The Perfect Landscape
Written by Ragna Sigurdardottir
Narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal
3/5
()
About this audiobook
When a wealthy patron donates a valuable landscape painting to Reykjavik’s art museum, the staff can hardly believe its luck. It was painted by one of Iceland’s most beloved artists, and the acquisition is sure to elevate the museum’s already sterling reputation.
For newly arrived art theorist Hanna, the acquisition is a chance to begin her job on a high note; after all, she’s something of an expert on the artist. But when the museum’s conservator suggests the painting might be a fake, Hanna realizes the museum’s reputation is not the only one in danger of crumbling.
And so she sets out to authenticate the painting, drawing on every ounce of skill that she possesses. What she doesn’t know she vows to learn, venturing deep into the shadowy world of art forgery. Only then will Hanna be able to strip away the varnish of the past to uncover the truth.
Nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Ragna Sigurdardottir
Ragna Sigurdardottir is a native of Reykjavik, Iceland, and the author of five novels. She studied French and fine arts in Aix-en-Provence before attending the Icelandic School for Arts and Crafts. After earning a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the Jan van Eyck Academy in the Netherlands, she worked as an artist and writer in Rotterdam and later in Denmark. She eventually returned home to Iceland, where she spent a decade working as an art critic for Icelandic newspapers. Currently she studies art theory at the University of Iceland and is writing her sixth novel. She lives with her husband and their two daughters on the outskirts of Reykjavik, just down the street from the North Atlantic Ocean.
Related to The Perfect Landscape
Related audiobooks
Silenced Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Season for the Dead: Nic Costa, Book 1 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Season of the Witch Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Thirteenth Hour Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Storytellers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Cold and Broken Hallelujah Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Magnetic North: Sea Voyage to Svalbard Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Super Recogniser of Vik Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Weird Foods of Portugal: Adventures of an Expat Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Scotland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ten Swedes Must Die Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Snow Woman Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Last Train to Helsingør Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCherry Blues Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOld Bones Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Darker Sky Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fatal Headwind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Three Days in September Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCold as Hell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before I Go Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Blue Demon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Chill Factor: Suspense and Espionage in Cold War Iceland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Saint for the Summer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lion's Mouth Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sun On Fire Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Good Money Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBelow the Surface Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Orkney Twilight Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Man in the Lighthouse Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Body on the Beach Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Literary Fiction For You
Flowers for Algernon Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hunger Games Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: A Hunger Games Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lady Tan's Circle of Women Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of The Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House in the Cerulean Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Picture of Dorian Gray: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Name of the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hate U Give Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Parable of the Sower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tom Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dutch House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious People: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yellowface: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stardust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Their Eyes Were Watching God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Perfect Landscape
6 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5At 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.