The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro
A book review by Gwen Putnam-Bailey
This book was a captivating glimpse into the art world! It is the story of an artist who supports herself by creating reproductions of famous works and is an authentic artist in her own right. She is approached by a powerful art gallery owner who wants to commission her to replicate a famous piece by Degas that was stolen in the legendary art heist at the Isabella Stewart Art Museum.
Claire Roth, the artist and main character in the novel, wrestles with doubts about the gallery owner's motives, the authenticity of the piece brought to her, and her own integrity now and in the past....
The book fascinates by taking the reader into Claire's world, how she paints and her innermost thoughts on how to solve the mystery of the Degas painting. It is suspenseful, full of unique characters and will be sure to interest those who love the city of Boston!
Seacoast Area Library book groups will coordinate reading The Art Forger as a refresher of the events surrounding the Gardner Museum heist in advance of our author event in April (see column, left) The Rye Public Library Book Discussion Group will read the Shapiro title and discuss it on Tuesday April 21 at 2 and 7pm.
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Slothed Horizons
By Margaret HutchinsOne of the joys of working in the Youth Department is getting to know a child who just can't get enough of a certain interest. We have a boy who loves flags and another who loves construction vehicles. You get the idea. It's a thrill to find just the right book , or when we get a new book order in to think "Oh, I know just the child that will love this one!" We recently added many new non-fiction books and picture books to our collection. It's worth a visit! I will tell you about a few of my favorites:
I happen to love sloths! They are just so unusual, and baby sloths in particular are adorable! One of our newest non-fiction books is
Sloths by Mari C. Schuh. It is part of the My First Animal Library series. This is a photo-illustrated book for early readers. It describes a lazy day in the life of a sloth in the rain forest.
Baby Sloths by Kari Schuetz is another new book in our non-fiction collection. Learn about sloth pups in the tropical forest--they are fascinating!
It's also fun to add a story from our picture book collection to go along with a non -fiction book. Snoozefest at the Nuzzledome by Samantha Berger is a charming story about Snuggleford Cuddlebun, who attends the annual Snoozefest, where she listens to bands and, mostly, sleeps. This is a sweet book for sleepyheads and sloth lovers!
Stop in for a visit. You're sure to find something fun!
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