While I love art history and the idea of the book, I wasn’t enjoying the overly descriptive writing style and finally had to DNF after multiple occasions where the author referred to little girls as being pretty (unnecessary and strange way to describe their looks when you could just provide hair color, eye color, etc) and described one such child as her face having “burlesque expressions”….why are men 🙃

As a French-American anthropology of art scholar who studied art history in France for a year as an undergraduate, I was excited to read this book. I love novels where you simultaneously learn something about history, architecture, or art, so this seemed right up my alley. Unfortunately, the novel did not meet my expectations. The novel tells a story about a girl who temporarily loses her sight and her grandfather's mission to pack her memories with compelling images in case she becomes permanently blind. The family believes he is taking her on weekly trips to see a therapist, when he is actually taking her to museums to study and reflect on a different celebrated painting each week. The story of her everyday life is fused with her grandfather's overly pedantic weekly lectures on the painting of the week, and the girl's unbelievably precocious interpretations. While I found the storyline of her everyday life more interesting, unfortunately, 2/3rd of the book concentrates on the grandfather's weekly painting lectures. While the information provided by the grandfather is well-researched, I found that I would have preferred to simply read an art history book. The vocabulary he uses to talk with a 10-year-old was typically far too sophisticated to be believably understood by a child. And the child was often unbelievably sophisticated in her interpretations. I quickly found myself skimming over these long and tedious painting interpretations to get back to the story of the girl, her family, and her schoolmates. That storyline, which involves an alcoholic father about to go bankrupt, her schoolmates and other characters, was far more compelling. After reading 60% of the book, I finally had to give up on the book (something I have only done a few times in my life). For me, the structure of the book did not work and the interactions between the grandfather and the girl (Mona) were not believable.

What I liked:
All of the art content, Schlesser absolutely knows his stuff and it was amazing to learn so much about each art piece in history and theory.

What didn’t work:
I couldn’t connect to any of the characters I was missing an emotional piece

Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser is a work in translation from the French by Hildegarde Serle. This is the story of a young girl who experiences a few episodes of momentary blindness and with fear for her long-term vision her family has her undergo treatments. Her grandfather, Dade, decides to take her to museums in France to behold beauty of the finest kind so that if the worst happens she’ll always have this beauty in her mind’s eye. The novel was charming and an enjoyable read. The grandfather and the young girl are both incredible at drawing out what is significant in each work of art. To a large degree, I was able to envision the works as they were described but I would have loved this even more if there were color illustrations included.

#MonasEyes #Netgalley

I had high hopes for this book. The premise is unusual and sounded interesting. It was unusual, that's true. But there were too many ways it fell flat for me to really enjoy it.

This is the story of Mona, a 10-year-old living in Paris. One day, she loses her sight. Then it comes back shortly thereafter. The parents get her to a doctor who runs tests and imaging and can't find a cause. They'll continue to see the doctor periodically, where he begins to use hypnotism to get to the root of Mona's blindness and hopefully prevent recurrences. (There are times Mona loses vision or has visual anomalies but doesn't tell anyone, so it's not totally on the parents, but she is only 10, so.)

One of the suggestions is for her to see a mental health professional. Mona's grandfather says he'll take care of finding her the care she needs. His plan is not mental health help; he decides to take Mona to see one different piece of art work each week so that she can see the beauty in the world even when she is blind. He tells her to lie to her parents so they stay in the dark.

Can I just say that if I wanted to read a textbook about euro-centric art, I would have gotten one. It felt like a way for the author to give art lectures. I found myself rolling my eyes and skipping past pages at a time of description and interpretation.

Some of the things that came out of the mouth of a 10-year-old were amazing. When looking at the back of a painting (it was on an easel, so she was able to look behind at the canvas and wooden stretcher):
"Mona realized that this, too was the /hidden meaning/ of a painting, what also had to be imagined behind the images: it wasn't only about complex readings, learned interpretations, bold decipherments, and hypotheses by the hundreds. No, what was hidden, and should be kept in mind, under the layers of pigment was the banality of the soulless canvas on its stretcher, the disarming simplicity of these objects onto which immortal moments of humanity itself be set down." I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and say this is just poorly translated.

There are a couple other story lines running through this. Mona's father is an alcoholic whose business is failing. Mona's best friend's parents are getting a divorce and she will be moving away. These were afterthoughts that mostly served to break up the tedium of Mona's grandfather's descriptions and Mona's otherworldly understanding of artwork, not fleshed out and three dimensional. I read them almost as different books, they felt so removed from the museum plot.

