The Forger
A Novel
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4.1 • 9 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
An exciting new novel, by the author of The Story of My Disappearance and Archangel.
At the turn of World War II, David Halifax is a young American painter who receives a scholarship to come to Paris and work under the tutelage of the mysterious and brilliant Russian painter, Alexander Pankratov. Getting more than he bargained for, Halifax is quickly subjected to Pankratov's rigid will, and beguiled by the quiet, nude model who poses before them.
But Paris is also a city that is holding its breath. The Nazi forces are slowly penetrating the Maginot Line, and the once-indominitable city is now expecting the worst. Beneath Paris' blanket of fear and eerie calm, David Halifax realizes the true purpose of his visit: Pankratov is to train him in duplicating the masterworks of the Paris museums, and with the aid of a wily art dealer, barter the fakes to Hilter's legion of art dealers. What develops is a cat and mouse game through Paris' silent streets, in the tunnels beneath its museums, and eventually into the scorched countryside of Normandy.
In David and Pankratov's frantic race to complete the uncompletable, both are forced to confront the terrible sacrifices one must finally make for art; a sacrifice of identity, and perhaps of the soul. In The Forger by Paul Watkins.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Occupied Paris is the backdrop for Watkins's eighth novel (after The Story of My Disappearance), a suspenseful historical tale of shifting allegiances and uneasy alliances. Shortly before WWII, David Halifax, a young American painter, receives a mysterious scholarship to study in Paris with the eccentric genius Alexander Pankratov. Halifax supplements his scholarship income by selling his sketches through a charming and unscrupulous art dealer, Guillaume Fleury. When war is declared, the three are enlisted by the French government in an elaborate scheme to prevent classic works of art from falling into German hands. With Pankratov's help, Halifax forges Old Masters that Fleury in turn trades for Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces the Germans consider "degenerate," while the originals are hidden away in the French countryside. Halifax and his cronies must guard against discovery by the Germans and reprisals from the Resistance, who believe they are collaborators. Meanwhile, the only female character, an enigmatic nude model, plays a thankless role, tossed between her Nazi providers and the unreliable Pankratov. Halifax's wartime adventures end brutally, but the true denouement is a somewhat anticlimactic exercise in closure, set many years later. Halifax is a compelling narrator, and Watkins uses the psychology of the forger as a vehicle of inquiry into the nature of art and the creative process. The poisonous effects of war, occupation and constant fear are mirrored in the decline of the city and those trying to protect it. While Watkins's themes are familiar, they are deftly handled, the writer's painterly eye for detail matching that of his protagonist. Talented but a little emotionless, Watkins continues to produce solid, reliable literary novels, deviating little from that norm in his latest effort. Relegated to the limbo of midlist novelist, he could do with some dedicated handselling to recommend him to readers in search of quality writing and strong narrative drive.
