Flesh Tones Reviews

Reviews January Magazine - Best 2002 Fiction
by M.J. Rose (Ballantine Books)
The only reason you haven't heard more about this author and her books is that her publishers clearly don't know what to do with her. Flesh Tones was marketed straight to the mainstream: not precisely romance, but not crime fiction, either. The reality is, with its creative use of timeline, it's intelligent subject matter and author M.J. Rose's elegant prose, Flesh Tones is simply a more literate book than what is most often expected in genre fiction. And there is nothing here that smacks of formula. More than a half year after I read it, strands of Genny Haviland's story still resonate with me. It's a lovely book, inaccurately represented by its cover. -- Linda Richards

The Advertiser (England)
GENNY Haviland helped Slade Gabriel kill himself. Compassion or murder? M.J. Rose's handling of this near ultimate dilemma of our times embraces courtroom drama, the New York art scene, spring-autumn love affairs, eroticism poured like cream on to peaches, and has enough erudition to satisfy the demanding middlebrow while also being a damned good page turner to boot. Ignore a couple of creaking fictional devices and enjoy a tale both slick and well told.

New Mystery Reader
More of a beautifully rendered love story, than a mystery, this book?s flawless depictions of character and emotion will easily move even the most jaded reader. But for the die-hard mystery fans, there is still enough suspense and questions regarding the truth to keep one satisfied until the very end. But it is definitely the infinitely tender portrait of an endless love that will resonate with the reader most strongly. This is a book that will stay with you long after you?ve finished, and for that, is a real piece of art in itself.

Library Journal
Rose's (Lip Service; In Fidelity) third novel arrives just in time to top summer reading lists.
Taking place mainly in the New York City area from 1972 until 1992, this absorbing and obsessive tale focuses on Genevieve Haviland, daughter of a prominent and wealthy New York City art gallery owner and a French mother involved in the Paris art business.Genny's sensual personal life and numerous sexual encounters with dark, brooding Gabriel filter into her narration and bring to life the New York art world in that period. This well-written book contains sex, mystery, adultery, and a lesbian love scene in a free-flowing story. --- Michelle Foyt

Bookreporter.com
Sigh.
Some love stories end with a sigh.
Definitely there is a sigh because the romance ends well before the reader is ready to close the book or part company with the characters. Possibly there is a sigh because the characters are reminiscent of true passionate loves we have personally known or whispered breathlessly about with friends. And, maybe, just maybe, there is a sigh because the tale is so powerfully evocative of our own fantasy romances.
FLESH TONES ends with a sigh.
M. J. Rose's heroine Genny Haviland loves Slade Gabriel, a successful artist featured in her father's swanky uptown New York gallery. And Slade Gabriel adores Genny, a bright and somewhat precocious gallery intern. Rose's third book is about a boundless (sigh) love that transcends a litany of obstacles. First, Slade is married to someone else. Second, Genny is 20 years his junior (and only 17, to boot). And, finally, it appears that Genny may have assisted Slade with his own suicide. If you hear an ethical echo, it is a faint one. Rose treads on all these taboo issues while never really passing judgment on them. She leaves that up to you to do. Her goal is to tell a story of love --- maybe even obsession --- in the tradition of stories like THE ENGLISH PATIENT and REBECCA. And she succeeds.
The book opens with Genny, now 38, facing a jury of her peers in the murder trial for her deceased lover. The telling of their affair unfolds through flashbacks, mostly triggered by courtroom testimony. Rose weaves seamlessly in and out of the present day and 20 years earlier, focusing equally on both. The earlier scenes are hypnotic --- erotic and intelligent portrayals of Genny and Slade's attraction to each other and the ultimate consummation of their attraction. Rose paints a beautiful picture of a slightly troubled and dark artist, without being clich?, who finds light in his love interest and sometimes subject. Rose's descriptions of Slade's art and the inspiration for his work are captivating. The romance is breathtaking.
The courtroom scenes are a framework for the recounting of the affair but they too are strongly written and compelling. They introduce just enough doubt into Genny's motivation to keep the present day story suspenseful. Central to the decision of guilt is the question of whether or not Genny truly loved Slade or if she was unhealthily obsessed with him. Their love seems beyond question, and yet, there's just enough teasing detail thrown in to make one wonder. Was Slade dying from a debilitating disease as Genny claimed, and was she just doing what any loved one would do if found in the same situation? Or were there other factors influencing her, like her devotion to her father?
Intelligent and fast paced, FLESH TONES introduces the world of art houses and galleries, courtroom drama, and palpable passion. Rose leaves readers wanting more (sigh) --- like any good love story should --- more of Genny and Slade's undying love for each other, even in the face of death.-- Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara

