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by Hannah Rothschild
Wickedly funny, this totally engaging, richly observed first novel by Hannah Rothschild is a tour de force. Its sweeping narrative and cast of wildly colorful characters takes you behind the scenes of a London auction house, into the secret operations of a powerful art dealer, to a flamboyant eighteenth-century-style dinner party, and into a modest living room in Berlin, among many other unexpected settings.
In The Improbability of Love we meet Annie McDee, thirty-one, who is working as a chef for two rather sinister art dealers. Recovering from the end of a long-term relationship, she is searching in a neglected secondhand shop for a birthday present for her unsuitable new lover. Hidden behind a rubber plant on top of a file cabinet, a grimy painting catches her eye. After spending her meager savings on the picture, Annie prepares an elaborate birthday dinner for two, only to be stood up.
The painting becomes hers, and as it turns out, Annie has stumbled across a lost masterpiece by one of the most important French painters of the eighteenth century. But who painted this masterpiece is not clear at first. Soon Annie finds herself pursued by interested parties who would do anything to possess her picture. For a gloomy, exiled Russian oligarch, an avaricious sheikha, a desperate auctioneer, and an unscrupulous dealer, among others, the painting embodies their greatest hopes and fears. In her search for the painting's identity, Annie will unwittingly uncover some of the darkest secrets of European history - as well as the possibility of falling in love again.
Irreverent, witty, bittersweet, The Improbability of Love draws an unforgettable portrait of the London art scene, but it is also an exuberant and unexpected journey through life's highs and lows and the complexities of love and loss.
"Starred Review. For readers anticipating the next irresistible blend of art, mystery, and intrigue along the lines of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, the wait is over. This compulsively readable, immensely enjoyable novel will deeply satisfy that craving." - Library Journal
"Clever ... Despite some plot holes, it's rewarding to see Rebecca viciously come into her own once she divulges Memling's dark secret. Additionally, Rothschild packs the narrative with vivid details, especially about art and food. The book is at its best when delving into the lives of the many people affected by the Watteau." - Publishers Weekly
"An opulently detailed, suspensefully plotted, shrewdly witty novel of decadence, crimes ordinary and genocidal, and improbable love... [in] a capacious and fluently knowledgeable tale that excoriates with mischievously satirical intent the viciously competitive world of high-stakes art collecting." - Booklist
"Smart, well-written, and thoroughly gripping ... Rothschild deftly spins an elaborate web of intrigue involving a raft of sharply drawn secondary characters ... [and] art-world shenanigans prompted by a long-lost painting ... the action moves through multiple, often nail-biting plot twists ... put across by the fast pace and vivid prose." - Kirkus
"[A] satire worthy of the pen of Evelyn Waugh. A real crowd pleaser."
—Vanessa Berridge, Daily Express (UK)
"Though this novel goes into the darkest of dark places, the overall tone is totally delicious; conspicuous consumption on this scale hasn't been seen since the Eighties." - The Times (UK)
"This richly satisfying debut novel features Nazi-looted treasure, Russian oligarchs and romance ... an ingenious meditation on the true value of art."
- The Mail on Sunday (UK)
"[A] pacy satire of the art world ... Rothschild dishes up a salmagundi of unscrupulous dealers, desperate auctioneers and dodgy art experts, with a side-order of scheming Russian oligarchs. It's on the money." - Sunday Herald (UK)
"Part detective story, part romance, the gripping narrative moves between contemporary London and Nazi Germany, examining along the way the meaning of love and loss, morality and greed, sacrifice and decadence ... The most fascinating (fictional) character is the talking 'masterpiece' of the title, by Jean-Antoine Watteau ... An excellent and very funny debut." - The Lady (UK)
"[A] clever, funny, beguiling and wholly humane romance... Hannah Rothschild's first novel is a meditation on both great art and human passion, and as such reads like a confection concocted by Anita Brookner and Judith Krantz." - The Independent (UK)
"Mischievous, fun and on the money ... This debut novel from the new chair of the National Gallery is both a satire of the art world and a romance." - Tatler (UK)
"The novel is a fast-paced imbroglio of skullduggery, dirty dealing, even murder, and finishes with a sort of James Bond flourish when the British security services finally intervene." - Lynn Barber, The Sunday Times (UK)
This information about The Improbability of Love was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Hannah Rothschild is the author of The Baroness: The Search for Nica, the Rebellious Rothschild. She is also a film director whose documentaries have appeared at such festivals as Telluride and Tribeca. She has written for British Vanity Fair, Vogue, The Independent, and The Spectator, and is vice president of the Hay Literary Festival, a trustee of the Tate Gallery, and the first woman chair of the National Gallery in London.
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