The English Masterpiece, by Katherine Reay: Excerpt
The English Masterpiece
“Art . . . London . . . Seventies Glam . . . Yesss, please. The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay has ALL the goodies–especially for historical fiction lovers and art aficionados . . . Buckle your seatbelt as all hell breaks loose.” –Lisa Barr, New York Times bestselling author of The Goddess of Warsaw
Set in the art world of 1970s London, The English Masterpiece is a fast-paced read to the end, full of glamour and secrets, tensions and lies, as one young woman races against the clock to uncover the truth about a Picasso masterpiece. Perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Ariel Lawhon.
As the recently promoted assistant to the Tate’s Modern Collections keeper Diana Gilden, Lily helps plan a world-class Picasso exhibit to honor the passing of the great artist–and she’s waited her whole life for this moment. The opening is beyond anyone’s expectations–the lighting, the champagne, the glittering crowd, and the international acclaim–until Lily does the unthinkable. She stops in front of a masterpiece and hears her own voice say, “It’s a forgery.” The gallery falls silent.
Lily’s boss, Diana, is polished perfection, schooled in art, and descends from European high society. She’s worked hard to become the trusted voice in London’s modern art scene and respected across the Continent. The Tate’s Picasso Commemorative is to be her crowning achievement, featuring not only the artist’s most iconic and intimate works, but a newly discovered painting–one she advised an investor to purchase. But when Lily makes her outrageous declaration, suspicion and scandal threaten everything Diana has achieved, as museums and collectors across Europe, already doubting most post-war acquisitions, fall into chaos and rumors of a world-wide forgery run wild.
All Lily has ever wanted is to follow in Diana’s footsteps and take the art world by storm in her own right. Yet one comment puts not only her own career at risk but also her mentor’s. Unless . . . Was she right? With the clock ticking and the clues starting to pile up against her, Lily must uncover the truth behind the Picasso before she loses not only the career she’s always wanted, but her freedom.
Block off your calendar and lose yourself in The English Masterpiece, a thrilling read that will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end from the author who brought you The London House and The Berlin Letters.
Excerpted from The English Masterpiece, by Katherine Reay. Harper Muse, 2025. Reprinted with permission.
With my first circle of the room complete, I start again. It’s time to take in the art. Since we first devised this exhibition, I’ve thought of nothing but these seventeen paintings. I’ve worked with museums across the world organizing their transport, I’ve sent cables and telexes to secure insurance coverage, and I’ve organized the printer, the caterer, the rental company, the invitations, the . . . everything. Yes, I’ve worked twelve-hour-long days overseeing every minute detail for this morning, and I’ve anticipated taking in the installation as it’s meant to be viewed.
I catch Diana’s eye as I start my second tour of the room. Something flickers within her glance, and I know it’s my dress. It certainly defies her call for demure delicacy, and I make a mental note to explain—and apologize—later.
For now I take another sip of my champagne and begin at the beginning . . .
PABLO PICASSO
25 October 1881–8 April 1973
The Old Guitarist, 1903
Oil on Panel
On loan, courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
While Diana eschewed Picasso’s most famous works, the ones made into the posters and prints that grace every office and schoolroom, she wanted this one to open our show. It’s the iconic work of his Blue Period, but also a very personal work. Picasso painted it just as he emerged from a year of poverty and pain, still struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with the death of his close friend Carles Casagemas. The Old Guitarist embodies Picasso’s trials as the man arches over and strums his large guitar with almost skeletal fingers. There’s an intimacy to the work, as if Picasso himself invites the viewer into his heart. His trials become ours.
The Old Guitarist is also one of the great artist’s only works that so clearly pays homage to another—in this case, the famous Greek painter El Greco. That, in and of itself, is a peek into Picasso’s heart. Yes, it is truly a masterpiece and, at thirty-two by forty-eight inches, one of the largest paintings in our show.
Next to the huge and iconic The Old Guitarist, Diana instructed the installation team to hang a series of sketches. It was a brilliant decision. After such an impressive beginning, the exhibition instantly turns more personal. It’s almost as if the viewer can discern Picasso’s choices, witness his process, and share in his emotions.
I take in each sketch and step into Picasso’s love life, for each is a drawing of a woman in varying states of dishabille. Knowing Picasso, and I feel I do now, I sense what he felt for each as a lover or what he felt for the woman he hoped would soon become one.
As I walk on, some of the works feel like old friends. Some I am truly meeting for the first time. My pulse quickens with one here, slows with another there. My gaze sweeps to the painting Edward Davies and Director Browning bullied Diana into accepting for the exhibit just two days ago. Woman Laughing, 1930.
Diana was furious, but I’m not sure why. The painting fits in size, structure, and subject matter. I pause. Is this woman Dora Maar or Olga Khokhlova? Picasso loved both in 1930. And this woman is interesting, she’s dynamic, she’s . . .
I tilt my head to study her better. In form, Woman Laughing is a perfect execution of Picasso’s surrealist period. But something feels off. I take a sip of my champagne and move on. The next offering, Bullfight, 1934, is also stun—
I gulp and choke, straining to control the spasms in my throat. Champagne sticks to my tongue and cloys. Sticky and sweet. Warm and wrong. I cough again and turn.
A few steps back and I again examine Woman in an Armchair, 1929. Diana instructed the installation team to hang this one right before Woman Laughing. It’s the shocking two-dimensional portrayal of Picasso’s wife, Olga Khokhlova, just as their relationship was warping, disintegrating, and ending. That means the more peaceful Woman Laughing can’t be Olga. His emotions towards her had already soured.
I step forward and study Woman Laughing again, painted just a year later. I see the development of Picasso’s style, his comfort in the midst of the grotesque and frenzied, and yet . . . I look beyond it to Bullfight, painted a few years after that.
I clamp my hand over my mouth, shocked at the obvious truth before me as I center myself before Woman Laughing once more. I can’t pull my eyes from it. My mind reels. Then, unable to think, hold back, or move forward, I call out, “That’s a forgery.”
The world around me stops.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author who has enjoyed a lifelong affair with books. She publishes both fiction and nonfiction, holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University, and currently lives outside Bozeman, MT, with her husband and three children.
Follow Katherine on Instagram, Facebook, X, and her personal website here.
Amazon book page: https://www.amazon.com/English-Masterpiece-Novel-Katherine-Reay/dp/1400347270
Publisher’s book page: https://www.harpercollinsfocus.com/harpermuse/9781400347278/
Author’s website: https://katherinereay.com/
Category: Contemporary Women Writers
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