What I love about this painting by Richir is the evident effect of the novel on the reader. She is not reading at the moment. She seems relaxed, the novel is resting at her knees, closed, but her finger is guarding her place. The long, slender fingers of her left hand are resting on the chair in a delicate, almost sensual manner. Her smile is furtive, allowing the words to transport her somewhere, in which she evidently takes pleasure.
I would be pleased had my novel influenced a reader in the same manner.
The Novel by Herman Jean Joseph Richir