MONA'S EYES

by Thomas Schlesser

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2025

About the author

Thomas Schlesser is the director of the Hartung-Bergman Foundation in Antibes, France. He teaches Art History at the École Polytechnique in Paris and is the author of several works of nonfiction about art, artists, and the relationship between art and politics in the 20th century. He is the grandson of André Schlesser, known as Dadé, a singer and cabaret performer who founded the Cabaret L ’Écluse. Mona’s Eyes is Schlesser’s second novel and his American debut. It has been translated into thirty-eight languages, including Braille. Schlesser was awarded 2025’s Author of the Year by Livres Hebdo.

Reviews

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reader is CONFUSED…is this book nonfiction or fiction! I believe this author would be an excellent non fiction writer…also I wanted to “review/look at the artifacts that Mona and her grandfather were looking at but NO pic…yes, I googled them. A weird “secret” between Mona and grandfather..not to tell her mother. Art history, relationship between grandfather and Mona, giving back and almost did not finish…Give it a try

[Lynne Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am deeply moved by this book. And yet I almost laid it down two or three times intending not to finish it.

It is not a perfect book. I struggled with much of the dialogue between Henry and his 10-year-old granddaughter, Mona, as he instructed her and also as she instructed him about the 52 works of art they saw together. Mona’s ability to understand the complexity of her grandfather’s lengthy expositions on various artistic works seemed to be well beyond what a ten year -old child could understand. Even a precocious one. At one point, I wondered if the author had ever known a 10 year-old little girl.

I also struggled with the secret/lie that Henry told Mona’s parents and that he asked her not to share this “secret” with them. And I wasn’t a fan of the doctor who treated Mona’s episodic loss of vision.

For the first half of the book, which I borrowed from the library, I had trouble at times finding pictures of the works online that Henry and Mona were seeing. There are copies of the pieces on the inside cover of the hardback book, but the library had taped that over to protect the book. Fortunately, a friend who had been gifted a hardback book took pictures of the paintings and texted them to me. That made reading the book much easier.

I think that the author is most likely a great non-fiction writer, but is not as accomplished as a writer of fiction. At times, the structure of this book as a novel seemed clunky and unwieldy.

But the relationship between Henry and Mona was so very poignant and moving. How she grows up in the course of just one year, influenced greatly by weekly trips to art museums with her grandfather, is touching and even inspirational.

The ending, for me, was lovely. With all of my reservations, I loved this book.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The back story to this book was not good - a young child with a hysterical loss of vision who is "cured" by having her grandfather take her each week to view a work of art in Paris (when he is supposed to be taking her to the psychiatrist). I completely enjoyed the discussion of 52 pieces of art, some famous and some lesser known. As others have noted, the printing of the works of art inside of the jacket cover does not work for books borrowed from the library so I had to read this with phone in hand because without simultaneously looking at the paintings and sculptures, this book would not be worthwhile.

[Gail B. Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book club pick. I can find nothing good about it. I read about 80 pages and realized that I could not stand to dissect 52 paintings/sculptures to the degree this author does. It felt like an art history class. I did read the prolonged, the beginning of each chapter, which told the tale of Mona's (a 10-year-old girl) sudden blindness and the epilogue but even they were not worth the time.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

A 10-year-old has an episode of lost vision her grandfather then takes her on a quest to art museum every Wednesday for a year. What progresses from there is a very detailed description of each and every painting that they stand before their interpretation of it etc. etc. it took everything I had to complete this book. Not when I would recommend.