The Art Forger

By: B. A. Shapiro

Narrated by: Xe Sands

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

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)

The Art Forger

On March 18, 1990, two thieves broke into the The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and stole thirteen work of art, including five works by Edgar Degas - four drawings and a painting. This book imagines the trajectory of the painting, described as one in Degas' Bathers series. [The painting taken from the Gardner was not in the Bathers series.]

Claire Roth is a professional art forger, and works for the fictional reproductions. Her specialty is Degas, although she can copy other masters and genres. Claire is an artist in her own right, but she has been a pariah in the art community for three years. The reason she has been cast out is a key part of the story.

Claire is aproached by art gallery owner Adrien Markel to make a reproduction of the stolen Degas painting, and Markel promises her a one woman show in exchange.

Edward Degas, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and Gardner's great grand niece are key players.

I would listen to the narrator of this book, X.E. Sands, read a grocery list. She is just that good, and she was an ideal choice to narrate this book.

I found that the plot, although definitely a tangled web, was predictable in the last third or so. I would have liked to have known more about Gardner herself, and I hope B.A. Shapiro writes more about her, either fiction or non-fiction.

This is B.A. Shapiro's first novel. It's made several best seller lists, and is an Indie Book Dealer Best of 2012. I learned more about oil painting than I ever expected to know - or even thought I'd be interested in. The book isn't teachy, but I learned a lot.

[If you found this review helpful, please let me know by pressing the 'helpful ' button.]

A Five Star Art/Crime Story!

This is a truly GOOD story. It meshed the intricate details of art, art history, crime and criminal history in a magnificently interesting manner. It reads as a plausible, ego-driven series of events in the familiar city of Boston. There was nothing I didn't like about this book, although I can understand why some complain about the narrator. Her ability to inflect male voices is somewhat poor. Nevertheless, I had no complaints and throughly enjoyed the narration and the story; which by the way, had a plausible ending as well. Very satisfying listen!

Average Story Killed by Narrator

I confess, I did not not like this book. I wanted to like it but never got there. This has a lot to do with the awful narration. Every male character sounds like an airline pilot on sleeping pills. The victim, rather, central character seems a wreck of a person who I just couldn't find any empathy for.

The story had potential but the past and present stories only fit together by a thread of irony. The "three years ago" stuff really wasn't a good vehicle to support or move the plot---it was ironic but not necessary. Think about it.

Stripping out the whole Issac thing would have cut this down to a decent read.

No, I barely could stay interested and was sorry at the end that our hero wasn't hauled off to prison for making me endure this story.

I wouldn't recommend it. But you might like it. It ain't literature folks. Taste in stories vary. You may like it. Many do.

An Interwoven mystery

What did you love best about The Art Forger?

The various dimensions of the story and the many pieces of the puzzle from different time periods.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Art Forger?

The resolution to the puzzle and the surprise of the relationship twister in the end.

What does Xe Sands bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She has a great command of the various languages and characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, but it held my attention and kept me wanting more in the end.

Well crafted mystery with great narration

I really enjoyed this work of fiction based on the famous robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The plot twist and turns were fun, the main character was compelling and I learned a lot about the science behind art forgery. I look forward to listening to more works both by the author and by the narrator.

Unexpected

I enjoyed the story overall. The love of art is very apparent. It was almost too much in the first 17 chapters with all the ohhh and aww over the painting. And went a bit too technical for those who do not have the same understanding for art as the main character. However I found myself relating to Claire, she just wanted to be accepted and important in a world that wrote her off. That I got. I liked the ending, I thought she was going down. I wish there was more on the aunt, her feelings although detailed brief were a lot more transparent than Claire's were. Overall a worth the time read.

Not Nasal, but breathy...still kind of annoying

I didn't agree from the sample that I heard that the reader was "nasal" but eventually I did decide that she was irritatingly breathy in her speech. Still, overall it was not a bad experience. The story was interesting enough although I found the conclusion a little rushed and anticlimactic. I would consider it very light listening.

Narrator takes a little getting used to

What three words best describe Xe Sands’s voice?

In the end, I enjoyed this narrator, but the breathy overly sexual interpretation of the men's voices, I found off-putting. Either I got used to it or it was less obvious a few chapters in and I enjoyed the narrator.

Perhaps with a different narrator

I liked the story but think perhaps I should've tried it as a hardcopy. The narrators voice seemed like she was always on the verge of crying-always so quavery. By the end it really grated on me.
I'm not sure if it was the narrator or the actual text that made me feel like the main character was a bit weak.

Xe Sands reading of B.A.Shapiro's The Art Forger is really engaging!

The book is interesting and the narrator does a wonderful job of separating the different characters with different voices and inflections. She really made the story enjoyable!