jonid 's review for:

The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith

4.0

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Three alternating narrators: Sara de Vos, in 1631 Amsterdam - the first woman admitted as a master painter into the city's guild, married to an overextended painter; Marty de Groot in 1957 New York City, a wealthy lawyer who discovers that one of the paintings that make up his inherited wealth has been replaced with a forgery, and Ellie Shipley in Sydney Australia in 2000, now a well known and respected art historian and curator. Woven well and at a steady pace, the stories of the artist of An Edge of Wood, the owner and the forger come together and intersect in a carefully constructed story. The author shares the different perspective without over wrought emotion or sentiment, leaving the reader to figure out for themselves if the character is sympathetic or not. Each one makes a transition as events shape them and their response shapes them even more so. A satisfying read and a smart book.