So vivid and interesting.... I found myself devouring this book. ( )

I probably should have liked this more but got distracted which isn't a good thing to do when reading a somewhat complicated plot. This is the story of an art critic who loves a painting by Van Gogh more than his own family; the story of a rebellious young woman attempting to be an artist, and the story of an art dealer who may or may not be selling forgeries of Van Gogh.

Set in early Nazi German, the story does tell the creeping control the Nazi had and the various ways people had to deal with that. The most likeable character in the book is an attorney who represents the art dealer who has a brother who it seems made many of the forgeries. Really should have liked this better, but it is more on my end than that of the author. Gee, after reading some of the other reviews, maybe it wasn't me after all. Do agree that I did like the setting and the idea of the plot. ( )

I feel like this book could and should have been much more intriguing than it is, given the subject matter, which is counterfeit Van Gogh paintings, set against a backdrop of 1920s Berlin and the onset of the Third Reich. The novel should be riveting, but it's only somewhat interesting. Its major problem is that the author does not follow the story of each character portrayed through the end of the tale. The novel is divided into 3 parts, focusing on the lives of 3 characters who somewhat collide with each other, more or less. Julius' story is the first, and his storyline is quite intriguing. He is dealing with a divorce from a conniving wife, the loss of his son, as well as a pricey Van Gogh painting, and takes under his wing a mysterious protégé art dealer. Just when his story is getting good, we are chopped off from it, and thrown into the next character, Emmeline's, without ever returning to Julius and seeing the resolution to his story. The same with Emmeline when we switch once again. This changing perspective was not conducive to keep the reader's interest, and by the third section, following a man we have never met before and who has a completely different storyline, I was just waiting for the book to end. ( )

‘’You think knowing you can never change that the rottenness is too deep - rooted in you, that it’s part of who you are, you think that makes anything better, that it stops the guilt, the shame?’’

Beautiful quote, isn’t it? Three troubled lovers of Art. A confused middle-aged art expert tries to confront his marital issues and his lust for beautiful creations. An art dealer with dangerous secrets, a young woman who tries to follow her dreams. Winter in Berlin during the 1930s. Van Gogh and the wealth of German philosophers in a glamorous and gloomy background. It is a true wonder how short this book fell when the ingredients could not have been better…

What I am about to write is strictly my personal opinion. Chances are that many will read the book and enjoy it. I couldn’t. The setting was ideal, the scenery was beautiful. However, I found the prose to be average and the dialogue inadequate, almost amateurish. The swearing was horrible, exaggerated and utterly inappropriate for the era and the plot. In addition, the complications of the sexual preferences of the characters were irrelevant to the main story and, in my opinion, boring and tasteless. I am not reading a novel to find out who slept with whom. I am not the least bit interested in such themes. I wanted to read this book to absorb the atmosphere of the era, of Berlin and to experience a supposedly good story. Leave all the rest for a mass-marketed, trashy romance…

The endless, unnecessary dialogue that leads nowhere and bears no resemblance to the way Germans speak does not compliment this book. The interactions felt heavily modern, clumsy, soulless. The characters were nothing groundbreaking, in my opinion. I found them boring and one-dimensional and I couldn’t bring myself to care for their fate. Emmeline had some potential but the execution was extremely problematic.

It’s a pity, really. You have the beautiful Berlin setting, a turbulent era full of social and political upheaval, the fascinating world of Art and the mysteries that surround the genius that answered to the name Van Gogh and you manage to produce a snooze-fest - by my standards, at least- full of naive dialogue, boring characters and implausible plot lines. Historical Fiction is a tricky genre, it will expose every weakness of a writer. When you have read Erpenbeck’s Visitation, a masterful elegy to Berlin and its turbulent history, you can only be disappointed (and in certain parts, disgusted…) Naturally, to compare Erpenbeck and this writer here is like comparing Shakespeare to a romance writer...In my opinion, this is one of the worst books of the year.

*It's about time to quit using the old ''based on a true story'' line. It doesn't really work anymore...*

Many thanks to Virago and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com ( )

The 1920s are tough in post-war Germany, but the show must go on and the art market flourishes despite all economic struggles. Yet, where money can be made, fraudsters aren‘t far away. Julius is a Berlin based art dealer and specialist in van Gogh; Rachmann is a young Düsseldorf art expert who is hoping to make a career in the business, too; Emmeline is a talented artist and rebel. Since the art world is a small one, their paths necessarily cross and one of the biggest frauds in art links them.

I have been a lover of novels set in the 1920s and 1930s in Berlin since this was a most inspiring and interesting time of the town. Not just big politics after the loss in the first word war and then the rise of the Nazi party, but also the culture and entertainment industries were strong and the whole world looked at the German capital. Quite logically, Clare Clark‘s novel caught my interest immediately. However, I am a bit disappointed because the book couldn‘t live up to the high expectations.

I appreciate the idea of narrating the scandal from three different perspectives and points in time. The downside of this, however, was that the three parts never really merge into one novel but somehow remain standing next to each other linked only loosely. At the beginning, I really enjoyed the discussions about art and van Gogh‘s work, but this was given up too quickly and replaced with the characters‘ lamentations and their private problems which weren‘t that interesting at all and made reading the novel quite lengthy. ( )