Thank you Harper Collins and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. The premise was very interesting and I enjoyed reading this book. I found Becky to be a ruthless, selfish thief and never found myself caring much about her. The story was good but the execution of it was just ok.

Becky steals money from her job as her town's treasurer. She uses this money to fund her addiction of buying and selling works of art. The biggest problem I had with Becky is she sees this as a harmless crime but it's not. This went on for over twenty years. Robbing the people of the town out of their pensions, city improvements and wanted community programs. After finishing this book I was disgusted by Becky.

3.5 would be an accurate rating. Really interesting and realistic concept but I felt like I would have liked this more if I had an art history background.

Emily Gray Tedrowe’s The Talented Miss Farwell, follows a brilliant young woman as she uses her intelligence and business acumen to make her way in the world.  As a young teen, Becky is able to revamp her father’s failing business into a profitable one.  After high school, she obtains a job with her small Illinois hometown’s financial department, working her way up the ladder with her math skills and work ethic.  So far, so good. 

For reasons not altogether clear, Becky suddenly decides to start a side career as an art collector, embezzling funds from her town job to finance the endeavor.  As with everything she does, she excels in the art world conducting millions of dollars worth of transactions, all the while successfully hiding her crimes.  She does replace some of the money as she goes along, always intending to fully reimburse the town. These activities continue for decades, with a resolution that most readers will probably find fitting. I found it hard to believe that she escaped detection for all those years – town governments in the state where I live are subject to regular audits, which are tied to their bond ratings, and the interest paid on same.  

The character of Becky is very similar to that of the young protagonist in The Queens Gambit, a brilliant but lost soul with close ties to few people, but hell bent on achieving her goals. Although Becky is able to successfully keep up the façades of both of her lives, devoted town employee/successful art collector, I kept asking why does she do it?

Becky Farwell is a young lady with a talent for math and a bright future.  Shortly after her father falls ill, Becky’s life takes a dramatic turn. Becky/Reba begins to work for her local city government as an accountant. It is while working for the City of Pierson that Becky concocts a plan to embezzle money to finance her obsession with fine art and her double life. Becky/Reba’s love for art takes her on a whirlwind adventure to Chicago and eventually to the high society circles of New York City. 

I enjoyed this book because it really appealed to my accounting background plus Miss. Farwell is one complex and fascinating character.  Most of the time I was rooting for her to do the right thing knowing that she most likely was going to ride this train to the end. The Talented Miss Farwell is a well written, fast paced book that will keep you engaged to the very end. 

Thanks to Harper Collins, NetGalley and The Book Club Girls for the advanced copy of this book.

Loved it! I read it one sitting. Reba is quite the con artist and the author did an excellent job describing the dichotomy of the drastically different worlds she lived in. Its a rocket ride throught the art world, fraud, the art of the con, small town life, friendship, government and art collection.
I enjoyed reading how she became obsessed with art and the desire to 'have it' at all cost and then she had to buy a place to store it! It was all too fascinating and a very pleasurable read.
I thought the book was well paced and the charcaters were well drawn out and believable. I understand this is based on a true story. I look forward to seeing the documentary on Amazon Prime.

Thank you Custom House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this fascinating book.

jb
https://seniorbooklounge.blogspot.com/

Excellent novel by a very talented journeywoman writer. See my review of this title in The Washington Independent Review ... Linked below...

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for this advanced reader's copy.

This book intrigued me by the synopsis.  It started strong for me and then lulled in the middle for a decent finish.

Rebecca Farwell is tasked with running her father's sinking agriculture business in the 80's while she is in high school.  The skills she picked up with a night school accounting class saved the day.  She then applies to work for the town of Pierson as a clerk.  An bill is accidentally double paid and that's when this tale really begins and Reba Farwell is born.

I enjoyed this book, but the middle definitely got too arty for me, but then redeemed itself with more drama and Becky almost getting caught in her completist mission.

