and Conrad incredibly interesting, but you’ll have to read the book to understand why. As far as supporting characters are concerned, I liked Barbara, but felt Claudette, Martin and Layla underdeveloped in comparison which bothered me as I felt their roles should have placed them on more equal footing.

Ideally, I’d have loved a historical note. Something that explained how and why the author chose the historic figures that appear throughout the piece. Personally, I’d have loved to know why certain figures, Louis Le Vau and Pedro Damiano for example, were less prominent than Origenes Adamantius and Alexander Pushkin. I’d also have liked a slightly stronger finish. I appreciate that Womack’s conclusion is meant to lead into a follow-up, but the final notes of the narrative felt rushed and awkward just the same.

Would I recommend The Memory Painter? As usual, that would depend on the reader. Diehard historic fiction fans might find the book a difficult sell, but the book incorporates exciting elements of both thrillers and science fiction and should prove quite entertaining to those with varied tastes and open minds.

A mix of sci-fi and historical fantasy, "The Memory Painter" is an ambitious and brilliant book. Boatloads of research have clearly gone into recreating the scores of different worlds our reincarnated heroes travel through. I really admire what Womack has done here, though I did not love it.

This book almost felt like YA or even middle-grade re-written for adults, because even though the characters experienced a lot of devastating loss and emotional turmoil and passion, I never really felt any of it. I never experienced it, but just stayed on the outside, looking in. The basic premise of the book-- the fact that it jumps around so much, introducing us to so many different characters in different places-- is probably the culprit. I'm old-fashioned, I have a strong preference for long, dramatic epics of love, revenge and redemption.

This next paragraph is going to contain spoilers about the last part of the book. BEGIN SPOILERS: This book follows the basic trope that the pyramids were so perfect and technologically advanced, aliens or a vanished race of gods must have built them. I've never really cared for this angle. Humans are so astounding in their brilliance and ingenuity (as well as their infinite capacity for self-destruction), why can't we just recognize these ancient civilizations as possessing really great structural engineers? Also, why are ancient Egyptian deities always being reborn as pale white people? But these are minor quibbles, and I feel like the author overall handles her story quite well.

The fact that the same people are reincarnated, over and over again, into the same roles sapped some of the narrative tension from the story. Sometimes characters were like, "Well, just plunge that sword into me because I'll catch up with my loved ones in the next life anyway." I think that added to my sense of staying outside of the story. Real people will do anything to live; real people know they only have one chance at life. END SPOILERS.

I'm not sure yet if I'll read the next one, I'll wait for the buzz on that.

SUMMARY
Ryan Pierce is a reclusive, but internationally known artist. His skills and success as an artist are renown, and the images he paints comes from his dreams. His studio walls are covered in paintings to numerous to count. Each painting more vivid than the next, captures a different time in history, a different place and each depict an intimate moment in a person’s life or death. Because he can remember intricate details and feelings Brian believes these dreams may actually be flashbacks to other lives he may have lived. He hopes that showing his works to others, may lead him to answers about the meaning of dreams.
Linz Jacobs is a Nuero-geneticist at Medicor, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. She is currently decoding the DNA genes for memories. While attending an art opening, at some friends’ gallery, Linz recognizes the scene in one of Brian’s paintings as exactly that of a haunting recurring childhood nightmare she had had. It was a chilling scene of a beautiful woman being burned at the stake while a priest, prisoners and guards look on. The details captured her dream so accurately she needed an explanation. She absolutely has to meet the artist. Upon meeting, Brian and Linz have an instant and intense connection. Brian believes that Linz may be able to help him unlock the meaning behind these dreams.
But meeting Linz has triggered another intense and harrowing dream for Brian. It’s a horrific explosion in a research lab where a team of scientists were just on the verge of discovering a cure for Alzheimer’s. Several of the scientists were killed. The research project was destroyed. Brian is driven to find out more about this project. Linz know nothing about this research. Working together, Bryan and Linz try to find a key to explain Bryan’s dreams. But it may not be so easy. Someone is trying to prevent them from getting to close to the truth.
REVIEW
This is no ordinary book. THE MEMORY PAINTER is a complex story which is beautifully crafted into an easy-to-read novel. It’s a novel containing historical fiction, a medical thriller, science fiction, time travel and romance, all woven together in a unique and captivating way. I can’t stop talking about this book, and yet it’s so hard to adequately describe. It must be read. I was telling all my friends about this novel before I was even halfway through it. I was also scouring the Internet for clues on whether the historical people and events were real.
Brian and Linz’s characters are strong and well-developed. You can’t help but pull for them. Their story will stretch your imagination and keep you guessing. It is filled with twists, turns, betrayal, love and hope. And travel. Brian’s dreams takes him from a duel in Russia in 1837, to a samurai performing seppuku in Japan in 1702, to a Viking exploration in Greenland in 986 and to a monastery in China in 527. It sounds crazy, but it all make sense and you can’t help but want more.
A instrumental portion of the story centers around the Alzheimer’s research project from 1982. Womack, creatively uses excerpts from one of the scientist’s research journals to tell the story of the project, the team and the project results. The journals help give authenticity Brian’s dreams.
GWENDOLYN WOMACK does a fabulous job weaving the story in her debut novel. THE MEMORY PAINTER was the winner of the 2016 RWA PRISM award in the time travel/steampunk category and a finalist for best first novel. Her second novel will be released in June 2017 and I for one can’t wait.

