Pat's Books Read, Reviewed, To Read: The Modigliani Scandal by Ken Follett

Friday, September 2, 2022

The Modigliani Scandal by Ken Follett

Front cover

I read this in March . It is the most different novel by Ken Follett and one I knew nothing about previously although it was first published in 1976, this paperback edition was published in 2019 and has an introductory letter by the author. Usually he writes sagas that span generations and eras, this is a specific time and place and is a great story, intrigue, bordering on mystery about art.

If I were to use one word to describe it, Twisty would be as close as I could get. In only 279 pages Follett tells an amazing fast paced story about a lost or forged art masterpieces and the treachery of the world of collectors of these gems.

First page of novel

Set in Europe it begins in Paris innocently enough, where 25 year old Dee Sleigh a primary character, recent graduate of art academy and college with a degree in Art History. is taking the summer off before she decides what to do with her life. She is in Paris with Mike, her boyfriend through whom she learns about an old man in his 90's who was a friend to several old master painters/ artists before WWI.

Back Cover

At his place she sees a sketch, a drawing with the faded signature Modigliani. Amedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. The old man had a massive art collection but no longer. He tells her about Modigliani's drug habits and how artwork was lost in a fire. But he also tells her that he had given some to someone in Italy. Long ago. Mike has flown back to London to handle business for a couple of days. Dee is elated and decides to go to Italy and pursue the artwork. Without Mike there and no one to tell of her potential find, she jots a postcard off to her Uncle Charles telling him of what she hopes to discover. So the chase begins. It is a tale that will come close to disaster for Dee a couple times. Tracking the artwork and determining forgeries or not is elusive. Page 90 compares it "like chasing canned peaches." Now that is different!

Fast paced, I could not put this book down, wondering what next. I give it 5 ***** I include the Introduction below written by the author in 1985 and his letter from 2019 for the updated republication of the novel.

In the Introduction, page 1, the author notes that he doesn't "believe everything in life is blind chance. We do not control our lives..........the truth is complicated. Mechanisms beyond our control and sometimes beyond our understanding determine a person's fate, yet the choices he makes have consequences." His update in 2019 "Nostalgia Isn't What it Used to Be" describes the books "people love and remember for years.....usually good in every way, plot, character, prose, imagery, everything." That fully describes every Ken Follett book I have read and this one is no exception.