Thomas Schlesser and the Art of Art History

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Book Case

Episode: Thomas Schlesser and the Art of Art History
Hosts: Charlie Gibson, Kate Gibson
Guest: Thomas Schlesser (author, art historian)
Date: August 28, 2025

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Overview

In this engaging episode, Kate and Charlie Gibson explore the intersections of fiction, art history, and the act of seeing with French art historian and novelist Thomas Schlesser, author of Mona’s Eyes. The conversation delves into the book’s unique premise—a young girl at risk of losing her sight, taken by her grandfather to view 52 works of art over a year in Paris. The hosts also speak with Michael Reynolds, editor at Europa Editions, about the creative presentation of the art in the book’s design.

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Main Discussion Points

1. Discovery and Setup of Mona’s Eyes

[00:37–04:07]

• The book came to the hosts’ attention via Roxanne Coady, a trusted bookseller, who recommended it for its unique blend of novel and art history.
• Key concept: A grandfather (Henri) opts for art over therapy to help his granddaughter Mona, who faces the threat of blindness.
• Henri’s method: Each week, they visit one of three major Parisian museums (the Louvre, Orsay, Pompidou) to deeply experience a specific work of art.

“If Mona is to lose her sight, he wants her to have beauty in her mind forever and ever.” — Kate Gibson [03:22]

• The book explores not just the biography of artworks, but teaches intentional, deep seeing.

2. Interview with Thomas Schlesser

[07:22–21:36]

a. The Origins of the Novel

• Schlesser started with the relationship—a child and her grandfather—rather than an intent to write a book about art.
• The art history elements are vehicles for deeper themes of human connection and emotion.

“The most important thing for me was really this fiction about this little girl and Henri.” — Thomas Schlesser [07:22]

• Inspiration for Henri’s character and methods came from an idealized conception, not direct personal experience.

“Everything in Mona’s Eye is, I would say, fictional. …My grandparents were very simple… they were not like Henri, not at all.” — Schlesser [08:41]

b. Choosing the Artworks

• Henri’s selections reflect his mix of classicism and curiosity.
• Schlesser describes balancing narrative flow vs. personal favorites; curating 52 works tied to weekly visits and three museums, providing unity in time and space (a nod to classical drama structure).

“At a very particular moment, I decided to focus only [on] 52 works, because that was like 52 weeks... I needed a concentration in the space and in the time.” — Schlesser [11:57]

• The works are presented chronologically, emphasizing Schlesser’s perspective that “art history is first of all history,” which aids the reader’s journey through time.

c. Research Process

• Deep personal familiarity with 19th-century works; less intimacy with older pieces required fresh visits and study.
• Sometimes digital reproductions revealed more detail than museum settings due to glare and protective glass.

“Sometimes when I was in front of the image of the work, for example on Google Art, that was better than in front of the work itself.” — Schlesser [14:44]

d. The Long Gestation

• The writing took over a decade, partly due to personal loss and the cathartic, compensatory creation of Mona's character.
• Schlesser also wrote and published other works during this time, using alternating projects as “oxygen” to stay creatively energized.
• Carefully crafted ekphrases (descriptive passages) posed a great challenge, particularly because he hoped to make the book accessible for blind and visually impaired readers.

“You can imagine how challenging it is to write a book which revolves around visual arts for blind readers.” — Schlesser [19:22]

e. If He Were to Lose His Own Sight

• Asked what he would do with a year left of vision, Schlesser replies:

“I would spend my year in front of faces, of human faces...in front of each human face, I have the impression to be in front of a work of art.” — Schlesser [20:30]

3. Reading and Interacting with the Book’s Art

[05:51–06:50, 23:52–31:39]

• The book’s paper edition includes a fold-out book jacket featuring images of all 52 artworks, serving as a visual companion.
• Editor Michael Reynolds elaborates on the design’s inception (borrowed from the French edition) and its intent to facilitate a shared, family-friendly, and cross-generational reading experience.

“The idea that the [book jacket] can be in some way sort of a map for that journey really appealed to us.” — Michael Reynolds [25:08]

• While some readers miss the fold-out initially, the jacket is labeled and pictured on the book’s back.
• Consideration for blind and visually impaired readers: Europa Editions is proud to be producing a braille edition, aligning with Schlesser’s vision of accessibility.

