"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."

Art world, check. Forgeries, check. Period drama, check!

(Review published on Goodreads and linked below)

I greatly enjoyed this novel. It was beautifully written with characters that tugged at my heartstrings and made me want to last out simultaneously. Great read! I have recommended it to my audience and would love other chances to review books like this.

I enjoyed The English Masterpiece and will continue to read whatever Katherine Reay writes next. She is great at weaving together historical events, people, fashion, and culture into compulsively readable stories. This story is set in the world of classic paintings and the Tate Gallery in London in 1973 just after the death of Pablo Picasso. I think I enjoyed the plot more than the characters in this book though the mystery element of who is the forger is revealed to the reader mid-way through the book then wraps up predictably in the storyline. Thank you to the publisher Harper Muse and Netgalley for an early copy to read and review. This book will come out on June 10, 2025.

The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay is a unique and mysterious novel, set in 1970s London. The narrative was well-written and draws the reader in to the fast paced suspense. Lily, is a recently promoted assistant to the Tate’s Modern Collections keeper, Diana Gilden. Lily helps plan a Picasso exhibit, honouring the passing of the artist. At the opening of the exhibit, Lily stands in front of one of the paintings and says, in front of the crowd, “It’s a forgery.” When Lily is at risk of being blamed for the forgery she seeks to uncover the truth, bringing the reader along on a thrilling ride around London.

Thank you to the publisher, Harper Muse, NetGalley and the author for an eARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Raey does it again! Her historical fiction novels have been an all time favorite (I mean, I love all her books, really). The English Masterpiece was a wonderful read. When I tell you I was not prepared for where this book went and how far it could go! It was thrilling, heartwarming and tackles some deep questions about originality and expressing one’s self. I love the family dynamic as Raey typically includes in her books. At first I was conflicted about how I felt about some characters but the ending made good. I can’t wait for Raey’s next novel.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and @HarperMuse for this ARC. Lily is working for Diana at the Tate when they find out Picasso has passed away. Wanting to pay tribute to the artist, Diana wants Lily to create an exhibit and luncheon with several of his prominent paintings. In two weeks time, she pulls together this amazing event but while enjoying the paintings, she spies one as a forgery and says it loud enough for others to hear. This unleashes a pandemonium at both the exhibit and in the entire art world. Everyone blames Lily and she must fight to get to the bottom of the forgery. Great read as always from Reay! #TheEnglishMasterpiece #KatherineReay #HarperMuse #June2025

Wow, wow, wow. I LOVED this book.

I have read & loved all of Katherine Reay's books & partly what I enjoy so much is they're all so different & unique. She does fantastic research to make sure everything is accurate to the time period & what she's writing about.

I don't know much about art, but I enjoyed this delve into a bit of the life of an artist or people who work in the art field.

The characters were well developed, well written & I enjoyed how the book played out. I felt for & empathized with the characters. I rejoiced & agonized with them & while some of it was heartbreaking & hard to read, that's also real life & I appreciated the author's insight.

I can't wait to reread the book, as I always catch different nuances a 2nd or 3rd time.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for this ARC Read. All opinions are my own.

Lily is an assistant keep at the Tate Gallery in London - what we would understand as an assistant curator. She works to pull off a near-impossible task as she helps coordinate a last-minute Picasso exhibit in memoriam. Everything comes to a crashing halt during the opening when she pauses at a painting and claims “It’s a forgery.”

The ensuing story details Lily’s background and the unique challenges she faces with her family, her art, and her own identity. Simultaneously, we learn about Diana, the curator who is deeply enmeshed with layers of self-curation. These two women serve as foils to each other, each reflecting a different way of handling trauma and challenges. Reay does a masterful job balancing their arcs while humanizing both experiences.

Always love the look into “adjacent” history - things in the more recent modern past that I don’t know much about because I haven’t lived them. The pop culture references - Warhol, Brosnan - the fashion details, and life details like rotary phones being replaced with touch tone all helped ground the story in its timeline.

A word on the structure and set-up: I really loved that the big plot wow happened early on, and that the reader gets clues into what might really be happening before the characters themselves discover it. This shifts the focus from simply a whodunit set up to the much more fascinating question of why? And how? Questions that take the reader into well-executed character development and themes of survival, guilt, forgiveness, and growth.

Things that didn’t land for me: the use of chiaroscuro. It’s not the correct art term to apply to Impressionist painting, and its two appearances will stand out to students of art history and artistic styles. Fortunately, the broader point of viewing paintings up close v at a distance, and how that changes perception, is well-made in those moments by the surrounding descriptions.

I also felt like a few moments tilted to the didactic, particularly Conor’s question of who influences Lily and her general self-reclamation that happens in the denouement. We don’t see Lily interact very much with influencing people beyond Diana, Paddy, and possibly her sister. Along with that, the final wrap up felt very neat and tidy. Perhaps fleshed out into an additional chapter or two, it would have landed more authentically to Lily.

It's a fake!!

Three little words, but words heard by everyone at the exhibit including a reporter.

How could this Picasso painting worth 500 million dollars be a fake?

Now no one will buy it once the press release goes out.

Lily can't believe she said what she said.

She was told to immediately leave.

She HAS to get her job back - can she?

And can she prove that it is or is not a fake?

We follow Lily as she tries to figure it all out.

There are some evildoers and lots of tension that come on the scene after a very slow start so don’t give up too soon.

Fans of the art world and mystery fans will devour this book. 4/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

An engaging and surprising mystery in the upper echelons of the London art world of the 1970s. I loved its plucky heroine, her complicated boss, and shifting between their perspectives. Gorgeously evokes London at an interesting historical moment, as well as an important moment in the art world immediately following Picasso's death. So much fun!

