Review: The Paris Deception

You know I love a good historical fiction set during the wars. What you may not know is how interested I am in any storyline that references the theft of art from (mostly Jewish) individuals by the Nazis. I’m horrified by it but also fascinated by those who did everything they could to hide pieces, make lists of what was stolen, and tried to track the artwork down after the war. So, it was no surprise I was interested in reading The Paris Deception by Bryn Turnbull. I was fascinated from the start and the historical tale she told was entertaining and engaging.

Here’s the book’s description:

Sophie Dix fled Stuttgart with her brother as the Nazi regime gained power in Germany. Now, with her brother gone and her adopted home city of Paris conquered by the Reich, Sophie reluctantly accepts a position restoring damaged art at the Jeu de Paume museum under the supervision of the ERR—a German art commission using the museum as a repository for art they’ve looted from Jewish families. 
Fabienne Brandt was a rising star in the Parisian bohemian arts movement until the Nazis put a stop to so-called “degenerate” modern art. Still mourning the loss of her firebrand husband, she’s resolved to muddle her way through the occupation in whatever way she can—until her estranged sister-in-law, Sophie, arrives at her door with a stolen painting in hand.
Soon the two women embark upon a plan to save Paris’s “degenerates,” working beneath the noses of Germany’s top art connoisseurs to replace the paintings in the Jeu de Paume with skillful forgeries—but how long can Sophie and Fabienne sustain their masterful illusion?

Sometimes dual narrative storylines bother me. Usually because one character doesn’t have as much to do with the story and it can seem obvious that the author is padding the novel because there isn’t enough historical detail to fully flesh out one character’s story. That wasn’t the case with this book. Sophie and Fabienne had very different roles to play even while they were working towards the same goal. They also had very different backgrounds which allowed the reader to gain a better understanding of what life would have been like during this time. Sophie’s past, especially, was eye-opening. I know it’s just fiction but I felt Turnbull was able to illustrate how it would have felt for anyone living in Germany as Hitler gained more and more power prior to the outbreak of World War II.

I must say that I don’t think I cared about the main characters as much as I think I was supposed to. I liked them and was rooting for them, of course. But I don’t know if I was particularly invested. I cared far more about the art and the work they were doing to save it. Was this a personal bias? Perhaps. This is a part of history that fascinates (and saddens) me. Maybe I was just too focused on that rather than making sure I was caring more about the characters.

As with many war novels, I found myself wondering what I would do if I found myself in Sophie or Fabienne’s positions. Would I have smuggled art out of a museum at the risk of my own life? Would those small acts of resistance been enough or would I, unlike the women in the book, have formally joined the Resistance? Would I have hid Jewish families in my home? Or would I have turned a blind eye and just tried to survive the Nazi occupation in my city? We all hope we’d be brave and on the right side of history (you know, the side where people weren’t being murdered for their beliefs), but we can’t really know. Not until we’re faced with that choice. It’s a sobering thing to think about and I’m glad authors like Turnbull write books that show the shades of grey that was just trying to survive the war. It’s not as black and white as our history books make it seem.

The Paris Deception was my first Bryn Turnbull novel but it certainly won’t be my last. She’s a talented author with a knack for finding interesting parts of history to write about. Lovers of art and historical fiction should think about checking this one out.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.* 

Review: Attribution

Attribution should have been a book that worked for me. Linda Moore’s novel, which was published back on October 11, 2022, had art and history with a dash of intrigue. All things I very much enjoy. But something just didn’t click and the novel, with such promise, ended up being a miss for me.

Here’s the book’s description:

Art historian Cate Adamson, still grieving the death of her brother and desperate to succeed, leaves her troubled parents in the Midwest to complete her doctorate in New York, only to find herself assigned to a misogynist advisor. She attempts to impress him until she discovers a hidden painting, possibly a Baroque masterpiece, in the university basement. Risking her career, financial disaster, and further alienation from her family, she flees to Spain with the painting to consult art experts.
Antonio, an impoverished duke, clings to the decaying legacy of the House of Olivares. When he meets Cate on the train to Seville, he joins her search, and together they uncover evidence in his five hundred-year old library to support the painting's provenance including a document about the artist's final years that will shock the titans of art history. But Cate vacillates about revealing the truth, fearful that it may destroy her career, her family's expectations, and her future with Antonio.

