4.5 stars rounded up!

Reading this was a case of "ooh pretty cover and a chance to read other genres!" so I went in largely blind, and I ended up thoroughly enjoying the story. It's marketed as a thriller, but it's not a fast-paced adrenaline-filled story. Instead, it's the story of two women facing different (but similar) situations and what they're willing to do (or not do) to get what they want. Honestly, I thought the character work was fabulous, especially with Diana's POV. Lily and her family annoyed me through the roof for a while, but they grew on me in the end and I found myself rooting for their success. I also really enjoyed the post-WWII setting. I've read a decent amount of literature set during WWII, but I've not seen as much focused on the aftermath, and it was interesting learning about the effect that WWII had on the art world as I followed Diana and Lily's stories. If you like historical fiction, character-driven stories, and painting, then this is the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In The English Masterpiece, Katherine Reay tells a narrative centered around art, mystery, and self discovery. Set in 1970's London, the story follows Lily, assistant to the keeper of the Tate's Gallery Modern Collections, who suspected a forged piece of work at the new Picasso exhibit.

This novel was a bit different from Reay's recent historical fiction novels. While I found myself invested in the book, I never felt fully connected to the characters and plot. It's a solid pick for art lovers, historical fiction fans, and those who enjoy gentle mysteries.

- historical fiction, mystery, light romance, art world,
1970's, London

What a fantastic slow burn art forgery mystery with a hint of romance! I loved The English Masterpiece. Katherine Reay delivers a captivating cat & mouse game set in the glamorous 1970’s London art scene filled with wonderful themes of finding courage to express yourself, overcoming the past, & letting go of control.

As the assistant to the Tate’s Modern Collections keeper, Lily finally feels she’s arrived when asked to help plan an exhibit honoring the recently deceased Pablo Picasso. Everything is going well until she notices something off about one of his paintings. In the midst of the gallery with reporters nearby, she utters three life changing words “it’s a forgery.” From this point on, Lily’s world’s turned upside down. She desperately needs this job with a disabled mother & father struggling with PTSD to support. But, can she prove what she’s saying is true? And, when she’s accused of being the forger, can she prove her innocence?

After years of hard work, Lily’s mentor, Diana achieved the unimaginable; she’s become the first female keeper of the Tate’s Modern Collections. This commemoration of Picasso’s works was supposed to be her crowning achievement, featuring a newly discovered work of the artist. Lily’s accusation’s thrown the art world in chaos & threatens her own position at the Tate, especially when Carter, an insurance investigator from New York comes to investigate the painting.

I listened to the audiobook version & was completely captivated by the narrators & story. They both did a fabulous job bringing Lily & Diana to life & all the secondary characters.

This superb, intricate mystery kept me on the edge of my seat as Lily tries desperately to clear her name. I thoroughly enjoyed Lily’s & Carter’s relationship which frequently puts them at odds with each other. I also enjoyed Lily’s family. Lily struggles with an incident from her childhood which still haunts her. I enjoyed seeing her finally come to terms with what happened & realizing she can’t control everything. The real forger is extremely crafty & the ending was brilliantly executed.

The setting was absolutely amazing. I loved the locations especially the scene in Ian Fleming’s bar. I also loved the cameo from Pierce Brosnan.

Highly recommend to historical fiction fans! I received an advanced copy from the publisher with no expectation of a positive review. All opinions are completely my own & voluntarily provided. 4.5-5 stars!

3.5⭐️

This was a lighter historical fiction story with mystery, intrigue, art, and hints of romance. Katherine knows how to write a compelling story with beautiful writing that immerses the reader into the art world. I found this book overall interesting, but I found it to be a bit slow for me personally. I got more invested in the second half with the twists and turns, wanting to know how it would end. I thought the audiobook was great, and loved the narrators!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the ARC in exchange for an honest review; all thoughts are my own.

Katherine Reay has become a favorite of mine for historical fiction! The English Masterpiece takes place in 1970's London in the art world. This book was fast-paced and so fun! It all starts when our main character, Lily, declares a painting in the much anticipated exhibit to honor Picasso to be a forgery! That leads to a huge mystery to be solved - if it really is a fake, then who was the one who painted it?

The storytelling and unwinding of this story was masterful and I definitely recommend this one to anyone who loves history and art!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

I enjoyed this historical fiction book! I loved that the missing art (fictionalized) belonged to Picasso because he is an artist that I love. The characters in this book is great and so is the underlying mystery with the forgery! Highly recommended!

