The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack

[Charmaine Mahlangu]

Gwendolyn Womack's pen is as artistic as her very own Bryan Pierce. Exceptional in description and creative in context. Going through the pages I could not help but wonder if such a gift really exists. I was thrown out of reality.

Bryan Pierce is a talented young artist with incredible skills. His paintings have one thing in common, they either portray an intimate moment in a person's life or just death. He sleeps with his camera on every night gazing at him as he sleep walks into a trance to paint a moment he does not know who it's source is. It has been going on for years but now he is used to it. His mantra keeps him sane . The repetition of " I am here now" seems to work just fine.

While reading the first few chapters theres an introduction of a lot of characters and for someone who is impatient im sure they would be confused. The chapters are short and precise and the characters are descriptive enough for anyone to be able to imagine. The main character in this book possesses unique qualities and that's precisely what drives the entire book and I loved this.

Bryan Pierce also a profound chess player meets the woman of his dreams. Pun intended. She sees this amazing woman playing chess and he decides to beat her game at it. This moment is repeated on a weekly basis. The unfolding of this romance is amazing . The couple realised that there's actually someone out there with their unique abilities. This was purely innocent and child like. This moment was well manipulated. As the romance unfolds things do not go as planned. The painter has a message to convey and if you want to know more, it's all between the pages.

This is a well thought of book. A 4 out of 5 rating is good enough. The plot and tone was consistent and the jargon was easy to understand. I hardly do this but this is the kind of book I would read more than once.