Synopses & Reviews
On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art today worth over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that theres more to this crime than meets the eye.
Making a living reproducing famous artworks for a popular online retailer and desperate to improve her situation, Claire is lured into a Faustian bargain with Aiden Markel, a powerful gallery owner. She agrees to forge a painting—a Degas masterpiece stolen from the Gardner Museum—in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But when that very same long-missing Degas painting is delivered to Claires studio, she begins to suspect that it may itself be a forgery.
Her desperate search for the truth leads Claire into a labyrinth of deceit where secrets hidden since the late nineteenth century may be the only evidence that can now save her life.
Review
“A clever, twisty novel about art, authenticity, love, and betrayal. B. A. Shapiro knows about Degas, and she knows about art theft and forgery, and she also knows how to tell a gripping story.”
—Tom Perrotta Tom Perrotta
Review
“Enthralling intrigue. . . . Great for book discussion groups.”
Library Journal Library Journal
Review
“Filled with delightful twists, turns, and ruminations. . . . Shapiros research, well-integrated into a strong premise, captivates.”
Publishers Weekly USAToday.com
Review
“Classy and pleasurably suspenseful. . . . Shapiro artfully turns a clever caper into a provocative meditation on what we value most.”
Booklist Booklist
Review
“Blazingly good. Shapiro drops you where you’ve never been before, into the whole, crackingly alive world of art galleries, art forgeries, and the unexpected recesses of the human heart. . . . As original as a real Degas, it’s also as unforgettable.”
Caroline Leavitt, author of Pictures of You Caroline Leavitt
Review
“
The Art Forger will not only keep you as entertained as any thriller but leave you with a new appreciation of how paintings are made, evaluated, and understoodnot to mention how they’re copied.”
Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
Review
“Addictive.”
Entertainment Weekly Entertainment Weekly
Review
“Rewarding for its skillful balance of brisk plotting, significant emotional depth and a multi-layered narration rich with a sense of moral consequence.”
The Washington Post Boston Globe
Review
"The Art Forger is the real thing."
Review
“If Bridget Joness Diary and The Da Vinci Code had a love child, this would be it.”
—Elle Readers Review AudioFile
Review
“Ingeniously and skillfully plotted.”
—The Huffington Post Redbook
Review
“[A] gripping novel.”
—O, The Oprah Magazine Booklist
Review
“A satisfying, plot-driven novel of revelation. . . . An engaging tale about art, cupidity, and a Faustian bargain. . . . Shapiro convincingly depicts the rarefied art world that lionizes a chosen few and ignores the talented, scrabbling outsiders on the fringe. Shapiro is adept, too, at showing the white-hot heat of an artist engaged in creating a painting. She knows art history, painting techniques, and how forgers have managed through the centuries to dupe buyers into paying for fakes. . . . Inventive and entertaining.”
—Boston Globe
Review
“Engrossing.”
—New York Daily News
Review
“A fabulously suspenseful story of a young woman who is in over her head. Narrator Xe Sands does a wonderful job imbuing Claire with emotion.”
—AudioFile
Review
“The Art Forger is smart, sexy, and spellbinding. With a twisting plot, irresistible characters, and a spunky, memorable heroine . . . this books a recipe for fun.”
—Redbook
Review
“This classy crime novel is most appealing in audio.”
—Booklist
Review
“Professionally and skillfully read by Xe Sands. This work is highly recommended and will be popular with fans of literary fiction and anyone with an interest in the art world.”
—Library Journal [starred review]
The Washington Post
Review
“Addictive.”
Entertainment Weekly O, The Oprah Magazine
Synopsis
Razor-sharp writing and rich plot twists make The Art Forger a rousing literary thriller spanning three centuries of forgers, art thieves, and obsessive collectors.
About the Author
XE SANDS is a published audiobook narrator with more than a decade of experience bringing stories to life through narration and performance. From poignant young adult fiction to powerful first-person narrative, Sands’ characterizations are rich and expressive and her narrations evocative and intimate.