By Sharon Cameron
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/4 (Goodreads: 4.15)
GENRE: Fiction
PART OF A SERIES? No
WORTH READING? Yes
SUMMARY:
Artifice is based on two heroes of WWII history: Han Van Meegeren, an art forger who sold fakes to Nazis, and Johann van Hulst, credited with saving hundreds of Jewish children from death in Amsterdam.
In Artifice, Isa de Smit has grown up in the world of art, in Amsterdam. The art of the Gallery de Smit is labelled as ‘degenerate’ and confiscated by the Nazis when they occupy Amsterdam. Desperate, Isa decides to sell a Rembrandt copy, drawn by her talented father, to none other than Hitler himself.
When Isa discovers that the resistance, including her friend Truus, are helping smuggle Jewish babies out of Amsterdam, she realises that she knows the perfect way to raise money to help this noble cause.
An unlikely source pledges to help Isa – a young Nazi soldier who claims he wants to desert the army.
Opening line: 'Every eye follows when you walk like you have something to hide.'
Artifice has a constant forward motion. The momentum carries the reader through an engaging, engrossing story; the last third of the book especially was very dramatic and tense.
Artifice is a tale driven by both story and characters, in particular, Isa, from who’s point-of-view the story is told (in 3rd person).
One of the major themes in Sharon Cameron’s Artifice is art. Cameron cleverly intersperses references to colour throughout, in places you wouldn’t expect. I found this incredible and it honestly painted the most vibrant images to the reader. It brought the character’s emotions right out to the forefront, almost alive, for the reader. Some examples are:
“And she was hot, ruby-red. Crimson and scarlet.” and
“…a yellow stain began spreading inside her, mottling her cool blues and greens.” And
“And panic… was a blend of red anger and yellow fear. Orange sparks that crackled and burst, exploding beneath her skin.” and
“…hope… is fresh, ivy-green, growing in tints of pine and of spring pear… cooling like ferns in a forest.”
Cameron’s characters also imagine paintings and portraits that represent the moment. E.g. ‘If Michel had been a portrait… Isa would have named it Pain.”
I would highly recommend Artifice, along with two other wonderful books by Sharon Cameron, Bluebird and The Light in Hidden Places. All three of these were fabulous reads, with each having the added benefit of teaching something to the reader (a characteristic of well-written historical fiction that I always appreciate).
Click here if you’d like to purchase Artifice
If you’d like to try these other fantastic books by Sharon Cameron:
Click here if you’d like to purchase Bluebird in paperback
Click here if you’d like to purchase The Light in Hidden Places in paperback
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