This was a fun listen with some minor flaws. I loved the era and the setting—1970s London art world. But the plotting of the story didn’t work as well as it could have—the beginning was slow and I almost abandoned it. But I’m glad I hung on because it had a few unexpected twists. The main plot worked well but I didn’t quite get the conflict with Lily’s family. That storyline distracted from the overall story in my opinion. I had a digital copy as well as audiobook and I preferred the audiobook. Both narrators had wonderful accents and created a charming listening experience.

I have never given Katherine Reay less than 5 stars and The English Masterpiece brings that streak to 4 books. I’m not sure anyone does historical fiction better than Reay. The characters? Beautifully developed. The setting? Perfect. The plot? A moment for the plot… spectacular. The pace? Unputdownable. Do yourself a favor and dive in to this one asap.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Muse and Harper Muse Audiobooks for a copy provided for an honest review.

This is my fifth novel by this author and while not my favorite, before I knew it, I had fallen in love with the characters. Not to mention that I kept reminiscing about a favorite movie while reading, then found out in the author’s note that she was inspired by the 1999 version of The Thomas Crown Affair. I primarily listened to the audiobook which was expertly narrated by Fiona Hardingham and Saskia Maarleveld, a personal favorite of mine.

The story follows Lily in first person and Diana in third in 1973 London. Lily works at an art gallery as Diana’s assistant where they are planning a Picasso exhibit. At the opening in front of large crowd, Lily discovers that one of the paintings is a forgery and inadvertently announces it to everyone putting her job and her boss’s job in jeopardy. Things quickly escalate leaving a bewildered Lily filled with uncertainty about how to explain what she knows, not to mention suspicious when an insurance investigator uncovers her own connections to the art.

I’ll admit that I was quite frustrated with Lily at times, with her withholding information and hiding her history with art, but as the book progressed, the characters grew on me so much that my frustrations with Lily’s actions, or inactions, were quickly replaced with curiosity about the characters and what was going on with the paintings. I found the story entertaining and fun and by the end had favorite characters that made me sorry to see the book end.

Recommended to historical fiction and art lovers.

My first book of this author and I really enjoyed listening to this amazing historical fiction. It was fast paced and the drama it brought. It’s nice to discover authors that I definitely will read their books.
The narrators did an excellent work in the making of the characters in this book alive.
Thank you NetGalley and to Harper Muse Audiobooks .

Audio specific notes:
- Always, ALWAYS a fan of Saskia Maarleveld, she adds such complexity to her characters!
- Special shoutout to Fiona Hardingham for navigating the detective’s American/Irish accent and capturing Lily’s brightness.

General notes:

Overall I quite liked this one! I think it needed a thorough slimming down or fleshing out, but the core of the story was very fun to follow. This feels like a Kate Quinn-lite adventure, complete with Nazi complications. If historical fiction is your thing (and it’s mine!), it’s worth a read.

A few notes:
- The art forgery mystery was really interesting to follow, but I lost interest in the overly complex framing resolution for the last 15% or so.
- The background characters were both somehow too complex and also too shallow — I think alluding to deeper stories without giving so many details would’ve been fine.
- Frankly, too many characters for such an intimate story.
- Unnecessary love story!
- The protagonist feels too young to be 27 but also put forward as an innocent young ingenue.

Katherine Reay has such a gift! I can’t even imagine the research that went into this book. Wonderfully done! I always learn a lot from her books including this one. I’m so glad I was able to listen to the audio — brilliantly done! Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay is set in 1973 London and Lily Summer is the newly promoted assistant keeper to the Tate Modern Gallery. Her boss, Diana Gilden, is the first woman to become keeper of a major art institution and Lily's idol. Beyond her impeccable taste in art, Diana is Lily's style icon and she attempts to emulate her in every way.

When Pablo Picasso dies, Diana and Lily set up retrospective exhibition to honor the late artist, pulling it off in 2 weeks, a herculean feat that Lily takes great pride in. Fizzing with delight and and anticipation while attending the grand opening, Lily, a secret artist herself, finds herself blurting out that a piece in the exhibition is a forgery.