I wasn’t totally sure why this book didn’t work for me at the time I read it and I’m even less sure now, all these months later. I can tell my initial feelings were accurate and the fact that the story didn’t stick with me is telling. Sometimes I may not initially love a book but once I sit with it awhile, I find myself still thinking about it or finally understanding some of the nuances that I had missed when I was reading it. That was not the case with Attribution. I don’t want to say I’ve forgotten all of it, because I haven’t, but the story and the writing have not stayed with me.

I think, perhaps, part of my issue was with Cate herself. She didn’t make a ton of sense to me and I questioned almost every single one of her choices. She seemed scared but also impulsive and brave and her personality remained a mystery to me throughout the entire book. I know it’s easier to hide from grief but pushing her parents away wasn’t helping any of them. I also haven’t been trying to pursue a…ok, I actually forget what piece of paper Cate is trying to get in the book so let’s go with…PhD so I really don’t understand the cutthroat world of research and advisors and all that stuff. I also think any readers who aren’t involved in the art world themselves (like me) will be a bit confused at how that world works and why Cate’s career is in such jeopardy.

As I said at the start, this book should have worked for me. I love the idea of art history and missing art. Well, I don’t love that art is missing or was stolen but the uncovering process is thrilling to me. I love the hunt for provenance and restoring a piece of art to its rightful owners. I love looking at art (I could happily spend a day wandering through art galleries) and I love creating it (though I’m not an expert by any means). I should, then, love reading about art. And I did enjoy the thought and care that I could tell Moore put into the story. She understands art and that world. That love and passion did come through and I was glad of that.

I’ll end by saying I seem to be very much in the minority regarding my feelings about Attribution. The Goodreads page for Linda Moore’s novel gives it a very respectable 4.35 average rating. Could it be that I got too weighed down by nitpicky things and just couldn’t be as wowed by the story as others have been? Quite possibly. I’d say it’s still one to consider if you absolutely adore art history and art mystery!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, She Writes Press, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Night Portrait

I was really, really looking forward to The Night Portrait. Laura Morelli is a new to me author and her latest novel was just published today. I wanted to love it. But...I didn't. I think the idea Morelli came up with is a very interesting one but at the end of the day, I was pretty bored.

Here's the synopsis:

Milan, 1492: When a 16-year old beauty becomes the mistress of the Duke of Milan, she must fight for her place in the palace—and against those who want her out. Soon, she finds herself sitting before Leonardo da Vinci, who wants to ensure his own place in the ducal palace by painting his most ambitious portrait to date.

Munich, World War II: After a modest conservator unwittingly places a priceless Italian Renaissance portrait into the hands of a high-ranking Nazi leader, she risks her life to recover it, working with an American soldier, part of the famed Monuments Men team, to get it back. 

Two women, separated by 500 years, are swept up in the tide of history as one painting stands at the center of their quests for their own destinies.

The main thing I didn't like about this book was how much was going on. The synopsis makes it seem like it's just focused on two women: Cecilia, who is the mistress of the Duke of Milan in the 15th century, and Edith, a woman trapped by duty who, starting in 1939, is watching priceless art land in the hands of Nazis. But. It's not. The chapters alternate between the women as well as Leonardo da Vinci (whose chapters, weirdly, were the only ones told in first person and I can't understand why) whose timeline closely follows Cecilia's (but not exactly) and Dominic, an American soldier who we first meet as he's about to storm the beaches of Normandy in 1944.

That's a lot of main characters to keep track of.