I read her other book, The Fortune Teller, first and it was excellent, though I did have a few complaints about it. This book is MUCH better!

It's pretty near perfect. Excellent characters, thought-provoking and plausible premise, quite a page-turner! Even the short stories within the greater story were well-done and the characters came alive.

As someone who believes in reincarnation and has had past-life memories, I will say that real memories are never nearly that detailed, but are more snatches of intense emotions or snapshots in time. We don't usually remember all the names, places, details, much less dialog.

But, with the idea of the drug, yeah, that could make it plausible.

I really had a hard time putting this book down. I can't wait to read her next book!

Bryan is a reclusive artist who paints his dreams. He has started showing his paintings in hopes that someone will recognize them for what they are and hopefully help him. For he has been having these dreams all of his life and despite his mother sending him to psychiatrists and hospitals no one has been able to explain why he descends into this dream world. He ultimately figures out that he is reliving and absorbing past lives; he awakens with the memories, feelings, knowledge and language of the person about whom he is dreaming.

One day he meets Linz and feels an instant connection. They flirt a bit and she unknowingly goes to an exhibit of his work her friends are promoting. There she sees one of his works that depicts a dream she has had since childhood. She needs to know how he knows the details of her dream. She doesn’t know at this point that the artist is the man she was flirting with earlier.

As Bryan realizes that Linz is essential to his understanding what causes his dreams he tries to get her to understand what he experiences but she is skeptical. She does not want to believe that it can be past lives. But as time goes on she has no choice but to see that she and Bryan have been connected for a very long time.

I was hooked with this book from the very first page. The whole concept of the book is really unique and it kept my interest. I totally enjoyed the forays into the past to explore Bryan’s past lives. The idea of meeting the same soul over and over throughout time albeit in different human forms is intriguing and very Karmic. The reason for the whole plot payoff is quite fascinating and the ending set up for the possibility of a sequel which would be most welcome. I’d like to see how the characters go on to finish their journey together through time.

4.5
I received a free copy for my honest review

A historical fiction with a neuroscience element? Well, don't mind if I do! I will do my darndest to be as spoilery free as possible.

Bryan is a gifted painter, but most of his paintings have a dark streak to them. Linz is a research scientist. They don't seem to have much in common on the surface (besides both being good at chess) but it turns out that they have way more things (and lots of time) in common then they could have ever known.

I appreciate Linz's reaction to Bryan once she finds out where he gets his inspiration for his pictures, and some of the crazy sounding things that he says to her. It's pretty much "Uh, this all sounds insane. And my life is about work and puzzles and the symphony and all kinds of maybe boring and not insane sounding things and I don't like that you're upending it....but you're cute and I'm curious and a little scared now...so okay fine". It's a very normal sounding reaction to me!

My favorite parts of the book were the "flashbacks". They covered such a range of time periods and places and I learned something each time.

I understand that getting really terrible headaches that put you into a terrible state for awhile is inconveinent, and having to absorb a person's life and their memories and their sorrows is not ideal. BUT. If that meant that I could suddenly speak a bunch of languages, be a clock maker, an incredible painter, a research scientist and who knows what else, I think I would deal with the inconvenicne. I'd probably just lie and tell people I had violent narcolepsy or something...and to just put me somewhere safe and leave me alone when it happens...I don't know the details but I do know I'd like to paint like an Old Master and speak Greek without having to work very hard.

This book has it all: love story, history, mystery and danger! I give it a 3.5 out of 5!

