The Museum Guard by Howard Norman

Howard Norman,
The Museum Guard, a novel: Norman's third novel is an exquisite tale set in Halifax just before World War II. DeFoe Russett, orphaned at age eight, lives in a hotel and works as a museum guard with his uncle. DeFoe begins a tormenting affair with Imogen Linny, the caretaker of a small Jewish cemetery, who becomes obsessed with a Dutch painting called
Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam. Norman once again delivers odd, charming characters to us with haunting prose. Excerpt on p. 108. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)