The Art Forger

Genre: Fiction

This is the story of Claire Roth, a professional artist who copies artwork for a living and is recruited by Aidan Markel to help him execute an art scam. Aidan, an art dealer, with ties all over the world, asks Claire to help him with his plan. Claire has a history of creating and copying famous artwork, getting involved with men who don’t appreciate her talents and selling herself short. But, not this time. Claire is determined to do the right thing. All goes according to plan until it doesn’t. This is not a story of suspense and adventure, but what happens when ego and self-adulation get in the way of a scheme.

I love that from national headline news in the 90’s where famous art pieces really were stolen from the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum in Boston and have yet to be returned, Shapiro comes up with this clever story line about what could have happened to some of the famous artworks. But, this book wasn’t successful as it’s missing good character development. Without characters that have dimension, depth and weight, the story feels like a cloud floating away. I really wanted to care what happened to Claire and her troubles and her experiences, but I was neutral throughout and not just with Claire but with every character in this story. I wish I could say what it is about Claire (and the cast of characters in this story) that doesn’t resonate as authentic because Shapiro really does have a backstory for her that connects perfectly to her current situation. Maybe it’s because of Claire’s decisions to keep secrets that don’t really make sense, I’m not sure. I just know that the story wasn’t captivating and, ultimately, I wasn’t sad when the book ended.