The premise hooked me immediately. As the son of two painters, and a New England native (the book is set around Boston), I just tore through The Memory Painter.

At the onset, I expected a novel like Bel Canto that showcased the power of art, mixed with a love story that bounced through time like The Time Traveler’s Wife. What delights me about the story is that it defies categorization.

Author Gwendolyn Womack has crafted a book that combines a love story, science fiction, historical fiction, and a medical thriller—and architects an imaginative world that could easily spawn several subsequent novels. It’s exciting to see an author stretch her imagination like Womack in this debut novel, and I applaud her for creating a book that doesn’t neatly fit into genres.

The premise is a wonderful enticement—scientists in the 80s find a drug that unlocks reincarnation. For a small group of scientists, this means uncovering repressed memories of past lives that date back to Viking exploration, ancient Rome, and imperial Egypt. In present day, the central character, Bryan, is the lynchpin to making sense of these memories. An internationally lauded artist, he creates paintings based on memories from his past lives.

The love story that unfolds between the two central characters spans millennia, and Womack heightens its drama by inserting a ubiquitous villain in every past life that keeps them apart. The beauty of the structure, where souls are hopping into new bodies in new eras, is that the mystery that binds all of it together isn’t a whodunit so much as a whoisit, where Womack keeps you guessing which characters are good and evil until the final few pages.

This is a wonderful debut novel, and I’d encourage readers to go in without expectations. This isn’t a thriller, or a romance, historical fiction or sci-fi. It’s an imaginative novel that sets up the structure of what could lead to a potential series that follows how an ancient family dispute has played out for thousands of years, as well as the promise that for the right people, love can be eternal. The scope of the book broadens until the end, where the decisions of this handful of men and women could impact the future of humanity.

By tapping into the potential of reincarnation to drive this story forward, this book is a strong foray into the limitless possibilities that Womack’s world could create for us down the road. I’m looking forward to it.

This book packs so much into it, there’s something for everyone. Some of the elements included: science, adventure, mystery, suspense, time travel, art, reincarnation, Steampunk, romance and history. This is the author’s first published novel and it is impressive. The early chapters are captivating.
The middle may have suffered from including just one or two past lives too many. I had accepted the premise of what Bryan as going through and learning or absorbing. So more examples slowed down the action of what happens now, in the present, to these two characters, Bryan and Linz. The pace of the ending or wrap-up seemed rushed. It does have a lead in for a sequel. Some readers may feel they were left hanging a little. There are lots of novels that are structured this way in today’s book market, you probably already know your preference for closure or if you like being ‘teased’.
Overall, a very interesting of blending of romance and time travel with a bit of steampunk on the side.
I was provided a copy of this book free of charge in order to read it and write an honest review.

This book captured me from the first page. From the beginning I was intrigued by Bryan's ability and I wanted more, but then the second chapter switches to Linz perspective. As I reluctantly started the second chapter I ended up continuing to read because I found Linz relatable and wanted more from her perspective too. At the end of the second chapter Linz meets Bryan and the way the author wrote the scene the chemistry between the two enmeshed my mind. From this point on the story is propelled forward by a well crafted nail biting mystery and character chemistry. This story has so many aspects; mystery, sci-fi, romance, and it still manages to be one of the most well crafted books I have ever read. There are so many twist and the characters are so well developed! I truly will put this book on my best written books list and recommend it to everyone! Honestly if you are in a reading slump from too many 'okay but not great' books, then pick this one up now.

The Memory Painter, by Gwendolyn Womack, is a remarkable new kind of novel in a genre that-almost-can’t–be-defined. It has a highly innovative, complex plot that should be made into a movie! It is at once a mystery-thriller with current-day characters but also with well-researched historical novel elements and a love story with a spiritual new-age twist that will cause readers not to put it down until they finish! Whew! I read it, then went out and bought two more copies for friends. Enjoy!

Andrea L. Simpson, member of the Southern California Chapter of the Historical Novel Society

I absolutely loved this book! The idea behind it was great and the book definitely stands out among other books that involve past lives, reincarnation, or time travel. I am a big fan of the Reincarnationist series by MJ Rose, so I was excited when I got my hands on this book. I love the idea that the painter creates paintings of past life memories, and the idea that someone would recognize his or her own memories in one of the paintings is genius. Mix in the evil scientists who create a drug that triggers memories and you have a great story. I wonder if there will be more books to come? I am definitelt looking forward to whatever the author comes up with next.

Copy provided through NetGalley.