4. Broader Reflections on Art, Life, and Seeing

[33:37]

• Schlesser ends with a quote capturing the book’s essence:

“Art is what makes life more interesting than art.” — borrowed from Robert Filiou, [33:37]

• Schlesser sees this as the novel’s spirit: art as a lens that enriches life, not merely for its own sake.

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Memorable Quotes and Moments

• “It’s art history wrapped inside a wonderful story.” — Charlie Gibson [04:07]
• “Mona was a kind of ideal compensation of this personal trial… she’s 10 years old in the novel and I spent 10 years of my life writing about her.” — Schlesser [16:37]
• “If you have the audio version of the book, you need a hardcover book jacket...Inside the book jacket are all 52 works of art.” — Charlie Gibson [05:51]
• “The idea or the possibility, the thought that the [book jacket] might end up on the wall of some 14-year-old reader's room was very appealing.” — Michael Reynolds [27:04]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:37–04:07 — Episode setup & synopsis of Mona’s Eyes
• 07:22–21:36 — Interview with Thomas Schlesser (origins, selection, writing process, blindness, art-as-life)
• 23:52–31:39 — Interview with Michael Reynolds (book design, art reproduction, braille edition)
• 33:37 — Closing quote with Robert Filiou’s aphorism

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Takeaway

The Book Case episode with Thomas Schlesser is a celebration of art, attentive seeing, and the emotional bonds between generations. Mona’s Eyes emerges not only as a touching novel but also as a practical guide to experiencing art with fresh eyes, made with an openness to all audiences—including those who cannot see. The episode is an inspired invitation to step outside the usual genres—and perhaps, to wander a museum with intention, curiosity, and heart.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Hello, book nerds. It's the Kate Gibson, part of the Kate and Charlie Gibson team. And I'm gonna remind my father. Cause he hates it so much and sometimes I love getting under his skin, that this is the last show of August, which means we are rapidly approaching September and the end of summer. There you go. Now you may be sad.

[C]

Thanks a lot. Appreciate it. I hate to see Tumber go. Hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it. Summer is the wonderful time, and it's the relaxed time, and it's the beautiful time, and it's the whatever. But fall is coming. Football is about to begin. And that makes it all. That makes it all okay.

[B]

No, no, no, no, no. I'm from Minnesota. I don't have a fall. Basically, what happens is around the end of summer, you get these scary scratches on your door from the horror movie monster. And you open the door and it's winter and there's snow everywhere and you hate everything. So we're heading into that My Cynical Season, which lasts about nine months in Minnesota.

[C]

We have a very, very interesting book for you this week. Well, Katie, talk about where we got it.

[B]

We spoke a few weeks ago to one of our favorite bookstore owners, Roxanne Cody, who runs RJ Julia Wonderful Bookstore, Madison, Connecticut.

[C]

Right.

[B]

It is a wonderful store.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And she was talking to us about books she was excited about for the fall. We've talked about people who sort of shape our tastes. Ann Patchett, John Irving, Stephen King for me, not you. And so when she said, I just picked up Mona's Eyes, and I think it sounds really exciting, we said, what's Mona's eyes? And Roxanne Cody, it's worth saying, too, I think really liked the book for the same reasons that we liked the book we are doing. We are talking this week to Tomas Schlesser, who is the author of the book Mona's Eyes. And we should say that I am an art history lover. I took an art history class in college and I loved it. I still love learning about art history. So Does Roxanne Cody. A lot of her books are about artists. She does memoirs, biographies, all those sorts of things about artists. And this is not just a good novel, it's an insider's look at art history. And Tomas Schlesser himself is an art historian.

[C]

Yeah, it's a book that we'd never heard of and indeed you may have a little bit of trouble finding it. It has got a European publisher, it has gained a lot of renown in other parts of the world. Just released in the United States. Mona's Eyes Tomas Schlesser. It's a wonderful excursion into art history, but it's wrapped in a lovely novel about a young girl and her grandfather. A temporary period of blindness for her leads to fears that she may lose her sight permanently. And her parents think she needs therapy to deal with what is coming. But her grandfather has other ideas.

[B]

Yeah, he decides that instead of therapy every afternoon he's going to take her to one of three museums in Paris to look at a great work of art. He decides that, you know, kids have a tendency to look at a lot of plastic, you know, mass marketed stuff in their life. And that he wants, if Mona is to lose her sight, he wants her to have beauty in her mind forever and ever. And he decides that the way to do that is to show her some of the great artworks of Paris. And so every week they go and visit a different artwork of Paris and he tells the painting or the sculpture or the photograph or the object story in sort of under an art history lens. So it's 52 works of art and man, I don't know, if you love art history, you will love this book.