My thanks to NetGalley and Europa Editions for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mona’s Eyes tells the story of a young girl named Mona, who temporarily loses her vision. When her sight returns, her parents and grandfather wonder if she might experience blindness again. Henry, her artistic grandfather, is supposed to take her to a psychiatrist but instead decides to take her on a weekly journey for fifty-two weeks to see some of the most beautiful and renowned art pieces. He wants Mona to create lasting memories of the art in case she loses her sight again.

The narrative is divided into three parts: the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Centre Pompidou. Each chapter is titled after the artworks that Mona and her grandfather explore. Mona is intelligent and insightful, gaining a wealth of knowledge about art and art history from Henry. At times, she seems to possess a maturity and understanding beyond her ten years of age.

The main storyline centres around the question of whether Mona will lose her eyesight again, along with the exploration of art. The other characters, including her parents and school friends, play minor roles in the story.

There is also a mysterious figure, Mona’s grandmother Colette, who passed away when Mona was young. No one talks about her, so Mona takes it upon herself to investigate by snooping through files and relics.

If you love art and art history, this book might be for you! I enjoyed the special bond between Henry and Mona and appreciated learning about art along the way. The writing style is accessible, and it’s a simple yet heartwarming story filled with art and art history. At times this book read more like an art history lesson than a work of fiction.

The physical copy of this book features a picture of each artwork in a fold-out dust jacket. Since I read an ebook version, I didn’t have access to the pictures of the art, so I looked them up online. The novel focuses not only on the interpretation of art but also on the lives of artists such as Monet, Cézanne, and Michelangelo, just to name a few.

Thank you to #NetGalley and @europaeditions for this early review copy! Mona’s Eyes releases next month on August 26.

Unfortunately I will be DNFing this book after 50 pages. It's a story about a young girl learning from her Grandfather how to look at art before she loses her sight forever. The premise was captivating, but on the page it is a slog. It's 52 chapters, 52 works of art, 52 weeks of Mona's sight. I stopped 6 art pieces in because I got the gist of the pattern. Grandpa will overexplain what Mona is looking at, Mona will speak like no kid I've ever met, and the plot will flimsily go along without much to do. I couldn't sense any movement in the story and am pretty confident everything coming up would be like what I had just read.

I wish I could abstain from giving a star rating for this novel. I hope that it finds the right audience, but I would rather go to the museum myself. Or take a university course. Or read an art history book by Schlesser!

This is not the fault of the book itself, but the English ebook edition I received via Kindle was not formatted cleanly. It was distracting and in some ways it highlighted the awkward translations into English.

This was a lovely book.
I could see why it’s well liked.
With sight being my weakness sense I understand the fear of loosing sight in Mona,s case she loved viewing art for me I love reading so I get fearing loosing the power of sight .
Each artist had something to show and for Mona to learn from.
Henry was a lovely grandparent .
This was a really lovely novel but sad .

I love art and drawing myself. I appreciate art like Mona does.

Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser (August 26, 2025)
This novel will be a favorite to recommend! I lingered in each chapter, and I enjoyed the delightful dialogue between Mona and her grandfather. Ultimately, this tale serves as a loving tribute to grandparents.
The story begins with Mona’s 63 minutes of blindness. No one can explain the cause or possible future effects. Henry, Mona’s grandfather, and dear Dade, promises to take “the treasure of his life” for her therapy. For 52 Wednesdays, Mona and her grandfather visit 52 masterpieces. As Mona learns lessons about herself, art, and the world, so does the reader. Henry’s unwavering dedication to show Mona “what’s beautiful on earth” captures the many ways that art illuminates truth about the human condition

Beautifully written and superbly translated. The entire book was very thoughtful and beautiful, but my only issue was with some of the grandfather's intentions.

Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser checked every box I want in literary fiction. I don't think it is a perfect book, if there is such a thing, but it was strong in all areas.

Novels that seek to use a deep dive into a topic to help make the story speak to readers and, perhaps, help them appreciate both that topic and their own lives better always appeal to me. Like so much of the marketing for this book points out, and anyone who has read both books will attest, Sophie's World is a good comparison. While that one covers philosophy this one covers art history/appreciation. It should be noted both are pretty much exclusively western philosophy and art, but this isn't a textbook claiming to be teaching art but a story taking place in the west using western art as a frame for the story, so it makes as much sense as a novel from some place else that uses the art and culture to which it belongs to tell their story.

