The Engraver’s Secret by Lisa Medved

Publisher's Synopsis

Spanish Netherlands, 1620s: raised by her father Lucas to know her mind, Antonia Vorsterman sees everything that goes on in her world - all the rivalries and jealousies that course through the artists' studios and workshops of Antwerp.

Drawn into the lively household of the artist Peter Paul Rubens, whose work her father engraves for a living, Antonia begins to see a life of colour and possibility for herself - until Lucas entrusts her with a terrible secret that will alter the course of their family's future.

Belgium, present day: haunted by the recent loss of her mother, art historian Charlotte Hubert moves to Antwerp to research her hero, the Baroque master Rubens, and to seek answers about the father she's never met.

But a startling discovery hidden inside an ancient map folio turns Charlotte's quiet academic life into a dangerous hunt for long-lost treasures, missing for 400 years. In the shadowy cloisters of the university, where ambition, obsession and violence run deep, nothing is as it seems.

Charlotte is certain of one thing - no one can be trusted.

Centuries apart, Charlotte's and Antonia's lives intertwine as they unearth long-buried secrets about a master and his engraver where theft, betrayal and the fallout of family loyalty run rampant.

Reviews From Elsewhere

Queensland Reviewers Collective

There are two storylines which alternate throughout the book, one set in the seventeenth century and the other in the present. They have much in common and not just the art that links them. The main characters around which the novel is based are both daughters, although their relationships with their fathers are completely different. One appears to be based on love and respect, the other ignorance and contempt. They are strong and independent thinkers, both driven in their search for knowledge believing that it is a privilege they can nurture themselves. Read Full Review

Amazon

I could not put down this extraordinary book. I wasn't sure which timeline, the contemporary or the seventeenth century one pulled me in most, for them ultimately to mesh in the most satisfying way. The author evokes a compelling sense of place, you are confident that she knows where she is writing about and about her deftly plotted story. She understands not just the nature of art but also how it comes to be made, especially cartography, in itself an art form. This is also a story of identity, and the sting of betrayal when it comes from those who should love us most. Read All Reviews

GoodReads

Lush and lyrical, mysterious and mesmerising, The Engraver’s Secret took hold of me with its intriguing journey from the past to the present. Filled with secrets and suspicion, danger and division, betrayal and prejudice, I was kept me on the edge of my seat as this tale unravelled. But there are also glorious elements of wonder and wisdom, mystery and magic, discovery and fulfilment spread across these pages to give it the right balance. 

Ultimately this is about father-daughter relationships, customs and expectations, trust and forgiveness. There are many parallels in the two threads and unique surprises. Each strand is told separately yet are hinged on each other. And when the blending of two stories of father’s and daughters come together in the end, it is an exciting feast of history and imagination. Read All Reviews