[C]

Well, first of all, I learned a lot about the pieces that Mona sees each week. But more importantly, I think I learned about how to approach an art museum. I admit a weakness in this regard and I'm not a regular attendee of art museums. But Mona and her grandfather, well, her grandfather basically picks out one piece, one piece in the museum. They go, they study it, they experience it. What are your thoughts and your emotions as you look at it? So Mona interprets it and then he gives her the story behind the piece of art that they've been looking at. It's really, as I say, it's art history wrapped inside a wonderful story. We'll tell you some more about it, but probably we should get right away to our conversation with Thomas Schlesser. And first of all, he is French. Boy, is he French. And his accent is very French. His English is good, although he doesn't think so. And, and, well, there's some idiosyncrasies in his language and you have to listen carefully to his English.

[B]

Yes, you do. But I had no trouble understanding him. I mean, my gosh, I, I watched Pepe Le Pew when I was a kid. And so there you go, you're all set. And if you did too, you'll understand this interview. But just one quick thing. He refers a lot to method, the method of, of being an art historian. The method of exploring art, the method of visiting museums. And he says it's method. And just so you know, that's how he pronounces it. It took me a minute or two interviewing him to understand that, but we figured that was one term worth defying. But other than that, I understood him fine. His enthusiasm for art, his enthusiasm for writing this book, his enthusiasm for why he chose the works that he did to include in this book to be truly infectious. What an amazing guy.

[C]

Something ingenious also about this book. How can, with words of description about each work of art that Mona and her grandfather see each week, how can the reader of this book see what they are talking about? After all, this is a book of words, not pictures. I want to see the pictures, the paintings, the works of art that you're talking about. So how do you do that? Well, the publisher's solution was to use the book jacket. A really ingenious, I think, Wade, this, this book wouldn't work through audio. I mean, I face it, you can't, you know, you can't see the pictures. If you have the audio version of the book. You need a hardcover book jacket. And they've reproduced inside the book jacket, which is actually a fold out as well. Inside the book jacket are all 52 works of art. The reader can study them right along with Mona. So we're not only going to talk to Thomas Schlesser, which I'm going to start right now, but also the man behind the book jacket, who's a man named Michael Reynolds. So all that coming up. But first, Tomas Schlesser. Tomas Schlesser, it is a pleasure, a pleasure to have you in the bookcase all the way from France. Joining us, Thomas, let me imagine how this started. You're an art historian, you teach art. Did you start with the structure of wanting to write a novel about a child perhaps losing her eyesight, or did you start wanting to write a book about art history and particular pieces of art?

[D]

You know, my friend, that of course I had the opportunity to write A lot of books about art and art history. So that of course, when I started this novel, my personal motivation consisted rather in developing something, a relationship between a grandfather and a little girl. That was the main topic. So of course, art and art history are very, very important in Mono's eyes. But the most important thing for me was really this fiction about this little girl and Henri. If I want to speak about art and art history, the frame of Honeysse is really possible and easier. This is a frame of a novel, and the novel is rather about humankind, emotions and so many other concrete things which exceeds the field of art and art history.

[B]

Did someone show you art the same way that Henry shows Mona art in the book?

[D]

Unfortunately not. You know, everything in Mona's eye is, I would say, fictional. Of course, I was very inspired by my own experience with my grandparents. But my grandparents were very simple. They were not silly people, but they were simple. And a grandmother I loved a lot, was very fond of classical music, you know, and especially of Bizet and Carmel. She was always singing very. In a very bad way, but she was singing. And that was a kind of little opening for me on art and emotion. But honestly, when I was a child, I wasn't aware at all of what a museum was and a gallery, the gallery system that was completely out of my mind. I was not aware of that. So this is a creation, this is an invention. But as you can imagine, I had some good experience in my life with some teachers, with an aunt, with some friends, with some painters, with some artists. And they were my guides. But even if I love so much my grandparents, even if they are not here anymore, no, they were not like Henry, not at all.

[C]

So Grandfather Henri wants mona to see 52 works of art, one a week, to internalize that, to experience it, to. To feel it. How did he, or really you, since you're the author, choose what the works should be?

[D]

The most important thing was to remain consistent with Henri's character because he the person in charge of the selection of all those artworks. And Henri is a combination. He's a mix between two things. He's a very classical guy, a very classical man of 80 years old. But he remains always extremely open, extremely curious. And so the chosen works are to reflect this character.

