In 1631 Sara de Vos became the first woman member of the artist Guild of St Luke in Amsterdam.  Known for her lovely still lifes and other indoor scenes, Sara quickly made a name for herself.  But one evening Sara sees a  young women at the edge of the wood looking towards the skaters on a frozen river below. The scene haunts Sara and disregarding the rules that prevent women from painting landscapes, she painted the scene anyway, showing the longing of the young girl as well as the cold and icy landscape surrounding her.

In 1957 the painting now known as At the Edge of the Wood, hangs in the bedroom of Marty de Groot’s, large New York apartment. It is the last surviving painting of Sara de Vos and de Groot, a wealthy lawyer, is the descendant of the original owner. The painting beautiful but it is also cold and somehow cheerless and although de Groot values it he mostly ignores it. To Ellie Shipley, on the other hand, a struggling art history graduate student who is writing her dissertation on de Vos and other Early Dutch women painters, the ability to actually see an original work, to examine the brush strokes and to understand the composition would be a chance of a lifetime.  So when the dubious art dealer for whom she has previously restored paintings, asks her to create a copy of At the Edge of the Wood, she agrees, but it is a decision she later bitterly regrets.

In 2000, Ellie Shipley who is now a celebrated art historian and curator in Sydney is mounting a show about the Golden Age of Dutch painting. Having contacted various museums and private owners from around the world to invite them to display their art in her show, it is not until she receives a call from the museum director that she realizes that both the forgery that she painted and the original of At the Edge of the Wood, are going to be arriving at the museum with the full expectation that they will be displayed. It is her worst nightmare come true and Ellie sees no way out but to come clean and destroy all that she has worked for.

Smith deftly shifts from one time period to another, giving us portions of each story line, which heightens the anticipation of what happens next. Smith is particularly adept at dealing with the aging of Ellie, whose brash. somewhat awkward and lonely 20 something is replaced by a knowledgeable, accomplished but still lonely 40 something. He has obviously done a tremendous amount of research into the world of art and it clearly shows in each step along the way from his descriptions of the way the Guilds worked to the details on how paintings are restored. This was a book to savor and enjoy!

Brenda’s Rating: *****( 5 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Keith, Marian, Sharon and Lauren.

Book Study Worthy? Yes

Read in ebook format.