Raphael Madonna of Belvedere painting

Raphael Madonna of Belvedere paintingRaphael Madonna of Loreto paintingWilliam Bouguereau The Virgin of the Lilies painting
abandoned make-up, got herself a painful set of false teeth, planted vegetables in what Otto had insisted should be an English floral (neat flowerbeds around the central, symbolic tree, a "chimeran graft" of laburnum and broom) and gave, instead of dinners full of cerebral chat, a series of lunches -- heavy stews and a minimum of three outrageous puddings -- at which dissident Hungarian poets told convoluted jokes to Gurdjieffian mystics, or (if things didn't quite work out) the guests sat on cushions on the floor, staring gloomily at their loaded plates, and something very like total silence reigned for what felt like weeks. Allie eventually turned away from these Sunday afternoon rituals, sulking in her room until she was old enough to move out, with Alicja's ready assent, and from the path chosen for her by the father whose betrayal of his own act of survival had angered her so much. She turned towards action; and found she had mountains to climb.
Alicja Cohen, who had found Allie's change of course perfectly