More Information & Critical Reviews
Dominic Smith is the author of five novels, including The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, a New York Times Bestseller and a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Sold into more than a dozen countries, the novel was also a “Best Book of the Year” selection by Amazon, Kirkus Reviews, Slate and the San Francisco Chronicle. In the US it was long-listed for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence from the American Library Association and in the UK for the Walter Scott Historical Fiction Prize. In Australia, it was chosen as the Fiction Indie Book of the Year by the Association of Independent Booksellers and the Literary Book of the Year as part of the Australian Book Industry Awards.
Dominic’s other novels are The Electric Hotel, Bright and Distant Shores, The Beautiful Miscellaneous, and The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Atlantic Monthly, Texas Monthly, the Chicago Tribune, The Paris Review, The Australian, and The New York Times. Dominic grew up in Sydney, Australia and now lives in Seattle, Washington.
‘Highly evocative of time and place, this stunning novel explores a triumvirate of fate, choice and consequence, and is worthy of comparison to Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch . . . A masterly, multilayered story that will dazzle readers.’ Library Journal
‘Gliding gracefully from grungy 1950s Brooklyn to the lucent interiors of Golden Age Holland and the sun-splashed streets of contemporary Sydney, the novel links the lives of two troubled, enigmatic, and hugely talented young women, one of them an artist, the other, her forger. A page-turning book with much to say about the pain and exhilaration of art and life.’ Geraldine Brooks, author of The Secret Chord
‘The genius of Smith’s book is not just the caper plot but also the interweaving of three alternating timelines and locations to tell a wider, suspenseful story of one painting’s rippling impact on three people over multiple centuries and locations.’ Ian Shapira, Washington Post
‘lustrous…skillful plotting and effortless prose…meticulously documents not only artists’ products but also their tools and labor.’ Chicago Tribune
‘Smith’s latest novel is a rich and detailed story that connects a 17th-century Dutch painting to its 20th-century American owner and the lonely but fervent art student who makes the life-changing decision to forge it. This is a beautiful, patient, and timeless book, one that builds upon centuries and shows how the smallest choices—like the chosen mix for yellow paint—can be the definitive markings of an entire life.’ Kirkus Reviews, starred review
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A classic novel!