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The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

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The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

By: Dominic Smith
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
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About this listen

This is what we long for: the profound pleasure of being swept into vivid new worlds, worlds peopled by characters so intriguing and real that we can't shake them, even long after the story's told.

In this extraordinary audiobook, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, Australian writer Dominic Smith brilliantly bridges the historical and the contemporary, tracking a collision course between a rare landscape by a female Dutch painter of the Golden Age, an inheritor of the work in 1950s Manhattan, and a celebrated Australian art historian who painted a forgery of it in her youth.

In 1631, Sara de Vos is admitted to the Guild of St. Luke in Holland as a master painter, the first woman to be so honoured. 300 years later, only one work attributed to de Vos is known to remain - a haunting winter scene, At the Edge of a Wood, which hangs over the Manhattan bed of a wealthy descendant of the original owner.

An Australian grad student, Ellie Shipley, struggling to stay afloat in New York, agrees to paint a forgery of the landscape, a decision that will haunt her. Because now, half a century later, she's curating an exhibition of female Dutch painters, and both versions threaten to arrive.

As the three threads intersect with increasing and exquisite suspense, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos mesmerises while it grapples with the demands of the artistic life, showing how the deceits of the past can forge the present.

©2016 Dominic Smith (P)2016 Macmillan Audio USA
Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature New York
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What listeners say about The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

An Intriguing story spoiled by inept narration

I wish I had read the novel, rather than listening to this narrator try to imitate Australian and English accents. The English accent was simply a poor stereotype, but the Australian was laughably inept. It slid randomly between South African and Irish(?). This was a major problem, since one of the main characters was Australian and some of the novel was set in Australia. It spoiled the novel for me. Read the book instead, I would suggest.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful storytelling

I loved this tale of female artists, forgery, art history and moral dilemmas. The story moves between different time periods and continents and concerns, as its central focus, a painting by a celebrated female painter of the Dutch Golden Age. The painting is to feature in a major art exhibition and the curator of that exhibition is aware of a secret surrounding the canvas, a secret that could destroy her career and destroy more than one life.
Fantastic storytelling, beautifully written and very sympathetic narration.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable

Well written enjoyable story - narrator's accents almost comical but we're consistent so clearly identified the characters.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent story

Great story, beautifully written. Slightly annoying narrator, hopeless rendition of Australian accent, and too much overly sentimental tone of voice.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful story

If you could sum up The Last Painting of Sara de Vos in three words, what would they be?

Layered like paintings

What did you like best about this story?

Evocative descriptions of place, sensitive characterisations of people, wonderful descriptions of painting technique and the art world, an original and absorbing story, will listen again

What about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance did you like?

Good storytelling

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No one to savour

Any additional comments?

Terrible Australian accent for Ellie's character. She sounded South African.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

a great read

perhaps the narrator struggles with Australian accents. the evocative reading overall is unaffected. great book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A great listen

This was an astonishing book -- interesting characters, good insights into the art world, deep themes, beautiful writing and a seamless moving between time periods. And the narrator is superb. An absorbing novel.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

THE worst narration I’ve ever heard

OMG . This guy should not be let loose on Australian or British accents and some sense checks might have been helpful ... Ceylon loose leaf ( tea) was read as SILON ... er . There were many more of these howlers ...

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling listening

This book was recommended to us and, having now listened to it, I can see why it is getting so much attention. The contrast between the artists and the monied patrons of the arts, and the sometimes shonky art industry certainly provides a compelling story. The reader is a favourite of mine so I managed to ignore his weird interpretation of an Australian accent.

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