I chose this book because its subject matter piqued my interest: Who rightly owns a painting of questionable provenance that may have been confiscated by the Nazis? Unfortunately, despite its focus on art, the book itself is artless.Mara Coyne, a New York lawyer, is hired by an art auction house to prove that it is the legitimate owner of a Dutch painting titled The Chrysalis and that it is not the property of Hilda Baum who claims that the Nazis stole it from her father, a Dutch art collector. Helping her with the case is Michael Roarke, the in-house attorney for the auction house, and Lillian Joyce, its provenance department chief. Besides describing the legal case and Mara’s budding romantic relationship with Michael, the book includes flashbacks to The Netherlands in the 1600s and the 1940s. The pacing is uneven. The first half of the book is very slow; it details Mara’s legal research in preparation for court. The second half is very fast-paced. Mara makes a quick trip to London to get a piece of information that surely she could have been given over the phone or via email. Events happen in a short space of time. Is it likely that a person would make a quick decision to make someone a beneficiary after only a short acquaintance and for that same person to discover, in a matter of days, a “distant ancestral relationship” to a person who lived over 350 years earlier? The first part of the book reads like a romance and the second part reads like a thriller in the style of The Da Vinci Code, albeit a poor imitation of the latter.There are so many illogical events that aggravate. Mara had had “long conversations” with a fellow student in an art class but she had never learned his name? Michael, a lawyer for an art auction house, has to be told that a relationship between client and attorney is inappropriate and has to be explained “the landscape of replevin law”? Lillian, the provenance chief for the auction house, is reluctant to give Mara her “full assistance” despite the fact that her employer needs her co-operation in a case dependent on a clean provenance? Lillian can claim a seventeenth-century artist made “masterful renderings of his subjects’ features” when she has no evidence of what those subjects looked like? Lillian has access to “still-classified World War II documents” relating to art: how would she come to have such documents in her possession and why would documents relating to Nazi looting of art be so secretive and then why would one of those documents be “dog-eared” if it has not been available for anyone to read? A map in a museum’s public guidebook would include areas designated for storage? Is it likely that a person of “eighty-odd years” would still be working, especially since she is independently wealthy? A person who “would not let [Mara] leave his sight or his touch” minutes before let her escape his grasp and she did nothing to escape? Mara has a plan to escape her captor that requires him to get an unexpected call on his cellphone? Is she prescient? This brings to the forefront another problem with the novel: characterization. The author takes great pains to portray Mara as intelligent yet her handling of the cross-examination of Hilda Baum is inept at best. She wants to become a partner in her law firm but she risks it all to have an inappropriate sexual liaison? Mara has an opportunity to escape when her captor accosts her in a café, but instead of asking the assistance of a waitress, she accepts coffee “with gracious thanks”? Even when “threatened and afraid, Mara was moved by the soaring ceiling and weightless cupola” of a museum? And Mara is not the only problem. Her supposed best friend Sophia behaves in no way like a true friend would and her motivation is incomprehensible since Mara’s decisions would not impact Sophia’s ability to become a partner in the law firm.It is unfortunate that the author was unable to write an interesting book given the possibilities of the topic of Nazi confiscated art.
The Dutch connection, of course, was the first thing that prompted my interest in this book. I've had it awhile and just had not gotten around to reading it. I was, at first very disappointed in the slow and rather boring start to the book -- too much slogging through art history and legal provenance issues -- that I almost put it down. I'm glad I didn't, although it took getting through half the book for me to become engaged. It still wasn't the best book I've ever read, but, in the end, worth reading. The plot held and I finally cared for the protagonist and the ethical dilemma she faced. There is a next in the series. We'll see what I do...
What do You think about The Chrysalis (2007)?
I'm sometimes pleased to read a novel that is historical in nature as a way to introduce me to a topic. One of the main topics of this story is the Nazis looting of Jewish art collections during World War II and the attempts by surviving family members to get those collections back from museums, art galleries and auction houses. It's a fascinating glimpse into the art world. It even delves into the history of a particular painting. So now I guess I'll be looking for more stories on this topic and perhaps delve into the true history of this topic.
—Nancy
When Mara Coyne is hired by a prestigious auction house to defend the legal ownership of a 17th-century painting of the Virgin Mary from the claims of a Holocaust survivor, she uncovers a web of deceit that has far-reaching results. Complicating the issue is the fact that she begins an affair with the auction house's main attorney--a man from her past. Wonderful details of the art world and the history of painting and religion, but the story line lacks the gripping suspense of a seasoned author. Recommended.
—Evelyn
This one has a lot of buzz going for it. Fortunately, the buzz doesn't entirely rely on the Da Vinci-Codeness of the book. While it has the same art-as-clue premise, the action takes place in 1600s Holland, Nazi Germany, and the present day. The search for the provenance of The Chrysalis, a painting, has fun twists and turns. The historical viewpoint of 1600s Holland and the difficulties of being a Catholic at that time is nicely presented as is the Nazi lust for artwork and its consequences.A tidy little piece and pretty darn good for a first-time author. Worthy of all the buzz and advertising? meh...it'll do.It's a great read for young adults and for those adults who want a beach read or something beyond Da Vinci. And that isn't a bad thing at all. It is accessible to the average Joe or Jill and that can only be a good thing if you're encouraging reading. It is also a nice little romp for those more accustomed to heavier fare.Publisher's Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist find it to be perfectly suited to public library collections and I agree. The June 2007 Romantic Times gave it 4.5 stars - their highest rating. If you're looking for a bit of fun, I say read it.
—Anne
