Blue Nude

A German painter and an Israeli model connect in Rosner's heartfelt but melodramatic second novel. Danzig, a 58-year-old painter who was once an up-and-coming artist, has long since traded in his creativity for a habit of seducing his models at the San Francisco art school where he teaches. As the son of a Nazi officer who brutalized his family in the aftermath of the war and drove Danzig's older sister, Margot, to suicide, the painter harbors dark memories. He meets Merav, the beautiful granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, when she substitutes as a model in his life drawing class. Merav, like Danzig, has come to America to escape—not just the legacy of the Holocaust, but also the loss of her lover in a suicide bombing. When Danzig asks her to pose at his home studio, the project presents emotional risks for both of them. As in her previous novel (The Speed of Light ), Rosner presents a simple but earnest belief in the power of art to heal and reconcile. That the story leads to redemption for both Danzig and Merav won't surprise anyone, but readers may find themselves affected anyway. (May)