Blackburn has concocted an interesting combination of personal memoir and biography. Her recollections of a book of Goya's art that her artist mother owned is the bridge between the author's personal memories and her biographical notes on Goya's life. In addition to the usual document searchs, she traveled to the places where Goya lived and worked. The result is that much of what she has to say about Goya, his life, and his work is written in the first person, as she reflects on what she discovers. I was drawn to this book because of having read a previous Goya biography that included his complete known oeuvre. Blackburn's effort was a slow read for me at the outset, but about half way through, I engaged totally. From that point onwards, I enormously enjoyed her artistry, her ability to paint with words. A special treat is the peek into the creative process of biographical fiction. Where facts offer only a tease of events, Blackburn invites us to imagine with her what may have quite logically happened. The combination of her present and past with the known and imagined pasts inhabited by Goya is an effective device—unique among the books I have read. The book is profusely illustrated with black and white photographs of Goya's copper plates. It's an interesting effect, yet I would rather have seen photographs of the many paintings she discusses in the course of her narrative. (July 2008)

There are a number of periods in the life of the brilliant Spanish artist Francisco de Goya (1746–1828) about which we know very little. Julia Blackburn has taken that sketchy biography and filled in the gaps with speculations about "what Goya might have done" and "what Goya must have seen." In the end the book is as much about Blackburn's intellectual and emotional response to Goya's work as it is about the painter himself. Blackburn fills in the gaps with descriptions of the towns and villages in which Goya lived, elements of personal memoir (her mother was a painter), insight into the artist's letters, and so on. Blackburn has a spare, engaging style. She's a joy to read. My only proviso is that those expecting a more traditional biography might be better off, say, with Gassier's GOYA: LIFE AND WORK. This was one of Blackburn's own primary sources. It's fascinating to see how she adroitly dances around the lacunae in the master's biography by writing about Goya's role as court painter to Spain's Charles IV, the Peninsular War through which the artist lived, his printmaking process and so on. Throughout are photographs of the some of the original copper plates Goya used in making the "Caprichos" and "Disparates" print series. This is an interesting choice and perhaps a metaphor for what Blackburn seeks to do here; that is, to give us a detailed though somewhat inverted view--the chronology is loose--of Goya's life and times augmented with personal interpretation. It's a very idiosyncratic book--and a joy. ( )