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The Art Forger

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The Art Forger

By: B. A. Shapiro
Narrated by: Xe Sands
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About this listen

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 there's 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 Claire's 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 19th century may be the only evidence that can now save her life.

©2012 Barbara Shapiro (P)2012 HighBridge Company Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Museum Robbery

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Critic reviews

"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)
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I really didn’t like the narration, but the theme of the Gardener heist and the Boston references made it worth persevering.

Fun Boston references

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I decided to persevere with this book despite the irritating reader, and I’m glad I did as the story was good and it got quite gripping towards the end. The reading of male characters was samey and off-puttingly bad. The voicing of female characters was also grating. If you can get beyond this, though, it’s a decent novel with some interesting twists.

Good story, irritating performance

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I loved this. The story is great with several twists and the insight into the copying of works of art is fascinating. Despite a complex plot the skilled writing and narration made it easy to follow.

The writer must have done much research and it prompted me to look up the artists, the paintings, the museums and the massive art theft that form part of the story.

The narration was excellent.

I have already purchased a further two titles by the author. Amazingly I found this by accident when searching for titles by another Shapiro. A lucky search!

A great book

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I enjoyed the story, but the narration grated. I did get used to the voice eventually and it would not put me off hearing another story by this author.

Enjoyed very much

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I enjoyed the narration and the precision of her research on art forging really showed. And yes she's researched Degas thoroughly and Belle Gardner. And it's a clever story with lots of twists and turns. My only gripe is that as an artist myself her description of making paintings completely failed to convince me - as it's notable by its absence. No development process, no accidents, no surprises, no struggle, no evolution. Nothing about her creative process felt real. She could've been making cupcakes. But still it's a great story.

A fun fantasy laced with reality

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I don’t think the author does this deliberately but there are some racist passages for example “buff and and black Emma”. That is not appropriate. Also, by the end of the book I really couldn’t care what happened to Claire. The audience was already lost by then. Claire was hard to like or sympathise with.
The narrator over does it at times but overall the story is engaging and different.

Interesting but unrealistic and racist in parts

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