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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Beautifully written, but I couldn't stop thinking about or comparing it to The Art Forger and I preferred the latter.
What a really fantastic book. The style of this book is a time hopper; jumping between early 1600s, 1950s and early 2000s. When the lives of two women born in different centuries run parallel to each other we meet Sarah DeVos (17th century painter) and Ellie (art student / art forger). The story explores, how a lonely, dutch painter from hundreds of years ago, influences and changes the course of a person’s life, that that they’ve never met, forever.
Ellie, who repairs antique paintings as a side hustle and is going to graduate school for art history, stumbles across a piece that someone wants her to re-create. The only painting known to exist by the 17th century painter Sara DeVos DeVos is an anomaly in the early Dutch art world, as she is the only woman known to have painted landscapes. When the owner of the original painting uncovers the genius behind the counterfeit, he decides to take matters into his own hands to take some thing from her like she took from him. Instead, he falls in love with her.
While the book is not a romance, novel, and far closer to a historical fiction, the relational aspect between Sara DeVos, Ellie and DeGroot (original painting owner) is both whimsical, terrifying, and revealing.
Even though 17th century, Sara DeVos is a made-up character, the attention to detail that the author gives to her truly brings her to life. I would encourage you that, even if you are not into art itself or historical fictions, this book is a stand out.
Ellie, who repairs antique paintings as a side hustle and is going to graduate school for art history, stumbles across a piece that someone wants her to re-create. The only painting known to exist by the 17th century painter Sara DeVos DeVos is an anomaly in the early Dutch art world, as she is the only woman known to have painted landscapes. When the owner of the original painting uncovers the genius behind the counterfeit, he decides to take matters into his own hands to take some thing from her like she took from him. Instead, he falls in love with her.
While the book is not a romance, novel, and far closer to a historical fiction, the relational aspect between Sara DeVos, Ellie and DeGroot (original painting owner) is both whimsical, terrifying, and revealing.
Even though 17th century, Sara DeVos is a made-up character, the attention to detail that the author gives to her truly brings her to life. I would encourage you that, even if you are not into art itself or historical fictions, this book is a stand out.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Well this was lovely. Told in three sections--1630s, from Sara de Vos's POV, 1950s, from the owner of her painting's POV as well as the POV of the woman who created a forgery of it, and 2000s, which follows the forger and how her past comes back to her decades later. The characters felt alive and the author does a fine job running parallel threads between multiple storylines. High 4 stars.
This is a fine work with multiple excellent stories told in three different times and locations. I was most impressed with the author's character development and especially the aging of two characters after a 50-year hiatus. I felt their actions and motivations deliciously plausible.
Excellent plot and interesting characters. A few parts were ho hum unbelievable, but the time element and writing style keep the novel moving forward.
A real masterpiece, weaving together a love story in New York in the 1950ies and the story of Sara de Vos, painter in the Netherlands in the 16th century. I loved the mixture of both storylines, the surprising twists and turns of the characters and the framing in Australia, 21th century.
Definitely a recommendation.
Definitely a recommendation.
Whenever I receive an ARC to review, I always try to go more slowly with it and pace myself out in a way I don't seem to know how to do with other books. I want to chew on it slowly and decide all the different flavor combinations to see exactly what it is that I like or dislike about this concoction.
And I'm very glad that I approached this novel in that manner. This book is like taking a slow, introspective walk at sunset. Or watching the rain fall. Or drinking something warm slowly and letting it radiate throughout you. This is a novel to make you pause. To ponder in quiet reflection.
Immediately this book reminded me of Tracy Chevalier. I read most of her books as a teen, and was enchanted by the way she could seamlessly weave historical fiction with gripping artistic description. Same can be said for this novel. Unlike Chevalier though, Smith created his own artists and paintings from his own imagination. His description of both felt SO REAL that I found myself google searching for both, even though he had noted at the beginning of the book that this was a created artist. That is truly a remarkable talent.
And I'm very glad that I approached this novel in that manner. This book is like taking a slow, introspective walk at sunset. Or watching the rain fall. Or drinking something warm slowly and letting it radiate throughout you. This is a novel to make you pause. To ponder in quiet reflection.
Immediately this book reminded me of Tracy Chevalier. I read most of her books as a teen, and was enchanted by the way she could seamlessly weave historical fiction with gripping artistic description. Same can be said for this novel. Unlike Chevalier though, Smith created his own artists and paintings from his own imagination. His description of both felt SO REAL that I found myself google searching for both, even though he had noted at the beginning of the book that this was a created artist. That is truly a remarkable talent.
This novel wasn't as transcendent as I was hoping, but it was a very good story and just what I needed at the time to stave off a threatening reading slump! I would certainly recommend it, especially to historical fiction fans with a penchant for art stories (such as [b:Girl With a Pearl Earring|2865|Girl With a Pearl Earring|Tracy Chevalier|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327197580s/2865.jpg|3358875], etc.). Though de Vos was fictional, you learn a lot about her contemporaries and the style of the Dutch Golden Age in general. In fact, the descriptions of her work and her husband's work were so real that I could almost believe they were real historic figures. The scene of them sketching at the site of a beached whale on a Dutch beach reminded me of the Hendrick van Anthonissen seascape with a beached whale discovered by restorers a couple of years ago - something tells me that was an inspiration to Smith.
Anyway, I'm also a fan of a good parallel narrative, and this one delivers with the 17th century Netherlands, New York City in the 1950s, and Sydney in 2000. Through the three timelines, the reader learns about the artist's process, the forgery world, and the mechanics of putting on a museum-scale art show. I found Sara to be a much more approachable character than Ellie, who despite being the modern woman simply seemed unfathomable to me. However, I think this was just the isolated, solitary nature of her character, compared to Sara who seemed defined more by her loved ones than her work at times. It could also be the fact that I felt really unsettled by the interactions between Ellie and Marty over the years.
The codas written for each woman might have been the best parts of the novel, because they really left me in a reflective mood, thinking about life and life's work. Also a stronger desire to visit the Netherlands, purportedly my paternal homeland.
The fine print: received ARC from NetGalley.
Anyway, I'm also a fan of a good parallel narrative, and this one delivers with the 17th century Netherlands, New York City in the 1950s, and Sydney in 2000. Through the three timelines, the reader learns about the artist's process, the forgery world, and the mechanics of putting on a museum-scale art show. I found Sara to be a much more approachable character than Ellie, who despite being the modern woman simply seemed unfathomable to me. However, I think this was just the isolated, solitary nature of her character, compared to Sara who seemed defined more by her loved ones than her work at times. It could also be the fact that I felt really unsettled by the interactions between Ellie and Marty over the years.
The codas written for each woman might have been the best parts of the novel, because they really left me in a reflective mood, thinking about life and life's work. Also a stronger desire to visit the Netherlands, purportedly my paternal homeland.
The fine print: received ARC from NetGalley.