"The Improbability of Love" by Hannah Rothschild

It's the day of the auction. "The probability of love" painting may go for a record price. A French minister, Middle East billionaires, an art expert who'd once called it a fake, a rap star and many pretty women are there in a carefully staged event.

That's the prologue. We go back 6 months to when Annie buys a painting in a junk shop for £75. She's 31, lives in London, and getting over a relationship that had lasted 14 years. She has to collect her alcoholic mother Evie from the police station - not for the first time. She starts working as a cook for Winkleman fine art, making thematic food for a dinner party of prospective buyers.

There are monologues from the 300-year old painting.

We meet Berty, a life-consultant for new billionnaire exiles from Russia, Iran, etc. Vlad (worth 8 billion) had killed his brother. Berty encourages him to invest in art.

Thanks to Jessie (a male who likes Annie), Annie takes the painting to expert Agatha (who likes Jessie). Annie researches to help with her themed dinners and learn about her painting,

The Monocorum auction house is in debt. An earl (who works for them and whose job is at risk) visits famous artists looking for trade. By chance he stumbles upon the painting.

Rebecca (she's the daughter of very rich Menling Winkleman, the art boss) discovers that her father wasn't an Auswitz survivor who had earlier helped Jews escape in exchange for their paintings, but a Nazi caretaker called Fuchs who had a hoarde of Nazi love - one of them the Winkleman's painting, which happens to be Annie's. Fuchs gave it to the love of his life, who died. He wants the painting back. Rebecca ultimatums her father. She discusses assassination to preserve the family's reputation. She frames Annie.

Jessie chases up evidence and Annie is freed. The Winklemans get their come-uppance. Jessie and Annie marry. The painting's ownership is claimed by various parties.

It's all rather slow going. Words can go ("triangular in shape"; "thought to herself"), sentences can go (the author has the habit of saying the same thing in 2 or 3 ways). When the same event is recounted by 2 characters, the 2 renderings are too similar. Decisions and events are fully explained (and not infrequently explained again). Even chapters can go (the earl's visits to artists). One or two verbose characters might be ok, but nearly all of them are repetitive. There's a lot of detail, mostly light, about art, etc. There's some interesting observation. There's satire and farce - galleries are viewed as giant bus shelters, free wifi a vital requirement.

Were it reduced by 50% or so, and the art history/theory sections deepened, it might have worked. The provenence of a painting is shown to be important, as is the authenticity of the Winkleman family. This could have been more of the theme.

Other reviews

• Suzy Feay (This is a lengthy, baggy book that takes 100 pages to get going. Once it does, its sweep is almost Dickensian ... Some scenes don’t advance the plot but amuse nonetheless.)
• Amanda Craig
• goodreads