Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Art Spy:
An unconventional spy.
Quick synopsis:
The story of World War II French spy, Rose Valland.
Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like:
Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1791.
Fun Fact for History Nerds:
Hitler was rejected twice from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.
My Take on The Art Spy:
Oh, those pesky Nazis and their love of fine art. Little did they know one of their most formidable adversaries would be a woman named Rose Valland and her powers of ADMINISTRATION!
Yes, I sound a bit flippant, but honestly not all spies are shanking people in the shadows or stealing military technology. Rose Valland was a (mostly unpaid which was ridiculous) curator for the Jeu de Paume museum in Paris during World War II. She crosses paths with a murderer’s row (literally) of despicable humans including rank art amateur Göring.
The book moves along fast, and Young’s writing is an easy read. I would caution readers that the title sets a standard which the book doesn’t necessarily live up to. First of all, Valland is not front and center for a lot of the narrative. She was mostly a background figure, which probably kept her alive, but the story becomes very much about what is going on around her along with side stories about other people. This may be a symptom of the second issue which is that Young is often forced to tell us who Valland is instead of showing us. Valland did not document her own actions and feelings extensively so I think Young needed a lot of other information to fill out the book. It is still a good story overall, but don’t expect a lot of cloak and dagger excitement on every page.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by HarperOne.)
Verdict:
A great story you haven’t heard before. Buy it here!
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