A review by heidirgorecki
The English Masterpiece: A Novel by Katherine Reay

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Great mix of mystery, history, and art. I liked all the many working pieces of figuring out the forgery of the art, tracking down the clues, trying to show innocence or guilt, and dealing with all the fall out. Diana’s and Lily’s characters were a good contrast and complement and gave a lot of life and complexity to the book. 

Lily’s story held some great nuggets about guilt and isolation and the damage it does not just to yourself but to those who love you. I liked her character quite a bit. 

I did struggle a little with the first, maybe 25% of the book, just getting into it. I think it was a mix of all the art references which I don’t know much about, and obviously being a visual thing, felt kind of lost in, and also in the context clues that were left out initially to lead the reader into the story little by little. While normally that’s great and lends to greater investment and imagination, maybe it was just me but I felt like there were so many missing all at once without anything to anchor on. Along with the art references, it felt like walking into a conversation already in full swing and feeling like I missed something that everyone else understood. 

Over everything started to come together in the second part, I enjoyed it a lot, and had a hard time putting it down. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.