The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay Published by Harper Muse on June 10, 2025
Genres: 20th Century, Fiction / Historical / General
Format: eBook
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Set in the art world of 1970s London, The English Masterpiece is a fast-paced read to the end, full of glamour and secrets, tensions and lies, as one young woman races against the clock to uncover the truth about a Picasso masterpiece. Perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Ariel Lawhon.
As the recently promoted assistant to the Tate’s Modern Collections keeper Diana Gilden, Lily helps plan a world-class Picasso exhibit to honor the passing of the great artist—and she’s waited her whole life for this moment. The opening is beyond anyone’s expectations—the lighting, the champagne, the glittering crowd, and the international acclaim—until Lily does the unthinkable. She stops in front of a masterpiece and hears her own voice say, “It’s a forgery.” The gallery falls silent.
Lily’s boss, Diana, is polished perfection, schooled in art, and descends from European high society. She’s worked hard to become the trusted voice in London’s modern art scene and respected across the Continent. The Tate’s Picasso Commemorative is to be her crowning achievement, featuring not only the artist’s most iconic and intimate works, but a newly discovered painting—one she advised an investor to purchase. But when Lily makes her outrageous declaration, suspicion and scandal threaten everything Diana has achieved, as museums and collectors across Europe, already doubting most post-war acquisitions, fall into chaos and rumors of a world-wide forgery run wild.
All Lily has ever wanted is to follow in Diana’s footsteps and take the art world by storm in her own right. Yet one comment puts not only her own career at risk but also her mentor’s. Unless . . . Was she right? With the clock ticking and the clues starting to pile up against her, Lily must uncover the truth behind the Picasso before she loses not only the career she’s always wanted, but her freedom.
Block off your calendar and lose yourself in The English Masterpiece, a thrilling read that will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end from the author who brought you The London House and The Berlin Letters.
The February (yes I read it in February don’t judge the scheduling) book for the Christian Fiction Reading Challenge is something different from January. The English Masterpiece is art history, the merge of time after the World Wars, and the start of women finding their way into corporate leadership, and all that is London. More mystery and intrigue with just a light nod to the potential for romance it’s right up my alley. I managed to finish it over 4 nights with a couple staying up entirely too late because I needed to see how it ended. It wasn’t what I expected but it was exactly as it should be. Though I have questions, lots of questions.
Full transparency I had a difficult time getting into the book. The first few chapters didn’t really capture me. I heard a few too many times how meek Lily was, how glamorous Diana was, and how rare it was for two women to have such position in that time. Then boom chapter 12 and I was all in. I struggle still with understanding Diana. The metamorphosis she went through to become Diana seemed like a whirlwind of words that didn’t give me the picture. I sometimes found myself getting bogged down in the character development that, while provided understanding of the hows and whys, didn’t always progress the bigger picture, I feel that those moments could have been less words with more depth. I found myself more inferring than understanding motivations.
Overall I really did enjoy the book. The back and forth viewpoint of Lily and Diana. The way the art theft played out, not so much in figuring out the who but more the proof and they why, was a bit refreshing as most mysteries are about the who. While at times it dragged as we got just enough information to not understand the purpose if you hold onto all the threads there’s a lot of good to unpack. Everything from the art theft, the Nazi angles (as that was totally a thing at that time still), finding that rumors are sometimes just that and if you dig deeper you find a truth no one saw coming. I wish for just a bit more depth and less words without meaning. Overall though, I’d totally read it again.
About Katherine Reay
Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of twelve novels and one non-fiction work. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Northwestern University, her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Redbook, USA TODAY, The Daily Beast, Criminal Element, and many more. She holds a master’s in marketing from Northwestern University as well. Katherine is also a co-founder and host of the What the Dickens Book Club on Facebook and The 10 Minute Book Talk on Instagram. She is a mother of three and lives in Montana with her husband and their dogs. Her latest novel, THE ENGLISH MASTERPIECE will release on June 10, 2025, and centers upon a young woman framed for forging a Picasso found in London’s Tate Gallery in 1973.
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