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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Not exactly a historical novel, not exactly a mystery, not exactly a love story. I wish it had been strongly one of these three, and I especially wish that the author chose to focus solely on the eponymous artist, the fictional Sara de Vos. The sections that took place in 17th century Netherlands were really evocative and well written and for me by far the most interesting. What's not to love in a story about a woman artist painting at a time when their numbers were few, and painting in the shadow of her husband. Plus she's grieving the loss of her daughter to the Plague and she eventually goes to live on the estate of a rich benefactor where she finds room for creativity and love. The other entwined stories--about a valuable painting that is stolen, forged, and then replaced with the forgery, and the story about the woman who painted that forgery and who then goes on to teach art history at a university in Sidney and is arranging an exhibition of 17th century Dutch women painters...zzzzzzz I'm getting sleepy just describing this last component. Too bad, this could have been a really great book.
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed the parts about the art world: the appreciation of art pieces, paintings, and pictures, as well as the techniques and all the work involved in the creation of art. The story itself has a good premise, but the fluidity and how everything progressed felt kind of stuck and very slow after the first 100 pages.
This is a very clever & well written book. It flows seamlessly back & forth between three very different time periods - Holland 1630s where Sara de Vos paints the haunting, wintry landscape that becomes the centre of the story; Manhattan late 1950s where the painting is stolen from a wealthy couple & subsequently forged by a struggling art student & Sydney 2000 where both copies of the same painting arrive at a gala opening celebrating female painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Part mystery, part historical fiction but so much more, it is a story of art, love, regret, revenge and consequences. All three main characters are exceptionally well-drawn; the descriptions of the artworks create the images in your mind & particularly well done are the scenes of life in 1600s Holland. Highly recommended.
An utterly delightful read! Three story lines... each rich with details and I found each of them fascinating. But what was most delightful of all was how Smith weaves each of these story lines together... it worked, so brilliantly!
I highly recommend this beautifully crafted tale!
I highly recommend this beautifully crafted tale!
I blew through this book faster than I finish most. The three converging story lines ensnared me from the beginning and the characters all felt incredibly relatable. As I poured through the book, I yearned for Sara de Vos's paintings to be true pieces on physical canvas instead of just a work of fiction.
My only wish is that the book had ended at the second to last chapter. Such a bittersweet moment of two characters' parting would have been a better ending for me as it would have left the conclusion up to the reader's imagination and more in-touch with the lifelike and grounded connection I had with the rest of the book. The true last chapter of the book was just as well, but tied everything up a little too neatly for me.
My only wish is that the book had ended at the second to last chapter. Such a bittersweet moment of two characters' parting would have been a better ending for me as it would have left the conclusion up to the reader's imagination and more in-touch with the lifelike and grounded connection I had with the rest of the book. The true last chapter of the book was just as well, but tied everything up a little too neatly for me.
I have put off writing this review, as I am not entirely sure on how to word it all and convey my meaning effectively. I loved this book but I am not entirely sure why it is that I loved it.
It was a well-written story with clear transitions between the 1600s, 1950s and 2000s. This is not always the way with stories that jump between time periods. It was fascinating to learn about the forgery of paintings as well as what happens with suspected forgeries. The story was just incredibly interesting and I had a hard time putting it down and was disappointed when my reading time was interrupted.
It didn’t have that wow factor that I was hoping for.
My recommendation: Incredibly interesting for those into stories revolving around art.
It was a well-written story with clear transitions between the 1600s, 1950s and 2000s. This is not always the way with stories that jump between time periods. It was fascinating to learn about the forgery of paintings as well as what happens with suspected forgeries. The story was just incredibly interesting and I had a hard time putting it down and was disappointed when my reading time was interrupted.
It didn’t have that wow factor that I was hoping for.
My recommendation: Incredibly interesting for those into stories revolving around art.
I thought I had written a review. Loved this and all it's layers
anybody reading this, please bare with me as i try to get out all my thoughts. this book was incredible. i will say it is a lot easier to appreciate when you know a good amount about art history. dominic smith's descriptions are so insanely beautiful and detailed, it really feels like you know these characters inside and out. every single page i was freaking out just at the sheer beauty in the way he described the spaces.
the book is split between the perspective of 3 characters: ellie, marty, and sara (the artist). i relate to ellie a lot, maybe too much. in the 1950s, she was an art history student who forged oned of sara de vos paintings, at the edge of the woods, and went on to become a professor/museum director. but the way she describes and understands art is so intense and pure, she can understand so much about a painting just by the brushstrokes. she is an art genius. after being hired to forge this painting, the guy who hired her switches it out with the real one from this millionaire on the upper east side. marty realized the painting passed down through generations was a fake and literally hired a private investigator to find out what happened to it. he finds ellie and gives her a fake name, basically makes her fall in love with him (he says he fell in love with her too but hes married so), takes her on a trip to upstate new york, fucks her, leaves her there and when she gets home, her fake painting is back in her apartment! WTF MARTY!!!!!