In this masterfully written tale, two time-crossed lovers find each other over a course of lifetimes. Yet something--or someone--attempts to keep them apart.

The story speculates what could happen if a drug could reveal our past lives and bring them to total recall. In this innovative tale, Bryan and Linz experience just this in modern times, and rediscover their fated love. Yet someone is out to divide them time and again, and as the plot unfolds and history comes to vivid life, can the couple prevent their deadly past from repeating itself?

Womack pens a riveting and smart tale with believable acuity. A refreshing novel packed with passion and adventure.

4 stars

If Dan Brown had written The Time Traveler's Wife and added random bits from Outlander and Back to the Future, I think the result would have been similar to The Memory Painter. While the basic idea of this novel was interesting, the recounting of the many past lives of Bryan and Linz and all the skills they inherit from living these lives quickly becomes tedious and just too much for this reader to willingly suspend disbelief. The past life chapters are full of historical tidbits and coincidence, but little plot or character development. I think The Memory Painter might make a better movie than book.

The Memory Painter
By: Gwendolyn Womack
Publisher: Picador Pages. 336
Copy Courtesy of The ReadingRoom
Reviewed By: tk

Womack will take you on an incredible adventure weaving past lives with the present. A world of revenge, jealousy and power.

Bryan Pierce, a painter who learned to draw at a very young age. Not by his own talent, but the talent of a great artist from the past. Bryan’s dreams are more than a mere subconscious thought while sleeping. He takes on the personalities, traits and memories of the subjects within his dreams. During his waking hours, Bryan uses his painting as an outlet of his dreams. It provides a means of finance, and so much more…

Spoilers are a terrible thing. I try very hard not to give anything away, but it is very difficult. This is a fantastic story. At first I found it a difficult read, however the pages started to turn very quickly once I understood how the events were to take place. The past and the present are in constant flux.

A great addition to any library. If you enjoy thought provoking books, this is for you. I have to say this is one of my top ten for 2015.
4/5

Are our best friends or lovers people we have known before. I’ve wondered. This book is amazing for it’s history. The idea that, once one dreams that history, some are able to paint that dream on canvas. As the book questions, “How many lives have we lived?” Interesting because a lot of it could be answered in this amazing first book by this author. Very fast paced, very mysterious. I did not guess who some of the most important characters were in this fascinating historical novel. I definitely want to read more by this author.

The Memory Painter is a very confused, and not very interesting , or well written first novel. I really enjoyed The Fortune Teller, Womack's second novel, but this was very tedious, although I wanted to like it.

Bryan Pierce is a famous artist whose paintings are inspired by vivid dreams. These dreams are so real he feels he is re-experiencing other people’s lives. When Linz Jacobs, a neurogeneticist working on memory research, sees a painting of a terrifying, recurring nightmare she has experienced on display at Bryan’s art show, she knows she has to meet him. But their meeting triggers a new dream for Bryan—that of a researcher working on a drug to cure Alzheimer’s in the 1980s. In recurring dreams he learns that the research was abruptly shut down after an accident in the lab kills two of the team members.

In a richly woven, multi-leveled plot, relationships are revealed through Bryan’s dreams as we journey back in time thousands of years. If Bryan is remembering his past lives, and if souls stay together through time, then the knowledge he is acquiring through these dreams could put him and Linz in danger.

I enjoyed the blending of genres—history, science fiction, fantasy, and a little romance, and the way the complex plot unfolded in bits and pieces as we built towards a climactic ending. And I admit, I was fooled by one of the plot twists at the end.

Audio production:
Will Damron narrated with a steady pace and pleasant voice. The complex plot, numerous characters and relationships, plus movements back and forth in time requires extra focus from the listener. This is perfect to listen to while doing routine tasks. I listened while gardening, and was able to give my full attention to the narrative.

[Audio download provided by the publisher for review]

What are the basic premises of the reincarnation love story? I believe there are three.

First basic premise of the reincarnation love story: in every past life, the characters were not just a peasant raising pigs or even a dog or a tree, but someone historically famous. Someone’s who name is still a household name today.

The twist in this book is that as the the couple remember their different lives, they also recover the skills they earned in that life. I think Ms. Womack has just added a trope that all reincarnation love stories will have to have from now on. Because Duh. If you can remember your past life you must be able to remember the language you spoke back then, and the mad skills they burn you at the stake for, right? For me, a veteran reader of reincarnation love stories, that was a refreshing twist.

