- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins (7 April 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 000651460X
- ISBN-13: 978-0006514602
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 259,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
‘Thrilling resonance between past and present, painting and people’ Tony Parsons
‘Exciting, grips the reader’ Evening Press
‘The excitement of a piece of lost art…on every level this is a tantalising idea… What a perfect fiction then to imagine some such masterpiece miraculously found again. Or even better still: to come across something that was always there but that had been covered up later by more crass hands. Science, detective work and art all working together. THE PAINTER by Will Davenport is that kind of story.' Sarah Dunant
Praise for Silence and Shadows:
'In Silence and Shadows, James Long has invented a brand new genre … the archaeological thriller'
Tony Parsons
'one of the most unexpected and evocative thrillers in years'
Daily Mail
Product Description
Beautifully evocative and suspensful double time-scheme narrative about Rembrandt, love and art.
In January, 1662, the artist Rembrandt, bankrupted in the great tulip crash, accidentally stows away on a boat for Hull.
To pay for his passage, he must paint the Captain’s portrait. For himself, he paints a portrait of the Captain’s beautiful wife. Rembrandt has seduced many a sitter before, and sets about doing so again. But he has a rival – none other than the MP for Hull after the Civil War, the poet Andrew Marvell! And the Captain’s wife is far from being a passive player in this triangular game of love, deceit and manipulation.
All this is discovered in the present day by another painter, Amy, who has returned to her old family home as a restorer. As she paints a portrait of the man she is becoming involved with, so she uncovers the secrets of the past.
This fine novel will appeal to fans of Girl with a Pearl Earring and Tulip Fever.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'd been waiting for this novel for a while and then, once I had it, I waited for a good time to read it relatively undisturbed, and this happened yesterday on a long train journey to London and back.
It was worth the wait.
A combination of historical drama, thriller and even something to attract the 'chick lit' fans, this book seems to have it all.
The author has conducted thorough and impressive research; none of the seventeenth century fiction sounds implausible and wherever possible it is merged seamlessly with reality. The detail is intriguing (I loved the trips to seek out the artist's materials, which could so easily, in a lesser novel, have been skimmed over).
Amy, the 21st century artist is compellingly likeable, sexual and interesting and the cast of supporting characters fit well around her. The portrait (in words) of Rembrandt is so real that you feel you know him. I am prompted to look again at his work.
I wanted to see a bit more of Marvell.. he is a little bit sidelined in the story, but then the novel is called 'The Painter' and not 'The Poet', so that is fair!
Will Davenport is clearly adept at placing real, living, breathing characters in a shifting, landscape and timeline. Times, costumes, customs and buildings change... people are people whenever they happen to be born.
A highly recommended read.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One wants this story to be true as the characters come to life!
Easy read but excellently told:
switching between Rembrandt's era and modern day Britain made me impatient and crave to read on.
The complexity of various story lines and main characters distinguishes this book from a shallow romance, as does the well researched artistic and historical background plot.
Overall a most enjoyable, though speculative, read with a breathtaking and sore ending.
Easy read but excellently told:
switching between Rembrandt's era and modern day Britain made me impatient and crave to read on.
The complexity of various story lines and main characters distinguishes this book from a shallow romance, as does the well researched artistic and historical background plot.
Overall a most enjoyable, though speculative, read with a breathtaking and sore ending.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the best book I've read in years. It's impossible to put down but at the same time it works on so many other levels. Will Davenport has got Rembrandt just right. You look at his self- portraits afterwards and you just know.I agree with the review above that this is also a supremely erotic book in the best way possible, by subtlety. He's clearly done his research but it never gets in the way of the plot, and what a plot. I could smell the air in that house. I liked 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' but it seems a very small book compared to this. It's everything, exciting, sensuous, informative, literary. I understand Davenport has written other books under the 'James Long' name. I'm going to order 'Ferney' right now.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Cannot put it down!!
At the time of writing this review, I am still reading this book and I cannot put it down. It is a romping good read with a great story, mixing historical fiction with a... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Guns&RosesStillRuleOK
A masterpiece
I won't write detail of the plot and sub-plots, as others have done so (including a careless lady who reveals "Whodunnit" in her review). Read more
Published 24 months ago by Keith Lawson
Such a nice pleasure
The novel has two different stories, in two different times, that are more or less intertwined as usual, there is nothing new in that kind of plot, we have seen it before and... Read more
Published on 14 Feb 2010 by AGDA
When it's good it's great - when it's bad it's terrbile
This is a brave attempt to mix historical fiction with a modern who-done-it. I am sorry that the author didn't just stick with the history which is brilliantly written. Read more
Published on 16 Jun 2008 by Hayles
very good and very bad
There are two stories merged together here: the historical fiction and the rather strange modern would-be thriller. Read more
Published on 29 Feb 2008 by Rianna Deer
Interesting but ultimately improbable
I guess I would have given this 3.5 stars if that were possible: it's better than a 3* but doesn't really make it to a 4*. Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2007 by Roman Clodia
The Painter
Just a good read.... a book you will not wish to put down once you start reading it.
Published on 26 Feb 2005
Historical Fiction?
I love my historical fiction, I'm the sort of person who doesn't care if the factual accuracy of a book is a bit dodgy, I am all for the story. Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2004 by Lisa Henshaw
A great holiday read!
I enjoyed this book and am happy to recommend it - a really gripping tale with a twist at the end.
The way in which the past is mixed with the modern story works really well... Read more
The way in which the past is mixed with the modern story works really well... Read more
Published on 18 July 2003 by S. Green
A Gripping read
Knowing that my father in law (a retired English teacher) loves clever plots and well constructed characters, I love to find a good read that I can recommend to him before he comes... Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2003 by Mrs. C. E. Bayley
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