Book 13: The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith

Format:  Kindle
Date Started:  March 13, 2019
Date Finished:  March 19, 2019

I thought this book had flashes of brilliance, but on the whole, it was mostly just okay.

I loved the way that the author wove in bits of Dutch history without a lot of overly pedantic explanation.  Unless a person's studied art history, the average person might not have a frame of reference for Tulip-mania or the extremely intricate guild system which essentially governed painting.  I also really liked learning about how paintings can be restored/forged and authenticated.  The science is fascinating to me as is the reason why someone might want to copy a painting.

What I didn't like - and ultimately what spoiled the book for me - was the lack of depth of the characters, and I think it happened because the author kept shifting narrators.  Sara de Vos job was to experience tragedy and paint.  Sad.  Ellie Shipley's job is to not ask any questions of anybody and make extremely poor choices.  And, the purpose of Richard Whatever-His-Name-Is seemed only to be the bad guy.