Ragna Sigurðardóttir

At her new job as the art director of the Annexe Gallery in Reykjavik, Iceland, Hanna is surprised when asked to look into one of the galleries newest paintings. It is a landscape by one Iceland’s’ premier artists, and one whom Hanna has studied and wrote about—the problem is that she and the conservator don’t believe it’s authentic. Concerned that it is not part of her job expertise, Hanna is stuck trying to find out if the painting is a forgery, and if the gallery will accept what she and Stein, the conservator, discover.

I loved the idea of this story, the mystery; the insiders look behind the scenes of the art world which the author, an artist, knows well. The problem for me is that I never connected emotionally with Hanna. I never understood, or even cared about most of the characters. Every time Ragna dipped below the surface—like in the scenes with Stein and Kari (a young troubled graffiti artist)—it was fleeting and left unresolved. Even the ending left me with questions, and a little depressed. This may be what the author intended, but as a reader I needed something to grasp onto. I’m giving this book a 3 star rating.… (meer)