I was pleased to receive an ARC of The Talented Miss Farwell by Emily Gray Tedrowe in exchange for my honest review. Becky Farwell probably did not plan to become a criminal mastermind and embezzle more than three million dollars from her town, but it was just so easy for her to find opportunities to take advantage of errors and to create a workflow that eliminated the normal checks and balances that should prevent such a crime. She found herself trying to live two lives and needing more and more money to keep up the facade. When we first meet Emily, she is a sympathetic character. She is a sophomore in high school who is gifted in math. Even though her teacher takes a special interest in her, she is forced to give up any ambitions of her own in order to take care of her dad and the failing family business. She has to defer any hopes of college in order to start working to bring in an extra income. She seems to be a hardworking girl who has great potential. When her father dies it seems that the whole town wants to rally around her. When she found a discrepancy during her work, she immediately took the information to Human Resources, but her concerns were dismissed. As she moves up at work, she watches her supervisor engage in ethically compromising “business” meetings with customers who have a vested interest in a contract with the city. She is offered bribes. She sees other adults getting sloppy with receipts and paperwork and it becomes a game to her to see what she can get away with on her own. She begins looking for opportunities with the intention of only taking what she really needs and replacing the funds one day. She is so gifted at moving funds around that she is applauded as a hero for being able to save the day and “find money” for so many worthwhile projects (which helps ease her conscience about what projects and services are denied due to the money she siphoned). Admittedly, it is intriguing to watch Becky build her “Activity” fund by creating false invoices and to set up bank accounts to allow her to maintain total control of the flow of debits and credits. At this point, the reader wonders how no one questions the lack of checks and balances and how she is able to get away with this for so long! Parts of this book were interesting to me because my job includes working with/overseeing finances and I needed to know when/how she finally got caught. While I can appreciate the beauty in art, most of the descriptions of the composition and artwork were lost on me. Becky/Reba was obviously addicted to the chance to create herself and become a major player in the art scene. She enjoyed the high of finding emerging artists and completing her collections. She gained more confidence in making the big deals even if she used people and betrayed friendships along the way. She spent a fortune gaining access to the big leagues (which is admittedly, beyond anything I can imagine). Most reviewers would agree that Becky seemed to truly lack empathy on how any of her actions impacted other people. We wanted/needed her to get caught. Even though I knew this was based on a true story, I struggled with the plot including the logistics of the travel and time off work. Was no one suspicious of all the time she missed? How did people not recognize her? How did she not get caught in all her lies? Overall, this book was a solid three for me. Not my favorite, but I did finish. I would be interested in hearing more from the author about the real person and inspiration for this story.

The Talented Miss Farwell tells the story of a young, talented woman that excels in running the financials of a small town in Illinois. She becomes obsessed with art and figures out a way to finance her art obsession with money “borrowed” from city accounts. In the beginning she is able to pay back the money, but as her obsession grows, her borrowing becomes embezzling and spirals out of control. It is amazing, but this book is based on a true story. I enjoyed the book and the rising suspense on if/how she would be caught. The book seemed to drag in many areas that could have been condensed. Becky/Reba characterization needed some work to get the reader to root for her. Thanks to HarperCollins Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and submit an unbiased review.

I really liked this book.  I enjoyed the format of each chapter being a year.  The story, even to the end was great.  I really wanted this book to be about 50 pages longer to fill in some of the gaps.  It left me wanting to know more about Becky's motivations.  I would have loved to have seen more of Reba's glamorous life.  Overall, a solid read that I would recommend.

Oh, Miss Farwell!  The delicious tension in this story!  The duplicity of the main character and  the desire of most people to see the best in others forms the bedrock of this story.  That Miss Farwell (Becky to her friends, Reba in her secret life) finds a way to perpetuate her dual life leaves the reader on edge. Ms. Tedrowe is the talented one here.

Loved the melding of genres that happened in this engaging thriller! It pulled me in and I remained gripped through the hole ride. I think the accounting pieces are done in a way to make them interesting, but acknowledge as an accountant, my bias might be showing. Definitely work a try for anyone who likes a good con story.

This novel is well written, but it started out a bit too slow for me. I wanted to jump into the action of Miss Farwell's dangerous game, but instead the book went more in chronological order, which took a while to pick up.

For me this book was exciting because I am in the art world and I have never seen a book proposed like this and I ate it up because it mentioned works that I have studied and I know details about it.