The second basic premise of the reincarnation love story is this: if two people fall in love in their first life, they will love each other again and again, no matter how many lifetimes they share. No cheating, even after having had hundreds of lives together over a ten-thousand year span.

This is the main reason why we read these stories. It’s why we read almost any love story: we want to believe in true love, that true love is something that endures beyond us, from lifetime to lifetime, spanning the centuries. We want to believe in soulmates, in Plato’s idea that humans were once two bound together as one, with four arms and four legs and two heads, which were then split by the gods as punishment for their arrogance. The two halves, once separated, spend their lifetime trying to find each other again, and only those that succeed know true happiness.

The Memory Painter delivers on the soulmate premise, though many of the couple’s lives together did not end well.

But where it really pays off is in how it materializes the third premise: if someone hated you in a past life, they are going to hate you in this one. This is the part of the reincarnation plot where most books fail. The Memory Painter is both romance and a mystery, and the solution to the mystery involves a surprise twist.

What are the basic premises of the reincarnation love story? I believe there are three.

First basic premise of the reincarnation love story: in every past life, the characters were not just a peasant raising pigs or even a dog or a tree, but someone historically famous. Someone’s who name is still a household name today.

The twist in this book is that as the the couple remember their different lives, they also recover the skills they earned in that life. I think Ms. Womack has just added a trope that all reincarnation love stories will have to have from now on. Because Duh. If you can remember your past life you must be able to remember the language you spoke back then, and the mad skills they burn you at the stake for, right? For me, a veteran reader of reincarnation love stories, that was a refreshing twist.

The second basic premise of the reincarnation love story is this: if two people fall in love in their first life, they will love each other again and again, no matter how many lifetimes they share. No cheating, even after having had hundreds of lives together over a ten-thousand year span.

This is the main reason why we read these stories. It’s why we read almost any love story: we want to believe in true love, that true love is something that endures beyond us, from lifetime to lifetime, spanning the centuries. We want to believe in soulmates, in Plato’s idea that humans were once two bound together as one, with four arms and four legs and two heads, which were then split by the gods as punishment for their arrogance. The two halves, once separated, spend their lifetime trying to find each other again, and only those that succeed know true happiness.

The Memory Painter delivers on the soulmate premise, though many of the couple’s lives together did not end well.

But where it really pays off is in how it materializes the third premise: if someone hated you in a past life, they are going to hate you in this one. This is the part of the reincarnation plot where most books fail. The Memory Painter is both romance and a mystery, and the solution to the mystery involves a surprise twist.

Decent read but I found that the author's imagination exceeded her ability to craft it into a story and then tell it. There were some odd implausibilities that also undermined it being a strong novel.

In the end I found that it was a romance in default and that the fantastic elements meant to create a wider story just never quite worked. Or kept the book from devolving into the romantic theme.

This book is a literary find and my favorite read in a long time. Gwen Womack takes us on a complex journey spanning 10,000 years and many lifetimes, and I was in it from page one. The characters are rich and fully dimensional and the plot has delicious twists and turns that were unexpected and fun to try and guess along the way. I was so sad when it was over; I wanted more of Bryan and Linz and their love story. The Memory Painter is destined to be a classic and deserves to be a bestseller. Bravo! And, more please!

"Couldn't put it down", The Memory Painter has complexity, the author did her research to hold/back up various historical characters across times and cultures. Good plot twists. I always like a boy meets girl story.The neuroscience elements are interesting and handled with accuracy. No wasted words.

I was intrigued by this story from the beginning. As I learned more about the connections between painter Bryan, scientist Linz, and both the people surrounding them and the people they meet along the way, I was pulled further in. This is a love story that transcends time and human frailty like no other. This book leaves me wondering about some of the relationships I have and whether there is more than meets the eye and mind. Very well written.

I read Womack’s excellent novel The Fortune Teller and just had look for more from her. This novel is almost as fantastic. Definitely worth the read. This author crafts captivating stories for intelligent readers. I hope she’s busily composing her next.

This book grabbed my attention from the very first page. Fascinating ideas on reincarnation and Egyptian history. It had everything: action, mystery, true love, spirituality. Can't wait to see more from this author.

A brilliantly written voyage across time -- from ancient history to the modern era -- that is glistening with romance and drama. It makes one look deeply into the power of the mind and the possibility that history truly does repeat itself. Much more, it shows how love transcends time and death.

It was a wonderfully thought out book. In fact, I'm going to read it again. It carries a lot of detail and brings back quite a few emotions. I highly recommend it for those of you who want the nostalgic feeling from a fantastic story.