The Portrait of a Mirror is a study in relationships. It’s an exploration of how everyone is a mirror. And when we fall in love with someone, we are actually falling in love with ourselves. We are projecting our own inner divinity onto them, to our detriment. How do we overcome this? By recognizing the other person for who they truly are, rather than venerating them as a kind of godlike version of ourselves.
“It was when Diana was at her most artless, when the unattractive realities of her humanness seeped to the surface, that Dale was most inclined to deify her in symbolic worship.”
The story itself is about two wealthy couples from the right side of the tracks. You know the kind- those privileged elites that summer in Nantucket and own 3-5 houses and have their weddings featured in the New York Times and eat fast food to be ironic. It’s about the juxtaposition between the facade and reality. How you can appear to ‘have it all,’ and yet be miserable on the inside.
Wes and Diana, Dale and Vivien are the quintessential example of this. They are the creme de la creme, the envy of of their social circles, living the American dream (and then some!). And yet they are overcome with grass is greener syndrome in the relationship department; prime candidates for the hit reality tv show, Wife Swap.
The Portrait of a Mirror is quite possibly the most pretentious book I’ve ever read. And this is coming from someone who has a very high threshold for ostentation. I certainly wouldn’t say that it detracts from the experience. In fact, I believe that pretentiousness is one of the book’s defining characteristics. It’s a stylistic choice that suits the characters and establishes Joukovsky as an expert, someone who has dipped her toes in that glamorous upper crust social strata and therefore is well-equipped to navigate us through it.
The prose is witty, challenging and scintillating. It demands that the reader keep up. I admire the fact that even though this book is character-driven (which I love), it still manages to proceed with purpose, anchored to a plot, building in intensity and excitement as it approaches the grand finale. On a side note, I absolutely adored Julian Pappas-Fidicia. He is haughty, flamboyant and hilarious and I wish we were best friends in real life!
If I had any criticism to give, it would be that some of the sections describing Wes and Diana’s work seemed unnecessarily long and would benefit from a little editing. I found my attention wandering during those scenes and they weren’t (in my mind at least) pivotal to the movement and overall progression of the story.
The Portrait of a Mirror is an ideal choice for readers that enjoy character-driven contemporary fiction with snappy dialogue and romantic entanglements set against the stylish backdrop of New York City’s art scene. This is an impressive debut novel and I look forward to seeing what Joukovsky has in store for us in the future.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
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