Published: Graydon House
Date: 7th. March 2023
Source: Publicist via NetGalley
Twenty years ago, Johanna Porter was a rising star in the art world. Now she’s an unknown soccer mom. When an invitation arrives for an elite gallery opening for her former lover, the great Nestor Pinedo, Johanna wants to throw it in the trash where it belongs. But with some styling help from her daughter, she makes an appearance and comes face-to-face with the woman she was before the powerful and jealous Nestor ruined her.
La Rosa Blanca is a portrait of Johanna herself, young and fierce and fearless—a masterwork with a price tag to match. When she cuts it out of its frame, rolls it up and walks out, Johanna is only taking back what was stolen from her.
Hiding out with La Rosa Blanca in a shack on the Chesapeake Bay, Johanna digs into the raw work of reviving her own skills while battling novice-thief paranoia, impostor syndrome and mom guilt. But Johanna doesn’t just want the painting—she wants to paint again. To harness her powerful talent, she must defy everyone’s expectations—most of all her own—for what a woman like her should be.
Picking up a debut novel can be a little bit of a mystery and as a reader you can never be sure whether you will gel with it. As I started Johanna Porter is Not Sorry I noted the story is told in the first person which isn’t my favorite, but truthfully after awhile I didn’t notice.
I liked Johanna Porter despite of her strong use of language at times. She has had some very challenging experiences and it has brought her to a place where she is beginning to recognise how its all affected her and that making a choice is key. And yes committing a felony just might seem really beyond what you’d condone. However I can see where Johanna was coming from, and I thought she was daring and gutsy. And what she does a little later into the book really had me gasping.
She takes up her painting and allows her creativity to grow again. I think she was able to remain a good mother to her daughter Mel and I really liked her relationship with Mitchell, the guy next door to her retreat. In this relationship she is gutsy too.
The story is engaging, it had me turning the pages, and the ending was very satisfying.
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