The Bellini Madonna [Paperback]

A complex narrative twists and turns back in time to Baedecker's Italy and Robert Browning's aphrodisiac asparagus. This is a first novel and Lowry has thrown a very considerable talent into it, creating a splendidly quirky art historian … thoroughly enjoyable - Independent.

Sparkling… a treat for lovers of elegant mystery and exquisite prose - The Times.

A mystery story, a love story and a comedy of errors…A compelling debut that entertains and unsettles in equal measure - Guardian.

One of the creepiest narrators since Nabokov's Humbert Humbert … an effectively chilly tale about desire, greed and amorality' Independent On Sunday.

Sparkling…each paragraph glows with wit and the whole book is alight with mischief' Hilary Mantel.

A complex narrative twists and turns back in time to Baedecker's Italy and Robert Browning's aphrodisiac asparagus. This is a first novel and Lowry has thrown a very considerable talent into it, creating a splendidly quirky art historian thoroughly enjoyable - Independent. Sparkling a treat for lovers of elegant mystery and exquisite prose - The Times. A mystery story, a love story and a comedy of errors A compelling debut that entertains and unsettles in equal measure - Guardian. One of the creepiest narrators since Nabokov's Humbert Humbert an effectively chilly tale about desire, greed and amorality' Independent On Sunday. Sparkling each paragraph glows with wit and the whole book is alight with mischief' Hilary Mantel.

Thomas Lynch is a libidinous aesthete and non-achieving art historian in disgrace for his sexual misdemeanors. There seems to be only one means of redemption - the opportunity to prove his life-long theory of the existence of an uncatalogued Madonna by the great Venetian Renaissance master, Giovanni Bellini. Lynch's obsessive search at last brings him to Mawle, a run-down English country house owned by the Roper family in Berkshire. There, Lynch discovers a lost diary by the former owner of the house, James Roper, that puts him on the trail of the picture and immerses him in the lives, past and present, of the Ropers themselves. The Ropers are intent on keeping Lynch prisoner for reasons of their own, and he soon finds himself caught up in a sexual game of cat and mouse. Where can James Roper have hidden the Madonna? And what possible role might Roper's enigmatic great-granddaughter, Anna, have to play in solving the mystery of its whereabouts? In his search for the picture, Lynch - weakened by love and alcohol - has to confront a multitude of paradoxes: of desire and eroticism, art and life, truth and lies.

Thomas Lynch is a libidinous aesthete and non-achieving art historian in disgrace for his sexual misdemeanours. There seems to be only one means of redemption - the opportunity to prove his long-standing theory of the existence of an uncatalogued Madonna by the great Venetian Renaissance master, Giovanni Belllini. Lynch's obsessive search at last brings him to Mawle, a run-down English country house owned by the Roper family. There, Lynch discovers a lost diary by the former owner of the house, James Roper, that puts him on the trail of the picture and immerses him in the lives, past and present, of the Ropers themselves. The Ropers are intent on keeping Lynch prisoner for reasons of their own, and he soon finds himself caught up in a sexual cat-and-mouse game. Where can James Roper have hidden the Madonna? And what possible role might Roper's enigmatic great-granddaughter, Anna, have to play in solving the mystery of its whereabouts? In his search for the picture, Lynch - weakened by love and alcohol - has to confront a multitude of paradoxes: of desire and eroticism, art and life, truth and lies. As the true relationships between the characters across the centuries emerge, it becomes clear that in life, as in art, nothing should be taken at face value. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Thomas Lynch is a libidinous aesthete and non-achieving art historian in disgrace for his sexual misdemeanours. There seems to be only one means of redemption - the opportunity to prove his long-held theory of the existence of an uncatalogued Madonna by the great Venetian Renaissance master, Giovanni Bellini. His obsessive search finally brings him to Mawle, a run-down English country house. There, Lynch finds a lost diary by the former owner of the house, James Roper, that puts him on the trail of the picture and immerses him in the lives, past and present, of the Ropers themselves. Anna, the daughter of the house, has her own reasons for keeping Lynch at Mawle, and soon they become embroiled in a sexual game of cat and mouse. Weakened by love and alcohol, Lynch remains determined to find the painting. Where could it be hidden? And what role could Anna have to play in solving the mystery? Lynch will soon learn that in life, as in art, nothing should be taken at face value.

Elizabeth Lowry lives and works in Oxford. She is a frequent contributor to the London Review of Books.