Engraver's Secret

Engraver's Secret

$33.00

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Two women, a mysterious map, and a family secret spanning hundreds of years ... A stunning art history thriller for fans of Tracy Chevalier, Pip Williams and Lauren Chater set around the life, times, and feuds of the artist Peter Paul Rubens. What do you do when the weight of betrayal grows too heavy to bear? 'An inspired blend of history and suspense ... This wonderful debut novel will inhabit your dreams' Dominic Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos and Return to Valetto Innocence and delight, guile and misapprehension, the hint of indifference, even disdain on her pretty features. Fickle, he called her, a mixture of surprise and confidence. She is all that and more, brought to life with the ink strokes of a genius. Spanish Netherlands, 1620s: raised by her father Lucas to know her mind, Antonia Vorsterman sees everything that goes on in her world - all the rivalries and jealousies that course through the artists' studios and workshops of Antwerp. Drawn into the lively household of the artist Peter Paul Rubens, whose work her father engraves for a living, Antonia begins to see a life of colour and possibility for herself - until Lucas entrusts her with a terrible secret that will alter the course of their family's future. Belgium, present day: haunted by the recent loss of her mother, art historian Charlotte Hubert moves to Antwerp to research her hero, the Baroque master Rubens, and to seek answers about the father she's never met. But a startling discovery hidden inside an ancient map folio turns Charlotte's quiet academic life into a dangerous hunt for long-lost treasures, missing for 400 years. In the shadowy cloisters of the university, where ambition, obsession and violence run deep, nothing is as it seems. Charlotte is certain of one thing - no one can be trusted. Centuries apart, Charlotte's and Antonia's lives intertwine as they unearth long-buried secrets about a master and his engraver where theft, betrayal and the fallout of family loyalty run rampant. PRAISE 'The Engraver's Secret is an inspired blend of history and suspense, braiding two stories of fathers and daughters and family secrets across time. Lisa Medved conjures Rubens' house and his world so vividly that Antwerp and this wonderful debut novel will inhabit your dreams.' Dominic Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos and Return to Valetto