Though for someone that isn’t in the art world I wouldn’t count this as a thriller or very exciting. It’s a mundane look of someone dealing Art and trying not to get caught. There is a thrill for the character but for the reader you know what is going to happen eventually. Everytime she almost gets caught it’s even toned and it doesn’t feel thrilling or make you anxious, you read on to see if this is the time someone finally is going to notice.

Becky and Reba are the same person leading two totally different lives. Becky works at the small town treasury and is great at math. She learns quickly how to skim money off the top and setup different accounts to deposit the money into. Reba starts with turning a couple of paintings for profits but then gets addicted to the art dealing lifestyle. She leads the double life for years and I kept wondering how she didn’t get caught. Great premise for a story but the characters were a little flat. 

Thank you Netgalley for the copy in exchange for a review. The thoughts are my own.

One of the most addictive books I’ve read all year. 

The talented Miss Farwell reads like a mix of an uber-complex heist/financial scam novel blended with a love letter (well, perhaps a love/hate letter) to the art world of the 1980s. 

For me, this was the ultimate page-turner of 2020. I found myself staying up well past bedtime to read and sneaking in a chapter anytime I had 10 minutes to spare. 

Becky is a fascinating protagonist, a tragically flawed heroine of sorts. Or is she an anti-hero? 

One of the most interesting parts of the book is how we as readers ultimately assess Becky’s character. She was a liar, a thief, and at times, a pretty terrible person. But she was also exceptionally smart, hard working, and generous to those she loved, including the town she was essentially robbing. 

The complex plan Becky concocts to divert city funds in order to finance her budding career as an art dealer and collector is riveting. Watching the tangled plot unfold as Becky gets better and better at what she does is captivating. Equally enthralling is watching the whole thing slowly unravel. 

Though paced like a romp, this is sharp, smart story. The ending made me sad, but it’s also the only way this particular story could have concluded. 

Love, love, loved this book.

Very much enjoyed this story. Both sympathized and was angry with the main character.   She was very smart  but conniving with her transactions from the “activity “ to cover her art addiction. And it was an addiction. Her eye and instinct for art was spot on but unfortunately she could only finance her investments through her fraudulent use of her town’s funds. I think she truly meant to pay it all back but every time there was another temptation in the art world. She was really a lonely person and her only real relationships after her father’s death were with her friend Ingrid and maybe to a lesser extent her work relationship with the mayor. Overall it was an interesting and different read.

While I finished the book, I am finding that I can't get it out of my head.  I think it is because I have a hard time deciding whether or not I like the main character.  I'm not sure if I entirely empathized with her, but I can appreciate how her circumstances shaped her and can follow her motivations through her demise.  I didn't want to like her...she is self absorbed, and is embezzling from her town, but at the same time I kept worrying about her getting caught.  She's clever and determined, a self made person.  I like that a lot, especially given her childhood and need to grow up quickly.  But the town she "loves" is suffering on account of her art addiction.  Her "friends" don't get any genuine time/attention from her.  The positive things she does are tainted by her greed.  Her drivers are complicated, but in the end she is overcome by greed and addiction.  I expect the main character will be divisive to audiences...some will hate her, some will not be sure.  That makes for a well thought out character.  So thank you to the author for making her appear straightforward, yet still controversial.  I liked that.  

The story itself was interesting, especially given that it is actually based on a true story.  That always makes the story more interesting to me.  But it was a little too easy for this character to embezzle from her town for so long.  I wanted more close calls with getting caught to keep it more suspenseful.   I didn't like it being easy because it felt more like she was just taking advantage of people, like taking candy from a baby or winning a game by mercy rule...there's no fun in that.  

Thank you to Harper Collins for the complimentary copy through NetGalley

Becky/Reba is a complicated character.  A small town math wiz who works in the town hall, and also a ruthless art investor.  She loves her small Illinois town, and would do anything to help her community.  At the same time, she is embezzling money to pay for her art addiction and driving the town into bankruptcy.  

The story was interesting , but also a little predictable.   As the story progresses, you realize that at some point Becky’s “Activity” will all come crashing down.  

I enjoyed the book,.

Thank you Netgalley, Emily Gray Tedrowe and Harper Collins for the ARC.