[B]

But how did you. I mean, you know art from. I mean, obviously you know art from beginning to end. So did you sit there with a big pile of postcards of art and say, not this one, not this one. Maybe this one, yes, this one. No, this one. I mean, how did you go about putting that timeline together. Cause these are very specific pieces of art. Did you know, I guess, the lessons that you wanted, Henry, to impart and therefore walk it back and connect it to a piece of art? How did you do it?

[D]

As you can imagine, dear Kate, at the beginning there was a huge list with so many wishes. The problem was to create really a story and a novel and not a compilation of what I prefer in art history, you know. So at a very particular moment, I decided to focus only 52 works, because that was like 52 weeks. And to focus on three museums. The Louvre, Orsay and the Pompidou Center. Because I needed a concentration in the space and in the time. You know, that's a climate of a tragedy. Concentration of time, Concentration of space. Unity of time, Unity of space. And so I had to reduce my choice. And of course, there are lots of frustrations, as you can imagine. But I think this is better for the novel itself, for the story itself.

[C]

It interested me that you presented them in chronological order. You started with Botticelli. In later times there was Pollock, Picasso, Basquiat, et cetera. Number one, why did you make it chronological? And number two, did you want each different piece of art to teach Mona something different?

[D]

For me, art history is first of all history. And history is a question of time. I know that this is something we can contest. Of course I know that. But this is my personal opinion about art history. First of all, this is history. So this chronological order was a facility for me because I am a teacher in art history. And secondly, yes, your question about the different elements Mona can receive, can learn in front of each work. When you have a chronological order, it is easier to have points of reference. And the funny fact is that between Mona Inori and very often they can travel through history, and the chronological order makes that travel easier.

[B]

When you decided on the works that you wanted to use, how did you go about researching? Did you visit these museums and say, I'm going to spend an entire day in front of this particular work? Was it a question of taking photographs for your. Like, what was your research process once the artworks were selected?

[D]

Honestly, concerning the 19th century, that was not really a problem, because I am supposed to be a specialist, so that I know all those works by heart in front of Rosa Bonheur or Whistler or Burne Jones, I am extremely familiar. Those works were part of my life for years and years. Okay. Concerning the Louvre, that was more difficult because I'm not a specialist. And even if Nicolas Poussin or Thomas Gainsborough are very famous. They are not like friends for me. They are not like. They are not my family. I admire them. But, you know, my links with them is not so intimate. So I had to come back in front of the works and to dive into them and to involve myself and just a very little story about that, very concrete story. Sometimes I was very frustrated because, you know, there is a protection glass on the canvas so that the works are full of reflects and you cannot see them in their details. And sometimes when I was in front of the image of the work, for example, on Google Art, that was better than in front of the work itself. This is the first time. This is the first time I say that. But I am sincere and this is true.

[B]

You mentioned that this took you more than 10 years to write. Why? What was your process? Why did it take so long?

[D]

You know, Mona's Eyes was not an easy adventure for many reasons. First of all, the starting point of the reduction, the writing was a personal trial, a sad trial like everybody can have in its life. But for me, that was not so easy. I want to remain discreet, but just to say a word about that, that was the non advent of a child, the non arrival of a child. So as you can imagine, Mona was a kind of ideal compensation of this personal trial. And I tried to imagine kind of idealized little girl and be. The funny thing is that she's 10 years old in the novel and I spent 10 years of my life writing about her. So I love this coincidence between those two facts. Secondly, during the reduction of Mona's Eyes, I wrote and I published three books, two essays and a biography. And to answer your question about the process, as far as I am concerned, I need to write several books together. I'm not really comfortable when I am completely focused on something because I need. How can I say? I need oxygen, you know, to open my mind, to remain curious. And this is a kind of balance for me. So the emergency, curiously, the emergency for me was first to publish several essays, very academic essays. And Mona was a kind of continuous dream in the background of my life. And the third point is that the writing was very, very difficult for a lot of reasons, and especially the ekphrasis, the descriptions of the work. You can't imagine how exhausting it was. So that was, of course, a lot of pleasure, but that was sometimes a very harsh job.

[B]

Why were those italicized paragraphs, the descriptions of the work? Why were those so hard for you to write?

