Attribution
Linda Moore
304 pages
She Writes Press
published October 11, 2022
I get bogged down by too much deadline reading and swear I will ease off of them and then I read a book like this that I wouldn’t have found without that deadline reading. A catch 22.
I know a little about art history but nothing about Velazquez or Spanish art. I loved reading about the research into the found painting and was even more intrigued by the suspense and mystery surrounding the main character’s life as she found and then researched it. I wanted to know if the paining was actually a lost work and if so how it ended up hidden away. Was Cate in any danger as she researched, who in her life was true and was Antonio genuine or after the painting? I formed all kinds of theories that I waited to see if I guessed correctly.
The author’s knowledge and research really shown through in this one. I learned some as I rooted for Cate to conquer the art world.
About the book
Art historian Cate Adamson, desperate to succeed to console her grieving parents, leaves the Midwest to complete her doctorate in New York—only to find herself assigned to an impossible sexist advisor. She struggles to impress him until she discovers a hidden painting, possibly a Baroque masterpiece. Risking her career, financial disaster, and further alienation from her family, she flees to Spain with the painting to consult art experts.
Antonio, an impoverished duke, meets Cate on the train to Seville, and joins her search while attempting to rescue the decaying legacy of his family. They find clues and uncover evidence that will shock the titans of art history, may destroy her prospects as an art historian, and shatter her future with Antonio.
Written with vivid prose, rich references to seventeenth century Spanish art, compelling characters and a historical puzzle, Attribution is the story of one contemporary woman’s journey to understand the past and unlock her future.
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