Stunned by her inadvertent announcement, Lily sets off a firestorm within the Tate and London as a whole. Determined to prove herself wrong and get back into Diana's good graces, Lily attempts to work with an insurance investigator hired to review the claim to clear her and the Tate's good name.

I found this layered story fascinating. Reay sets up twists and turns throughout the novel and keeps us guessing through this heavily researched historical novel. Told from both Lily's and Diana's perspective, the dual narration adds depth and clarity to the story. I loved seeing Lily bloom (pun intended) as she sets to free herself from her own perceptions of herself and how she fits into her family and the world at large.

My one quibble is that I did feel the ending was a bit rushed and tied up a bit too neatly but given the adrenaline of the story, that did feel like a bit of a relief all the same.

This book is perfect for art loves and historical fans alike. Highly recommend.

This book will be a joy to both art enthusiasts and mystery lovers alike. I loved the 1970s, the London setting, and the bustle around an exhibit for Pablo Picasso right after his death (1973). As a character-driven reader, I appreciated that the author incorporated both family drama and a touch of romance into our main characters' storylines.

The action starts within a few chapters, when Lily, an assistant at the Tate Museum, blurts out that Picasso’s “Woman Laughing” is a forgery. Her boss, Diana, fears she is watching her career go up in smoke due to her insolent assistant.

But Lily’s outburst sets off a cat-and-mouse chase to find answers and the forger. Not only will you be immersed in the art world and the tracing of stolen works of art, but the addition of ‘70s pop-culture references also makes it fun and nostalgic.

🎧 If you like audiobooks, this is a fun one to pair with the book. Narrators Fiona Hardingham and Saskia Maarleveld effectively utilize accents and strong emotions, bringing these characters to life.

Thank you @uplitreads @katherinereay and @harpermusebooks for this gifted book.
Thank you @harpermuseaudio for the gifted audiobook via #NetGalley.

I enjoy the story line - art history and forgery. I also enjoyed the narrator as well as the setting - 1970s London

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. And I loved Lily's character. Story was also gripping and worth picking up. I wanted Diana's narrator to be more clear and crisp, sorry but the voice, for me was too whisper-y.
Overall, a good, enjoyable read with a mix of women in arts and their status in society during 1970s.

It took a while for Lily to grow on me; I found her relationship with her family baffling, to be honest. The story started slowly, but I found myself much more engaged as the tension built and Lily started to figure out what was going on with the “Picasso” painting at the center of this tale. I did really enjoy the 1970s London-art world setting. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

This is outside of my typical normal reads but the synopsis had me hooked. A potential art forgery & a young art gallery worker who is going to try to solve the mystery with a light side romance that is very sweet - this one was so fun & highly recommended for those who like fiction/women's fiction with a fun art mystery. The audiobook narrator was excellent!

This is a review of the audiobook.

I enjoyed this book. I love a good historical fiction and this one was my first one not set around WWII or The Vietnam War. It took me a little while to get into this one but it does start a little slow. But it picks up fairly quickly. I loved take on the art world in this era. I also was not aware Picasso was still alive in the 1970's so that was a fun fact to learn.

I like the mystery in this book. The first half was a bit slow but the second half I found to be really gripping. I like the dual POV, I liked how the forger is revealed at the end and captured BUT I really don’t understand the family resolution and I think it’s quite spoiled the book for me. I elaborate on that below - contains spoilers to do with the Lily’s past her family NOT with the forged art or the real mystery.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC…


!!! SPOILERS !!!


Lily feels guilt for “causing” an accident when she was five. She was FIVE, choked on her (ten years older) sister’s marble, and when she was being driven to the hospital, there was a car accident and her mother was paralyzed. Because of this, she feels a sense of obligation to take care of her family. Now why was her sister and HER MOTHER’s reaction to the reveal of this guilt to be anger and something akin to guilt tripping?

Lily has PTSD from childhood trauma. She has a disabled mother (whose disability she feels responsible for) and a father who suffers from shell shock. It makes no sense to me that the response was basically “how DARE you feel guilty for something that happened when you were five and feel like you need to take care of us” not “I’m so sorry you lived with that guilt for so long. You were a child, but please see that we are capable adults and we only need as a daughter.” I think the author wanted to make the wheelchair-bound mother be empowered, but honestly, she comes off a little mean. Lily needed to be told that her mother is a capable woman, but to call her prideful for wanting to help her family just really rubbed me the wrong way…