[D]

Okay, so Mona's Eyes speaks a lot about blindness. About disability. Okay. Since the story revolves around blindness, I wanted blind readers to be able to experience the novel and to experience it fully. I wanted the visually impaired readers to feel at home in this novel. Please. I don't say I succeed, Okay? I don't say I managed to do it, but I had to try. And you can imagine how challenging it is to write a book which revolves around visual arts for blind readers.

[B]

One last question, and maybe I don't mean for it to come across as glib, but if you found out from your doctor that you were going to lose your sight and you had one year to see what needed to be seen, would you spend the year in front of art? What would you spend the year doing?

[D]

That's funny, because this is the first time I had this question. And this is a very striking question. My God, no. Of course, no. I would say I would spend my year in front of faces, of human faces, I would say. But I can do it because I had the opportunity to see so many beautiful works of art and so many beautiful portraits that in front of each human face, I have the impression to be in front of a work of art.

[C]

Thomas Schlesser, it is a pleasure to talk to you. Your enthusiasms are infectious. And if you want to.

[D]

And my bad English.

[C]

No, your English is wonderful.

[B]

Not at all.

[D]

My horrible accent.

[C]

If I ever find myself in a position to be in one of your courses as you teach art, I would be there in a minute. Thank you very much.

[D]

Thank you so much.

[B]

So that was Tomas Schlesser, the great author of Mona's Eyes and Man. I'll tell you, if I spoke French, I would be front row center at his art history class because the way he talks about art. Anyway, when we come back, we'll talk to Michael Reynolds, the genius who worked on editing the book and was also integral to the COVID Design with all 52 works of art, which we think is something we've never seen before. So instead of talking to a bookstore that week, we're talking to him.

[E]

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[C]

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[C]

So Michael Reynolds is the man much involved with the editing of the book and also involved with putting the artworks inside the book jacket. And, and I admit, I admit I didn't realize at first that that's where the pictures could be found. I wasn't looking inside the book jacket, which is not something you normally do. And so I'm reading the book and I'm thinking, why didn't they give us the pictures? Well, let me see them. If you're talking about Botticelli, if you're talking about whoever, I want to see what you're talking about. Well, you can all you have to do is look inside the book jacket, as Michael Reynolds reminded me, not so subtly when we talked to him. Here's our chat with Michael Reynolds.

[B]

Michael Reynolds, it is such a pleasure to have you in the bookcase. When did this book come across your desk and how did you go about parsing how you were going to design the book for Tomas and for readers?

[E]

The book came across my desk thanks to one of the founders of Europa Editions. Her name is Alessandra Ozzola. She's a terrific reader. She's been a publisher in Italy for about 50 years and she has very, very deep connections with French publishing and with French authors and editors. It sounded like a terrific premise. I was already interested in the book before I had even read a word because it's such a terrific premise. I know the publisher well and I know they do very good work. And so that's how, that's how it came to me. And I think after having read the first four or five chapters, I gathered my colleagues in New York and I said, we're onto something here. This is going to be something special for us. I can't take full credit for this cover, for the jacket that we've designed because the French publisher Albin Michel were the first to come up with this design idea. The idea of putting these images on and in the COVID as opposed to inside the book in interior pages. And I think it's a, it was a terrific idea. I think we improved upon it a little bit, if I do say so myself. But it was a terrific idea. This book is such a journey and the idea that the COVID can be in some way sort of a map for that journey really appealed to us.

[C]

Now I don't know of any other book that I've ever seen. Maybe there are others that I've ever seen that do that. You have a medium that is not visual and you have to show 52 pictures. How are we going to do the. Oh, will double over the book jacket. We'll make it, it's not a Playboy fold out, but it's, it's, it's close. Yeah, you fold out and you'll see all 52 of the pictures. Now where did that idea come from? Have you ever seen another book that employs the book jacket in such an integral way to the novel?

[E]

I, I had never seen this before and I was delighted at the idea because I think, you know, one of the things that this book has going for it is that it's such a sort of transversal novel. I think it's a book that you can read and enjoy yourself as a middle aged dilettante in the world of art. You can give it to your 14 year old nephew, you can give it to your 68 year old aunt, you can give it to grandparents. It has such transversal appeal because, you know, it's trying to gather in as many different readers as possible and bring them together, give them something that they can share together. The idea or the possibility, the thought that the COVID of this book, rather than just simply being folded around the book and stuck on a shelf somewhere, might end up on the wall of some 14 year old reader's room was very appealing.

