Book Summary and Reviews of A Fine Imitation by Amber Brock

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Cathryn_Conroy

Entertaining! A Fun ChickLit Escape Read with a Well-Crafted Plot That Has Several Clever Twists
This book is a ChickLit escape read. Take it to the beach. Read it curled up in front of the fireplace during a snowstorm. It will keep you entertained for hours. But like most ChickLit, it’s all plot without the enduring depth of literature. That said, we all need books like this once in a while!

Written by Amber Brock, this is the story of Vera Longacre Bellington, a beautiful, charming, sophisticated young married woman who seemingly has it all—a handsome, wealthy husband, a penthouse apartment on New York’s exclusive Park Avenue, and so many servants she doesn’t ever lift a finger except to ring the bell. It’s the socialite life to which she was raised to live. So why is she so unhappy? Shifting back and forth in time between Vera’s senior year at Vassar in the fall of 1913 and 10 years later in 1923, this coming-of-age novel starts out a bit slow but soon picks up the pace as Vera, desperately hurt by her cold, inattentive husband, becomes enamored with a European artist hired to paint a mural on the walls of the apartment building’s subterranean pool. Will she risk everything she has for this passionate, illicit love? And what price will she pay if she is caught?

Not only is this book a wonderful dive into the roaring ‘20s among the super wealthy with lots of period details that make it all just pop, but also it’s a solid exploration of the high-end world of fine art. It’s obvious that Brock did her art history research, and this adds so much to the book—sort of like the difference between seeing a black-and-white photo of a painting vs. the real thing in color.

Kudos to the author on the title of the book, which is a clever play of words on several levels. Still, at its core this is ChickLit with a very well-crafted plot that boasts several clever twists (some of which are predictable if you’re paying attention) that will keep you engrossed in the story until the last page. It’s really quite entertaining!