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There are currently 14 member reviews
for The Original
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Suzi F. (San Diego, CA)
Perfect fall read!
Aatmospheric books that aren't too dark or creepy are hard to find but this one fits the bill. I really enjoyed it! The main character, a woman with face blindness who works as an art forger, was easy to root for. The only thing that irked me a bit was a misunderstanding that could have been cleared up with a simple conversation. Still, the story was entertaining , and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction with classic literature vibes (Moonstone) and an original (ha!) perspective.
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M K. (Minneapolis, MN)
Who are you? Who am I
As I open the first several pages into the main hall of Inderwick, I have a hard time knowing whether Grace, the copyist (whom we might call a forger) is able to perceive the world further than what she sees on a canvas and then paints. Is her cousin Charles, who has been away for thirteen years, really her cousin or a man pretending to be her cousin? As this delightfully well written book proceeds, we explore what is real and what isn't, and ultimately whether they are that different?
P.S. I don't know if you care about these things but there is a typing error on page 285 (the first new paragraph on the page, the word a is wrongly placed before the word paint instead of after it.)
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Kathleen C. (Cockeysville, MD)
A copy is an extension of love
Grace is the unwanted guest in her uncle's stately but deteriorating home where she is treated somewhere between an undesirable family member and a servant. She is overlooked but when noticed is seen as an odd misfit by everyone except one of her cousins. She struggles to recognize and remember faces but has an uncanny ability to copy paintings by intensely studying and memorizing each section of a painting. The story follows Grace through her self-discovery as a copiest, understanding others through her unique viewpoint while carrying the weight of family 'madness', as well as her need to obtain funding if she is to be independent. Throughout this journey she is attempting to solve the mystery of the man who claims to be her cousin after leaving home fifteen years prior. The story is well paced and wonderfully descriptive.
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Catharine L. (Petoskey, MI)
The Original
I rarely give a 5 review, and rarely read books about art. This book had my attention from the first page. Grace is an orphan, brought up in an English manor, completely unaware ignored by her aunt and uncle. She can't remember faces, and so appears unfriendly. Her cousin Charles befriends her and because he paints, she copies his paintings, and discovers she has a talent for it.
Charles disappears and returns years later, but is it really Charles? The characters are complex and not always likable, but so interesting. There are several plot twists so the reader never guesses the ending. I enjoyed Grace's description of the paintings she copied and googled them while reading. I never would have bought this on my own and will recommend it to my reader friends.
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Julie Z.
The Original
A fascinating story about hidden realities- whether an heir to a fortune is an imposter, which is woven with a story of a young woman who forges paintings for a living. This novel is set in England at the end of the 1800’s. The writing is lush and evocative, and Steven’s keeps you guessing the outcome until the end. I had previously read two books by Nell Steven’s, and The Original seals her as a must- read for me.
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Aprile G. (Northampton, MA)
Deceptively entertaining read
I'm struggling to articulate why I liked this book so much--but sections of it are really staying with me which is a good sign. I particularly liked how the book began; with a resonant story that became a major plot point. I also appreciated the voice of the main character and how true to the character it was--highly descriptive, perceptive, but distant; removed from the action even as she was participating in it. It seemed that she engaged with the world through thinking about paintings, and the deep and nuanced descriptions of artworks were really great--in fact, I thought they were the most "alive" characters in the novel. None of the characters were likable, and I didn't exactly root for them, but I was invested in the trajectory of the story. Even though I figured out some major plot points before they happened, it didn't really matter--the characters themselves were not predictable which made it exciting.
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Margot P. (Mandeville, LA)
Writing shines
I would describe this book as a gay/historical/psychological mystery. In the hands of a less accomplished writer this would be hard to pull off, but Stevens manages to pull it all together quite well. The plot moves along at a quick pace and the characters have a depth that made me want to get to know them, even if I did not particularly like any of them. The art elements were well researched. All in all a good read and I suspect there will be big demand when the book is released.
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