The Art of Devotion by Samantha Bruce-Benjamin

Synopsis from the back cover:
The secluded beaches of a sun-drenched Mediterranean island are the perfect playground for young Sebastian and Adora.  Emotionally adrift from their mother, Adora shelters her sensitive older brother from the cruelties of the world.  Sophie does not question her children's intense need for one another until its too late.  Her beloved son's affections belong to Adora, and when he drowns in the sea, she has no one else to blame.

Still heartbroken years later, Adora fills her emptiness with Genevieve, the precocious young daughter of her husband's business associate and his jealous wife, Miranda.  Thrilled to be invited into the beautiful and enigmatic Adora's world, the child idolizes her during their summers together.  Yet, and the years progress, Genevieve begins to suspect their charmed existence is nothing more than a carefully crafted illusion.  Soon, she too is ensnared in a web of lies.

About the Author:
Samantha Bruce-Benjamin was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland.  She has a Master's degree in English literature from the University of Edinburgh.  She now lives in New York.  The Art of Devotion is her debut novel.  An interview on her website states that she wrote The Art of Devotion in five months working on it only one hour per day.  I did not find any information on whether or not she has a second novel in the works.

My thoughts:
This is a difficult book for me to review.  I chose it because it is being compared to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier which is one of my favorite books.  The Art of Devotion is considered to be Historical Fiction by some.  I don't feel that is an appropriate categorization for this novel.  It is set in the past but there is no mention of anything related to the period.  I never understood the comparison to Rebecca.    Initially I had a difficult time getting into the story. The presentation by the four heroines allows the reader to see the story from different perspectives.  I never found myself especially involved with one character over another. At times I felt like the story was dragging a bit and the back story was over explained, but around page 200 things started happening.  I was surprised by some of the twist that the characters and the plot took.  I have to say that I enjoyed the rest of the story.

I would like to see what the author puts together and what changes she makes to her writing style if/when she puts together a second novel.   I would recommend  The Art of Devotion to others but I would caution them that the story takes awhile to really develop so they have to give it time.   

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book to participate in the blog tour.  This is my honest opinion of the book.

Visit these blogs and see what they thought:
The Art of Devotion: Tuesday, June 8th
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Rundpinne: http://www.rundpinne.com