Timelines eventually converge but it took a long time to figure out how on earth Edith and Dominic's points of view would come together. I can understand that Dominic was needed to show how the soldiers were trying to protect the artwork the Monuments Men were recovering. That was, honestly, why I wanted to read the book. I find that part of history both intriguing and heartbreaking. How could so many pieces of art be whisked across Europe? Hidden and stowed away? Stolen from their rightful owners? How many pieces still haven't made their way back to their home country? I don't know if I was just done with the story by the time the recovery was really taking place or I wanted to Edith to have more agency in the resistance efforts, but I couldn't quite find the emotions I think Morelli wants the readers to have. 

What I did appreciate was the depiction of everyday Germans and how it would have been so difficult to stand up to the war and what Hitler was doing. It's also a kind of sobering reflection of what's happening in the world today. Sometimes you have to wonder if generations from now will look back, like we do regarding the Holocaust, and wonder...why didn't anyone stop it? I think we forget sometimes that there were a lot of people who didn't believe in the war but were powerless to do anything about it.

It seems like, so far, I'm in the minority when it comes to The Night Portrait. Laura Morelli's latest novel is getting high praise from many folks. It's not a winner for me but I'm glad others found it interesting.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Gown

I knew about Jennifer Robson's books well before I ever picked one up to read. I had purchased them for other people but, for some bizarre reason, never got around to reading them myself. That changed last year when I heard her speak at a local library event and I bought, and had signed, Goodnight from London. I read it immediately and fell in love. I paid close attention from then on because she had mentioned that night about her next book, which was going to be about women who worked on Queen Elizabeth's wedding dress. Perfect timing since I, and everyone else, was binge-watching The Crown and waiting for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding. This novel though? The Gown is about so much more than a wedding dress worn by a future monarch. And it's incredible - one of my top reads from 2018.

Here's the (really long) synopsis:

From the internationally bestselling author of Somewhere in France comes an enthralling historical novel about one of the most famous wedding dresses of the twentieth century—Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown—and the fascinating women who made it.
“Millions will welcome this joyous event as a flash of color on the long road we have to travel.”—Sir Winston Churchill on the news of Princess Elizabeth’s forthcoming wedding
London, 1947: Besieged by the harshest winter in living memory, burdened by onerous shortages and rationing, the people of postwar Britain are enduring lives of quiet desperation despite their nation’s recent victory. Among them are Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, embroiderers at the famed Mayfair fashion house of Norman Hartnell. Together they forge an unlikely friendship, but their nascent hopes for a brighter future are tested when they are chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime honor: taking part in the creation of Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown.
Toronto, 2016: More than half a century later, Heather Mackenzie seeks to unravel the mystery of a set of embroidered flowers, a legacy from her late grandmother. How did her beloved Nan, a woman who never spoke of her old life in Britain, come to possess the priceless embroideries that so closely resemble the motifs on the stunning gown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her wedding almost seventy years before? And what was her Nan’s connection to the celebrated textile artist and holocaust survivor Miriam Dassin?
With The Gown, Jennifer Robson takes us inside the workrooms where one of the most famous wedding gowns in history was created. Balancing behind-the-scenes details with a sweeping portrait of a society left reeling by the calamitous costs of victory, she introduces readers to three unforgettable heroines, their points of view alternating and intersecting throughout its pages, whose lives are woven together by the pain of survival, the bonds of friendship, and the redemptive power of love.

Historical fiction can be tricky...I find authors might try to teach me too much and the novel will read like a textbook or they'll toss facts around willy nilly in a way that makes it seem like they haven't done their research or they had a story idea and just decided to plunk it down in the past. Robson though? She is one of my favourite historical fiction writers. She knows what she's talking about (having a doctorate in British economic and social history from the University of Oxford and a father who's a historian) and is a damn good storyteller. She's able to weave together (ha! No pun intended) a story and I really feel like I'm right there with Ann and Miriam. She knows all the little details that would place the story in 1947 but it doesn't feel like she's lecturing at me. The story and setting sucks me in and I love it.

