Review—The Gallery of Lost Species by Nina Berkhout

In Nina Berkhout’s The Gallery of Lost Species, Edith Walker comes of age in the shadow of her older sister, Vivienne (Viv). Viv, whom Edith always characterizes as more talented and more beautiful, was trotted around to beauty pageants by their mother Constance, while Henry, their painter and artist father, encouraged the artistic tendencies in both of the young girls. In addition to being a pageant beauty, Viv was also an accomplished artist and painter, and Edith always felt as though her gift for collecting and categorizing items paled in the shadow of Viv’s talent.