The Collector’s Apprentice

A Novel

By: B. A. Shapiro

Narrated by: Xe Sands

It's the summer of 1922, and 19-year-old Paulien Mertens finds herself in Paris - broke, disowned, and completely alone. Everyone in Belgium, including her own family, believes she stole millions in a sophisticated con game perpetrated by her then-fiance, George Everard. To protect herself from the law and the wrath of those who lost everything, she creates a new identity, a Frenchwoman named Vivienne Gregsby, and sets out to recover her father's art collection, prove her innocence - and exact revenge on George.

When the eccentric and wealthy American art collector Edwin Bradley, who is based on real-life museum founder Albert Barnes, offers Vivienne the perfect job, she is soon caught up in the Parisian world of post-Impressionists and expatriates - including Gertrude Stein and Henri Matisse, with whom Vivienne becomes romantically entwined. As she travels between Paris and Philadelphia, where Bradley is building an art museum, her life becomes even more complicated: George returns with unclear motives...and then Vivienne is arrested for Bradley's murder.

B. A. Shapiro has made the historical art thriller her own. In The Collector's Apprentice, she gives us an unforgettable tale about the lengths to which people will go for their obsession, whether it be art, money, love, or vengeance.

©2018 B. A. Shapiro (P)2018 HighBridge Company

Not as good

Not as good as the other works of the author. The performance is annoying at times .

Good but not good enough

The story was pretty good, but the jumping back and forth in time and characters was confusing and detracted greatly from the enjoyment. i wanted to like it more, but my confusion got in the way.

Audible and the producers must understand that a not small part of their market are people listening in cars while commuting. As one of those, i understand the urge to be dramatic and lower the volume, but much is list when listening in a car. Very disappointing performance.

A Novel par Excellence

A cut above the rest; told with great imagination, this is a must read and must listen.

I liked the story

It was difficult to understand the voice of the main character at times. I had to slow down the speed of speaking to fully understand what was being said

4.09 stars

I've learned much of what I know about art history from fiction novels. This is the second audiobook I've listened to by B.A. Shapiro. Obviously, she is very knowledgeable when it comes to art and art history. The Art Forger is my favorite novel by her, but The Collector's Apprentice is also a good read/listen. XE Sands narrates both novels, and she does a good job in each instance. If you like art and you like fiction, it would be hard not to like this author's work.

Overall rating: 4.09 stars