Amazon.Com Editorial Review
"...engrossing, erotic novel...a nicely told story of love, art, and obsession." --Jane Adams

Blue Ear Journal
"Rose writes smoothly and delicately, and although she takes few risks withthe reader's sympathy for her characters, she fleshes them out with skillful,original details and beautiful brushstrokes. She effectively pulls us into Genny's emotional struggles, and, moved and curious, turning over page afterpage, we always want to know what happens next.
"Flesh Tones" ultimately is less about murder and justice, or the fascinating, ethically murky world of the Big Apple art scene, than it isabout the rigors of living in a world of passion, deception and conflictingloyalties, where we are finally forced to wonder, along with Genny Haviland,if there really is such a thing as salvation. --- Judith Greer

Reader To Reader Reviews
"Flesh Tones is an emotional blockbuster? one hell of a compelling read with its eye opening view into the art world as M.J. Rose mesmerizes you with a tale of lust, greed, passion and obsession that is staggering to your emotions as a kaleidoscope of visions flash by in glorious colors. Believe me, you won't be unaffected by this book. I'm still reeling. Simply stunning! Ms. Rose gets better with every book. Put her on your A list now" --Suzanne Coleburn

The Boox Roundup
Provocative, complex examination of art and culture amid generous doses of affection and scandal.

FicitonLinks
Murder or Mercy?
One of the striking things about M. J. Rose's third novel, Flesh Tones, is the way in which it depicts a love affair at two different intervals. The first time around, Genevieve Haviland is 17 and in love with Slade Gabriel, one of the painters whose work is displayed and sold at her parent's Madison Avenue art gallery. Haviland is 38 at the time of her second love affair with Gabriel, and this time their relationship has a deeper, more poignant passion..
January Magazine
"Sometimes in Flesh Tones, it's difficult to tell if we're dealing with a life-consuming obsession or an epic love story, viewed from reverse with the tragedy already unfolded. After a while, though, you realize it doesn't matter. The story is well enough told, the characters sufficiently real and their situations compellingly believable that the root of those characters' follies is of less concern than following the story itself.
Flesh Tones is Wired columnist and e-book activist M.J. Rose's third novel. It is also quite easily her best. Sometimes in 1998's Lip Service and 2001's In Fidelity you got the feeling that the author was better than the material she'd chosen to work with. That these two were waterwing novels as the author tested her abilities and determined her direction. Flesh Tones holds none of Rose's earlier hesitancy; she comes to this work with a journeyman's knowledge of her craft and the result is delicious.
Flesh Tones works on all levels. Rose unfolds her courtroom drama with precision, from the lawyer's opening remarks, through teary witnesses and vicious cries of "Objection!" from both sides. Flesh Tones' characters are colorful, breathing creations. The passionate, charismatic Slade Gabriel sweeping the impressionable -- and precocious -- 17-year-old Genny quite literally off her feet. Gabriel's evolving art almost becomes another character, and it is perhaps this element that really sets Flesh Tones apart. Rose obviously has more than a passing understanding of art and the world that spawns it and her generosity at sharing this passion is noted and appreciated:
If you're thinking about books to read at the cottage or the beach this summer, Flesh Tones should go near the top of the pile. It's the type of novel most appropriate to beach basking because it's so hard to put down." Cosmopolitan Magazine
"[A] Sexy Summer Read....One of the books that'll soon be burning up the beach."