I hadn't realized, when I first started hearing about the novel, that there would be a contemporary component to this story. I liked reading about all three women and looked forward to their stories intertwining, because I knew they had to, one way or another. I don't think the contemporary story was quite as strong as I expected but I still looked forward to each of Heather's chapters.

The three characters Robson created - Ann, Miriam, and Heather - are amazing women and I adored them. They all face hardships (though Heather's are very much "first world problems"but problems nonetheless - and ones I could completely identify with) and are strong enough to work through them. They can see a solution and will do whatever it takes to get through the tough times. The revelation about Ann just about broke my heart but I was also in awe of how she managed to make the most of the situation. I just wish connections had been kept, though I could understand why she wouldn't want to (vague enough for you?). The friendship between Ann and Miriam is something to be envied and I loved reading it.

The actual plot - Miriam and Ann are embroidering the dress Elizabeth will wear when she marries Philip and, in present-ish day, Heather searching for answers about her grandmother and herself - is also so interesting. You may think that things would get complicated, given the many threads (again...no pun intended) Robson has to bring together but she's a talented writer and everything flows smoothly.

The Gown is a historical novel that perfectly brings together a specific moment in time with characters who stand out as much as - if not more than - the dress they're embroidering for a future Queen. Jennifer Robson has written one of my favourite books of 2018 and one I've been recommending to everyone and their sisters (I'm also not the only one as it's been on the bestseller lists for multiple publications over the last few weeks!). Even if you think one part of this novel isn't for you, read it anyway because you're going to fall in love.

*I received an ARC of this novel at an event I paid to attend last fall, which was hosted by HarperCollins Canada. There was no expectation for a review but I loved the book so much I needed to tell you all about it.*

Review: A Mad, Wicked Folly

I saw A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller making the YA book  blogger rounds back when it was released in January and I was intrigued. I asked my blogger and library friend, Natalie, to put in a request for me at the library and they ordered it! Yay! I'm really glad I got to read this book. I found it to be so different than any YA book I had read before. That might not be true for everyone but, as a fairly newbie YA reader, I hadn't read a historical YA book with this much depth and with such a gripping story before.

Here's the synopsis:

Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist—a nearly impossible dream for a girl.       
After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse—or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?

I didn't realize how much of the story would follow the suffragette movement. That was more than fine by me (I really don't know enough of that history) but I wish the synopsis had mentioned it just a little more. For the most part, the book was about Victoria trying to escape the golden cage that is her life. Eventually that leads her into the suffragette world and she learns how important the movement is.

There is a romance in this book, which isn't surprising, and I loved it. Vicky is the daughter of a wealthy family and there are certain expectations that comes with that life. One of those expectations is marrying well. Her family sets her up with a boy who doesn't seem to be horrible so she thinks the whole arranged marriage thing might be ok. Enter PC Will Fletcher. He's the copper she meets while unintentionally getting involved in a rally. He's also a gorgeous boy that she can't wait to draw. I couldn't see how things would work out for the two of them so I was on the edge of my seat until the end!

While I loved reading this book, I feel like it paints a bit of a rosier picture of what things would have been like during the Edwardian time for women like Victoria and the suffragettes. I know novels tend to do that a lot so perhaps I'm being too critical.

One of the great things about this novel was that Vicky was an art lover and an artist. There aren't many YA characters, especially historical characters, who are artists and it was really interesting to read about what it could have been like for a young woman who wanted to be an artist. Basically, it's a battle. Women weren't meant to be educated and I couldn't imagine not being able to go to school to do what I love (not that that's painting but you know what I mean!). I was intrigued by the paintings that were mentioned and I liked that the book made me look up and learn about the art and artists that showed up in the book.

A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller was a really enjoyable read and I think those who read it (and I think many should) will need to be aware that, while this novel is rooted in fact, it's just a novel. Do more reading on the suffragette movement to get the real story. Basically, if the synopsis grabs you in any way, read it. I think you'll like it!