Caravaggio’s Angel
Reggie Lee - Book I
by Ruth Brandon
National Gallery curator Regina Lee, aka Reggie, is recovering from being jilted by her lover and in need of
other pursuits. Since childhood, she has loved Caravaggio’s painting of St. Cecilia and the Angel, and
following a chance find at a country fete, is keen to stage an exhibition. There are three copies in existence
and two of these are easy to locate, but where is the third? Also, how is it all connected to a strange theft
in the 1930s by a surrealist who then committed suicide? Reggie’s dogged determinism will lead her to Paris,
then the South of France, where old sins cast some long shadows, and might just prove her undoing.
This is the first entry in a brand new series, set in the rarefied circles of the international art world. As
a murder mystery, it takes its time unfolding and cannot be said to exactly be a pacy page turner, although to do
it justice there is always something going on. Rather it is to be enjoyed for its topicality, and ability to tie
in many fascinating aspects of art history and modern politics. Reggie gets tangled with the politics of the far
right wing in France, as well as discovering facts about the Resistance, the fate of collaborators and the arcane
world of the Surrealists. Then there is Caravaggio himself, although he is less to the forefront than the French
politics. Ms Brandon’s other particular talent is for description, as with a few broad brushstrokes she describes
rain-washed Paris, hectic London or the blue-shadowed, sunlit aridity of the Midi. Quite a lot in here in fact,
all it needs is a faster pace to sparkle. |
The Book |
Constable (Constable and Robinson) |
November 2008 |
Hardback |
1845296974/ 9781845296971 |
Mystery (Contemporary) |
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Excerpt |
NOTE: |
The Reviewer |
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewed 2009 |
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