The Second Mrs. Gioconda

The Second Mrs. Gioconda
written by e.l. konigsburg



While e.l. konigsburg certainly came up with an interesting premise, the delivery falls very flat. Readers will enjoy the mysterious aspect to it, where the inspiration for the Mona Lisa came from, but will ultimately be disappointed by the result. The writing is very dense, and while this is intended as a children's book, I find myself very doubtful that any child would want to sit through this book. The ending is just pathetic, and I found myself wondering why the book even existed, since the inspiration turned out to be just some random person off the streets. Salai's story could have been so much more interesting, and in the end, we are to believe that he just randomly "found" the inspiration? That's just pathetic, no other word for it. There could have been plot twists, and surprises, and eventually, the only genuine surprise was that konigsburg is a woman. Another one. Silly authors with their intials.

Rating: 2.5/5