Booklist
"The story unfolds in a compelling fashion, alternating between present events and flashbacks that provide motivational detail. Readers who enjoy psychological thrillers in the Ruth Rendell vein will find Rose's tale absorbing, especially the multitextured account of Genny's complex relationships with men and the glimpse of the cutthroat dealings among gallery owners. This will be popular with both mystery and general fiction readers".

Kirkus Reviews

"Courtroom drama adds texture and suspense to Rose's third tale of crime, lust, and obsession? Keep[s] the reader guessing?A lush story dressed in upscale detail?with a tight pace and silky surface..."

Morgan Chilson - Old Book Barn Gazette.
"M.J. Rose has crafted a sensuous and disturbing novel. The passion between Gabriel and Genny is so real it seems almost alive on the pages. Her devastation and the numbness she feels as she sits in court touch your heart."

Katherine Neville - author of The Eight

"Flesh Tones is a tale of multiple obsessions--obsession with painting and sex, with love and death. M.J. Rose interweaves these timeless themes, in a story that gives us a healthy dose of both erotic fantasy and bone-chilling reality."

Carol Goodman - author of Lake of Dead Languages

"In Flesh Tones, M.J. Rose skillfully interweaves a suspenseful courtroom drama with the private history of an obsessive love affair. In prose as lush and luninous as a Georgia O'Keefe painting, Rose explores the conflicts between art and commerece, personal freedom and familial obligation, desire and responsibility. By the end, we've not only been taken on a tour of the New York art world, but of the darkest reaches of a woman's heart."

J.Z. Sharpe

"It's been a long time since I read anything so rich with plot and character, so satisfying to both the intellect and the imagination. When I insist that it's a must-read, I really mean it. I've vowed not to be one of those reviewers who falls back on the old cliche "I couldn't put this down" - but in this case, I can't lie.
With its lively cast of characters, its complex and seductive plot, Flesh Tones satisfies many needs. Whether you crave a sensual love story or a gripping courtroom drama, with this book, you'll get it all.
So, if you choose one book to read on the beach this year, make it this one - and be prepared to find it nearly impossible to put it down until the last page, where you'll be sighing with satisfaction after such an enjoyable read." Harriet Klausner

"Flesh Tones is an erotic and haunting love story about a man and a woman who have a connection that transcends age, society and morality. Told in the first person narrative within the framework of a murder trial, author M.J. Rose uses the flashback technique smoothly so there is no disruption of the prime plot line. Once started, this novel will prove impossible to put down until the reader reaches the end."

Laura Van Wormer - author of Trouble Becomes Her
"MJ Rose effortlessly lures the reader into the downward spiral of obsessive desire. That Flesh Tones also turns out so beautifully resolved is both frankly surprising and deeply satisfying. It is the story of a sophisticated young woman, born of two terribly chic New York parents, who has not a clue about real life until she falls for a much older artist of international acclaim. The relationship finally culminates, years later, in a death haunted by suspicions of murder. The characters are extremely well drawn; the plot fairly flies along; the Manhattan depicted here is irresistible and absolutely on target; and M.J. Rose makes it all look easy. Trust me, it's not. She is a first rate talent and this is a terrific book."
Susie Bright,
editor of Best American Erotica and author of How to Read a Dirty Story
"I've been impressed with M.J. Rose since I read her debut novel. She not only has a good ear for dialogue but she knows how to tell an intelligent and sexy story that keeps you turning the pages. Like Jane Smiley, Rose is screwing with literature. And I love it!" Excerpt

You May Also Like

Mummy Tales

M.J. Rose | Q&A

The Reincarnationist Series