A masterfully written story about some sneaky shenanigans going on in the art world! I really enjoyed this book! There were some unexpected twists, a little romance, and some growth of character. If you want something a little different, I recommend this one!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance e-copy of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

A historical fiction mystery fit for experienced art-lovers and novices alike! This mystery set in the 1970s London art world focuses on a Picasso: is the painting real, or the work of a master forger? The story-frame reveals well-drawn, nuanced and sympathetic characters who present mysteries of their own, including a budding artist and the tragic accident that haunts her family to this day, the transformation of a European immigrant into an art-gallery sophisticate (but is she a puppeteer or a marionette?), an art collector and purchaser of the Picasso (but is he a dupe or part of an audacious scheme?), and an art-educated law enforcement officer, on loan from New York. Author Reay also includes a broad-based look at many art masters and their works in a very satisfying and intriguing read. Don’t miss this one!

One of my favorite genres is books set in the art world. I enjoyed The English Masterpiece. This was a wonderful story about an art forgery that almost passed for real, if not for a young art assistant, Lily. who declares a Picasso to be a forgery- very loudly and very publicly at the opening night of the exhibit, throwing the international art world into a tizzy. Which turns into a mystery as her boss attempts to place the blame on Lily, while she conducts her own investigation, while racing against the clock, to find out who is behind this forgery. This is a fun book. If you are an art fun it is doubly fun! I am new to this author, but it is clear that Ms Reay conducted a massive amount of research on art and artists.

Thanks to Net Galley for this ARC opportunity.

London, England, 1973

“It’s a forgery.”

Recently, Lily was promoted to assistant keeper to Tate’s Modern Collection keeper Diana Gilden. Lily helps Diana plan and execute a world-class exhibit to showcase Picasso’s work after his recent death. This is everything that Lily is working towards to find her footing in the art world, which she wants to be a bigger part of.

Lily doesn’t tell anyone of her love of art, specifically her secret closet (a utility room) at St. Martin’s school, where the janitor, Paddy, has helped her create. Even her family has no idea.

The English Masterpiece is about authenticity, whether in the art world, your personal life, it’s about creating a believable facade around what you want others to believe about you that you start to believe the lies too. Once Diana realizes how easy it is to turn the blame onto Lily, her life turns into chaos.

This started slowly, but the layers kept coming, which kept me coming back. This was a darkish, slow-burning thriller in the art world, and I had no idea how addictive it would be for me. I loved how this centred around identity and who you are, without the influences that exist, whether we realize it or not. Recommended!

My gratitude to Netgalley and Harper Muse. All opinions expressed are honest and mine.

Overall, great story!

Lily is a young lady from the working class, living in the high-class world of art. When a misstep threatens to ruin her career and the very life she has built for herself, Lily is thrown into a world of chaos and must uncover the truth.

I feel like these characters were new territory for Reay, more complicated than other characters we've come across in other books. The story was fairly gripping, but I didn't find the romantic plot (which was very small in this novel) to be very believable. Overall though, it's a Katherine Reay book, and I've never been disappointed yet!

The premise of the English Masterpiece is fascinating: 1973, the art world, paintings, forgeries and the emergence of art plundered by the Nazis and its uncertain provenance. Yet this book, set in London, is written by an American for an American audience, and as a Londoner the Americanisms grated on me and made me feel that the story lacked authenticity. Then the frequent factual inaccuracies (there was no ‘headmaster’ in Saint Martins school of Art. The British Museum is the world's oldest national museum and didn’t open in 1973..) alienated me further. The descriptions of clothing labels, French wines and European decor to denote status and luxury feel like luxe details rather than character insight or world building. The Art world I was looking forward to learning more about was also lacking: Monet’s painting was described as ‘Chiaroscuro at its finest’. I’d argue Caravaggio is chiaroscuro at its finest. The writing felt superficial, rushed and simplistic to me, with everything overstated. This lack of subtlety and substance made me unable to face reading to the end which is rare for me. I couldn’t connect with the setting and the characters felt like fatuous tropes. . I think I am the wrong reader for this book. I suspect that someone who knows London from films and is interested in the art world as a glamorous backdrop would enjoy this book a great deal more.

I don't know much about art, but I really enjoyed this new novel by Katherine Reay. She does an excellent job of bringing the art to life through her descriptions. This was a mystery/thriller that kept me flipping pages into the night. It was difficult to put away the book to sleep. I liked that it was set in 1973, so the characters couldn't use technology to help them solve the mystery. I highly recommend this book.

I love a book about art. I love a book even more about art forgery and a mystery. I think books like this take so much talent from writers because of the historical aspects of the art world/artists that need to be researched. This is just top down, a wonderful read.

I love Diana and Lily's characters. They seem one way on the surface but as the story moves, we find out the layers of secrets hidden beneath. They aren't entirely who they say they are which makes this a complex read.

This is my first time reading Katherine Reay, but I can tell you that it won't be my last!

Thank you so much to Harper Muse and Netgalley for the eARC of this book!

I really enjoyed this historical fiction novel by Reay. It delves into the art world, forgeries, and the personal growth of a Young woman who gets entangled in a forgery scheme.

Lily and her manager Diana are having the best time organizing exhibitions for Tate London. It's The Seventies and art is having a moment.
The book starts out in a light, fun tone, showing the museum as the place to be.
But then Lily trips, one small action that has huge consequences.
The tone of the story changes to dark, unfair, anxious. Some characters are not who they're supposed to be. I keep looking over my shoulder and holding my breath.
Forgery, greed, betrayal, dominance, the usual suspects for a great psychological thriller.
Lily's creative nature is the tiny spark in this dark space. Seeing her evolve into her authentic self is a beautiful thing to watch.
The English Masterpiece is an attractive read, well written and properly paced.
After all that excitement I found the ending quite predictable.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Muse for the ARC.