by Nina Bawden
First published 1988
The brushstrokes come naturally to him, each reproduction a perfect echo of the masters. But when his sharp-tongued wife walks out, the art forger finds his carefully ordered world cracking apart. Their son battles schizophrenia, a cruel inheritance that weighs on them both. Into this fractured life comes Clio, delicate and vulnerable, with a small boy who needs protection. The forger sees something in this makeshift family that his marriage never offered. He marries Clio and embraces her son as his own, becoming the guardian he always wanted to be. Yet the past refuses to stay buried, and the lies that surround his work begin to mirror the deceptions in his personal life. As he navigates between the world of counterfeit masterpieces and genuine human connection, he must decide what kind of man he truly wants to be.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: deception, found-family
Period: 20th-Century, 21st-Century
208 pages · Paperback · Penguin
Content warnings: mental-illness