Spanning three centuries and three continents that are linked by a mesmerizing work of art, THE LAST PAINTING OF SARA DE VOS is itself a masterwork from the acclaimed novelist Dominic Smith. Bridging the historical and the contemporary, the cast of characters in this finely woven story includes a female artist of the Dutch Golden Age (the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to a Guild of St. Luke in the Netherlands), a blue-blooded New Yorker whose family has owned the artist’s only known work since the seventeenth century, and a celebrated scholar who painted a forgery of the painting during the 1950s. Featuring a haunting winter scene in which a barefoot girl watches ice skaters at dusk, the painting transcends its origins, falling under the gaze of collectors and curators, lovers and thieves.

Inspired by the little-known women who became professional artists in the age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, THE LAST PAINTING OF SARA DE VOS is ultimately a fascinating exploration of the nature of truth and the role of creative expression in our lives