Hannah Rothschild combines wide-ranging discussions on art and commentaries on the art of cooking with a story that, once it gets up and running, has a clever plot and heaps of characters, including the voice of the painting at the centre of the story.
Initially we are overwhelmed with characters; it is worth re-reading the prologue to find all the hints about later events that are planted there.
The main character, Annie, has left behind her a disintegrated relationship, a partnership in a business, and a life she enjoyed, and is trying to start afresh in London, with little success.
On the spur of the moment she buys the picture at the centre of the story - whether it is the genuine article or not takes a bit of unravelling - and that leads her into a range of complications that will see her lose even more than the little she started out with.
Will true love prevail is a question that is also in the mix.
The villains of the piece get into their stride some way into the book, though there are plenty of clues as to what they are up to, early on.
This story has a bit of everything: Nazi art theft (Hitler's plans, it turns out, were nowhere near as grandiose as Napoleon's), the history of the particular painting, the presentation of sumptuous meals based on historic and spectacular ones, and much much more.
There are characters from every sort of background.
It is daft, very funny and highly inventive.
A great 400-page read.
• Mike Crowl is a Dunedin writer, musician and composer.