[C]

I was a quarter of the way through the book wondering why haven't they shown me these works of art that they're talking about? Where are the pages that have the works of art in them? And Then I discovered, well, my daughter made me discover that you can find them inside the book jacket. All 52 were there. Now why doesn't it say on the COVID look inside the jacket dummy. You'll find what it is you're going to find.

[E]

I don't think we used the word dummy, but it actually does. If you turn the book around on the back, there's a picture of the fold out and it says all 52 artworks inside.

[C]

Right.

[E]

But you are not the first person to pick up the book and not notice that the COVID folds out and the artworks are there. I think this is the risk that we run doing something different. Yeah, it's different, it's new. It's not immediate that people are going to pick up a book and fold out the COVID And this is simply the risk that we run. I'm not sure if perhaps we should have made that little illustration down the bottom bigger or what. Maybe we should have. I'm not sure.

[B]

No, I, I think at that point you run the risk of coming out as like a teen beat magazine, you know, now with fold out poster inside, you know, like full fold out of, of Harry Styles inside.

[C]

Well, tough for the ebook, but even harder for an audio version of the book. Yeah, then you're really stuck, aren't you?

[E]

Yeah, I mean, that, that I think there, there was no solution for that. Perhaps, you know, that was balanced a little bit by the thought that, you know, we did look into doing a braille edition of this as well. And we're still actually exploring a few avenues to make that possible. But the idea that this book can also be listened to by readers, by listeners who cannot or have not or will never actually see the artwork, I think that, I mean, that is something that was very, very important for Thomas. You know, he knew that that's what he was writing, the book that he was writing. And it's something that we're sort of very pleased to be able to bring to that audience. Because I think reading the book, I confess every chapter that I worked on, that I edited, that I read of this book, I had an image of the artwork in front of me as, as I read and as I worked on it. But if that is not possible for all readers, I do think this book does a terrific job of communicating, of conveying the emotions, the feelings, the texture of these, of these artworks. And in that it is, it's very moving.

[C]

It says right on the back, right on the back, big as life. You can find all 52 masterpieces inside the fold out jacket. I apologize, comma, dummy, for being so late, so late to the game. Thank you very much. You did a wonderful job, I think, in bringing this book to life and the way that you made it so visual for somebody who is simply a reader. Thank you ever so much. Good to talk to you.

[B]

Thank you.

[E]

Thank you so much.

[B]

Charlie Gibson, ladies and gentlemen. Not just a pretty face, a face who can. Who can get to water when led to it. You know, I wanted to come back to the fact that both of them are so proud of the fact that this book has been produced in braille.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And, you know, in library school, you learn that when you produce books in braille, they're huge. So textbooks are very, very difficult, too, because of rapidly changing technology and discoveries in science, science and medicine and what have you. Keeping braille textbooks up to date is very difficult. I love that both Tomas and Michael are so proud of the fact that this book is being produced in braille. And those with visual impairment issues might be able to enjoy this artwork in a new way through great literature. Congratulations to both of them on that. It's awesome.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Once again, we haven't mentioned the name of the book enough. Mona's Eyes is the name of the book. You really are going to have to ask for it, I think, because it does come from. Oh, I should have it in front of me. What's the name of the publisher?

[B]

It's Europa Editions, who Michael Reynolds works for. They're an Italian publishing house who are publishing this book, and I think they did a beautiful job of it.

[C]

Yep. But it is, as I say, Mona's potentially losing her sight. That's why they go to look at the 52 works of art over the year. So as I say, it's art history folded into what is a wonderful novel. So we're going to remind you of the folks who make this podcast possible. And then we'll have a coda from Tomas Schlesser.

[B]

The book Case with Kate and Charlie Gibson is a production of ABC Audio and Good Morning America. It is edited by Tom Butler of TKO Productions. Our executive producer is Simone Swink. We want to make mention of Amanda McMaster, Sabrina Kohlberg, Arielle Chester at Good Morning America, and Josh Cohan from ABC Audio. Follow the bookcase wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to listen, rate, and review. If you'd like to find any of the books mentioned in this episode, we have them linked in the episode description.

[D]

For me, Mona's Eyes is a kind of illustration of a fantastic sentence of Robert Filiot with an important French artist. And Robert Filiot was saying, art is what makes life more interesting than art. I love this sentence, art is what makes life more interesting than art. And even if this sentence is not in Mona's eyes, I would say that this is the spirit of this novel.

[B]

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