It is easy to get lost in the art work and discussion and forget there is a story, not just Mona's story but the story of her family as well. There certainly isn't the kind of detail in that story as one would expect if we were reading the details of their interactions. This is about the world of the mind and how it intersects with the physical world within which we dwell. Many of the details are left for us to fill in, but it isn't difficult, we are given enough information.

Mona is, indeed, a precocious child, sometimes acting more mature for her age and at others acting younger. Most children are like this to some extent, and to make the story work Schlesser makes Mona a bit more of such a child. In much the same way most main characters are effective in the story we're reading but unusual to find in real life. I had no problem with what she picked up on or how she sometimes reacted to things.

The physical book has a picture of each artwork in a foldout dustjacket, but I would still suggest looking them up online and looking at detailed images and different angles. I found myself rereading some chapters on works that particularly spoke to me, once to place within the story and once to gain more appreciation for the work.

I think one of the biggest takeaways will be finding new and different perspectives into art in general. This book uses 52 pieces in telling the story, but we can take the approach, the attention to detail and to history, the pondering about hows and whys in the art itself and in the creation of it, with us when we next visit a museum or look closely at images online.

It has been a number of years since I have visited the museums in Paris, so I probably didn't get the same sense of nostalgia and recognition as those of you who have been there more recently, but it was still fun to think about how I felt every time I walked into any of them.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

An art appreciation course dressed up as a novel? Yes, but what a lovely novel it is and how can you not love the precocious Mona and her erudite, doting grandfather. Mona may or may not be losing her sight. As part of her therapy, her Dade agrees to take her once a week to a psychiatrist. Instead, he takes her to see a great work of art each week. After all, it is Paris.

This is an interesting and enjoyable read that I was lucky enough to read ahead of publication on NetGalley. The story starts with the enraging main character of Mona experiencing a sudden, terrifying but temporary loss of sight. Her immediate family react with understandable worry and rush her to the doctor for tests and ongoing checkups. Is Mona going to go blind, will she lose her sight forever? Her grandfather’s response is a little different and a plan is formed … he and Mona visit works of art once a week and focusing on only one on each visit they visit 52 in all.
What follows is the tale of the growth of their already strong relationship as Mona matures and learns more about both art and her own family history. She explores and investigates and slowly uncovers the truth about her beloved grandmother. I really like the way Mona tries to make sense of her relationships with her family, with her friends, with her doctor and with her teachers as these change and grow.
When reading, I decided not to view pictures of the works of art and just concentrated on the descriptions given and found that these were vivid enough. Fascinating information is imparted by Mona’s grandfather about each artist and work of art and I definitely learned a lot! This, I feel is a strength of the book and made it unusual. However, this is also what made it a slightly more challenging read as sometimes I was reading fiction and some of the time it was non-fiction.
Well worth reading, I enjoyed it!

Thomas Schlesser's 'Mona's Eyes' is a beginner's guide to art history, wrapped up in a novel about a young girl who might - or might not - lose her sight. There is a back story of a family secret that Mona cannot broach as well as her father's failing business, both of which provide some tension against which to set the art history lessons.

The book is long, covering a period of just over a year, during which Mona's devoted grandfather takes her on weekly visits to Paris's great art galleries to consider only one work of art at a time. This is a great vehicle for introductions to great works of art and then making comparisons between them and considering the development of artistic movements and their influences through the ages. I enjoyed a lot of the content, but found Mona's story more of an interruption than an interesting part of the novel. I also found Mona's precociousness distracting and somewhat unbelieveable. For me she did not come to life and her parents were just downright annoying! Mona;s grandfather was, for me, a more convincing and interesting character and I loved the reasoning behind his ploy. I found the ending unsatisfactory and a bit too pat, so overall the novel really didn't work for me. That said I WOULD recommend it, because of the lessons on art history. I suspect had Schlesser written a non-fiction version of 'Mona's Eyes' it might well have drowned in among all the plethora of other 'introductions to art history' volumes to be found, so he is probably cleverer than this review might appear to give him credit for. I did read it all, carefully, but if I were to read it again, I would just go to the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay and Beaubourg with Mona's grandfather and leave Mona at home.

I expected a more sentimental, emotional story but this is candid in a very charming way.

We follow Mona and her eccentric, no nonsense grandfather Henry as every week he marches her from artwork to artwork-schooling her on the analysis like a tough but well meaning school teacher. He clearly adores her and during these visits it becomes clear the Wednesdays they have together are for the benefit of them both.