ellie in the 2000s is haunted by her forgery. she becomes a successful art historian with a book written about dutch women painters, specifically sara de vos. one of my favorite parts of the book was how it switched back and forth between saras story and ellie figuring out her story.
marty is kind of the fucking worst but i think hes is also extremely misguided. he inherited all this money that he didnt know what to do with and i think if he just followed his dream of being a trumpet player, he would have been a happy and good person. he does a really really bad thing to ellie but he also was in love with her? if you just write out the plot and look at marty's actions, you might think he should be in jail. and he maybe should be. BUT you can see his intentions and his conscious in the writing and i really believe he should not be boiled down to just his gigantic mistake that definitely ruined ellie's life.
a lot of the book flips between marty and ellies story in 1958 and 2000, so you can see how these characters turned out. seeing marty in his 80s just waiting for death and filled with regret, im not gonna lie, is a little satisfying. he is not defined by what he did but its a huge part of him. in no way am i a fan of marty de groot, but i think the writing really lends itself to his character which brings the whole story full circle.
the last major part of the novel is from the perspective of the dutch painter from the 17th century, sara de vos. now, i did not realize until maybe 100 pages in that sara is a fictional artist after i looked her up. knowing that made me love the book even more. dominic smith really did his research cause the detail in her life and about her paintings is incredible. sara grew up learning about landscapes because her father was a painter, then married a landscape painter and she helped him with his work. they had a daughter who died from the plague at age 7 which was so so tragic for her (and me). after her daughter died, she painted at the edge of the wood, the painting that was forged by ellie. her husband then leaves her because hes bankrupt and she moves in with this guy as a temporary painter. sara cannot catch a break. she paints one more painting after this, commemorating the children who died from the plague. neither of these paintings are real but i know exactly what they look like, what colors were used, the perspective of the paintings, even what the brushstrokes looked like.
i connected with this book a lot for a bunch of different reasons but overall it really was just a beautiful story with beautiful writing.
the book is split between the perspective of 3 characters: ellie, marty, and sara (the artist). i relate to ellie a lot, maybe too much. in the 1950s, she was an art history student who forged oned of sara de vos paintings, at the edge of the woods, and went on to become a professor/museum director. but the way she describes and understands art is so intense and pure, she can understand so much about a painting just by the brushstrokes. she is an art genius. after being hired to forge this painting, the guy who hired her switches it out with the real one from this millionaire on the upper east side. marty realized the painting passed down through generations was a fake and literally hired a private investigator to find out what happened to it. he finds ellie and gives her a fake name, basically makes her fall in love with him (he says he fell in love with her too but hes married so), takes her on a trip to upstate new york, fucks her, leaves her there and when she gets home, her fake painting is back in her apartment! WTF MARTY!!!!!
ellie in the 2000s is haunted by her forgery. she becomes a successful art historian with a book written about dutch women painters, specifically sara de vos. one of my favorite parts of the book was how it switched back and forth between saras story and ellie figuring out her story.
marty is kind of the fucking worst but i think hes is also extremely misguided. he inherited all this money that he didnt know what to do with and i think if he just followed his dream of being a trumpet player, he would have been a happy and good person. he does a really really bad thing to ellie but he also was in love with her? if you just write out the plot and look at marty's actions, you might think he should be in jail. and he maybe should be. BUT you can see his intentions and his conscious in the writing and i really believe he should not be boiled down to just his gigantic mistake that definitely ruined ellie's life.
a lot of the book flips between marty and ellies story in 1958 and 2000, so you can see how these characters turned out. seeing marty in his 80s just waiting for death and filled with regret, im not gonna lie, is a little satisfying. he is not defined by what he did but its a huge part of him. in no way am i a fan of marty de groot, but i think the writing really lends itself to his character which brings the whole story full circle.
the last major part of the novel is from the perspective of the dutch painter from the 17th century, sara de vos. now, i did not realize until maybe 100 pages in that sara is a fictional artist after i looked her up. knowing that made me love the book even more. dominic smith really did his research cause the detail in her life and about her paintings is incredible. sara grew up learning about landscapes because her father was a painter, then married a landscape painter and she helped him with his work. they had a daughter who died from the plague at age 7 which was so so tragic for her (and me). after her daughter died, she painted at the edge of the wood, the painting that was forged by ellie. her husband then leaves her because hes bankrupt and she moves in with this guy as a temporary painter. sara cannot catch a break. she paints one more painting after this, commemorating the children who died from the plague. neither of these paintings are real but i know exactly what they look like, what colors were used, the perspective of the paintings, even what the brushstrokes looked like.
i connected with this book a lot for a bunch of different reasons but overall it really was just a beautiful story with beautiful writing.