An absolute read for art lovers and historians. Layman and experts will find equal footing in appreciating the brilliance of the story and deep appreciation for each work of art.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europa Editions for the Advanced Copy.

It feels a little hard to fathom the plotline but once it was done, this is a very beautiful and lovely read.

You See! She Sees! Paintings seen as Miracles - We are in Paris
In the prologue we hear 10 year old Mona say, “Mommy it’s all gone black,” creating a sense of a fearful beginning for her, her family and the reader. She las lost sight.
However, her vision quickly reappears when she is taken to a psychiatrist/doctor who continues to monitor and help her. The riveting power of this book continues when her Dadè, grandfather Henry, who is immersed in art history, decides to take her to an art museum, once a week, for 54 weeks, Starting from the Louvre, they begin with a painting from the 1600’s, planning to continue with a new artist throughout time to the present.
Their conversations deepen, both artistically and emotionally. Each artist’s life and style is thoroughly covered in their specified period, and beautifully explained by Dadè as Mona participates to both question and add her thoughts,
There are secrets to be revealed as Mona grows in knowledge of her family history, which will bring her, Dadè,
and her parents to a new beginning. You, the reader, Will See!, and be learning along with Mona.
This is an in-depth reading of art as history, lives of artists, and generational relationships that are so immersive that you will keep going back to read parts again, and again and head to an art museum.

This is a truly informative story about the power of art, beauty and wonders.

The main character in the book is Mona, a ten-year old girl who suddenly experiences episodes of temporary blindness. Her parents decide to take her to a doctor who finds no physical issues and suggests seeing a psychiatrist. Her grandfather is then tasked with the responsibility, but instead of a visit to a psychiatrist, he takes her to various museums in Paris (Musée du Louvre, Musée d'Orsay and Centre Pompidou) to admire different art work every week, for 52 consecutive weeks, hoping that she will be able to remember the beauty of art should she permanently lose her vision.

Every chapter is dedicated to an art work, covering the last 500 years of art history. We then get to read the dialogue of Mona and her grandfather analysing the work, as well as what she learns from it.

“…the hidden meaning of a painting, what also had to be imagined behind the images: it wasn’t only about complex readings, learned interpretations, bold decipherments, and hypotheses by the hundreds. No, what was hidden, and should be kept in mind, under the layers of pigment was the banality of this soulless canvas on its stretcher, the disarming simplicity of these objects onto which immortal moments of humanity itself might be set down.”

As an art enthusiast myself, this is one I would never have said no to. I was properly absorbed - I searched online for the art work in each chapter, zoomed in and studied the description in detail.

I must say that I'm a bit sceptical that such a young child can comprehend so well, and perhaps the characterisation is what is lacking for me, but I have learned so much about the different pieces I read about, so for that alone, I think the book has done its job for me.

Many years ago I read Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. Mona's Eyes will do for the history of art what Gaarder's book did for philosophy. Both of these books are wonderful and reward careful, unrushed reading.

Mona's Eyes is translated from the French. It tells the story of a little girl who had an episode of temporary blindness. It is not clear as the story begins whether or not, she will face a life without vision.

Many intercede to care for Mona. The most interesting might be her grandfather, Henri/Henry. When Mona is supposed to be attending therapy sessions, instead her grandfather is taking her to Paris museums. He wants Mona to soak up the art so that it is in her memory and he wants her to learn the lessons that the works have to teach. It is from here that readers find out much about the history of art beginning with Botticelli and moving forward all the way to Pierre Soulage. There is ample description of each work as well as a sense of what Henri hopes Mona will take forward from each. To start at the beginning, the Botticelli is paired with learning to receive as well as give.

In addition to the art history, there is a plot relating to those around Mona including her family and friends. There are also details of her daily life.

There are no reproductions in the book so it is best to read this one with access to the works as they are described. That way, the reader can see what Mona is seeing.

I most highly recommend this title. Mark your calendar for its release date.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Europa for this title. All opinions are my own.

A poignant and revealing journey through the world of art contained in Paris museums, and through the eyes of a ten-year-old child who may be going blind. After Mona experiences periods of blindness, leaving her doctors puzzled as to its origins, her grandfather makes it his mission to educate Mona regarding art, from Michelangelo to Rothko, before her sight slips away. Their weekly visits to art museums fascinate Mona, and she becomes an apt student. And yet, there are recurring shadows of memories regarding her grandmother, long dead, who gifted her a pendant made from a shell. Is this pendant related to the cause of Mona’s bouts of blindness? Is there a cure in store for her mysterious illness? Read the book to find out!