Forgery: A Novel [Hardcover]

Sabina Murray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2007

The spellbinding new novel from the award-winning author of The Caprices and A Carnivore’s Inquiry transports us to a mysterious world of deception, political intrigue, and desire. In the summer of 1963, American Rupert Brigg travels to Greece to collect classical pieces for his Uncle William’s art collection. Rupert’s first discovery, however, is that Athens is a shadowy place that hides a tangle of fork-tongued diplomacy and duplicitous women, a city of replicas and composites that, like a hall of mirrors, calls to question what is real and what is false. Journeying to the secluded island of Aspros, among a circle of artists and aristocrats each with their own secrets, Rupert finds the very pieces he’s searching for, but can he escape the tragedy that ended his brief marriage? As beautiful as Rupert’s discoveries are, beneath the surface lurk rumors of insurrection, fabrication, and even murder. Seductive, compelling, and sly, Forgery is a sophisticated book about the value and meaning of art, love and the corrosive power of grief.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Murray's latest, following the PEN/Faulkner Award–winning The Caprices (2002) and A Carnivore's Inquiry (2005), opens in the summer of 1963, as art and antiquities dealer Rupert Brigg travels to Athens to scout out ancient artifacts on behalf of his millionaire uncle, William. Rupert, who narrates icily in sharp contrast to his garrulous personality, connects with Steve Kelly, a canny journalist with deep contacts. The scene shifts to the island of Aspros, where Rupert encounters a coterie of expatriates that includes the sculptor Jack Weldon, who, despite art world recognition, spends most of his time faking up Achilles and Diomedes, and Rupert's romantic interest, the withering, erratic Olivia. Just as Rupert is deciding whether or not he has come up with the archeological find of the century—a spurious second century A.D. torso dredged up in a zucchini field—the offstage murder of a prominent character is phoned in by Steve Kelly. One by one, Rupert's own secrets (a stifled childhood, a spectacularly failed marriage) are slowly revealed, showcasing Murray's narrative cunning, and setting the narrative's pulse racing. Rupert's true identity is the book's parallel mystery, and Murray has one believing that discretion may be the soul of fraudulence until the ambiguous dénouement, which leaves readers to re-evaluate the pieces of plot for authenticity. (June)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Murray's latest novel tells the story of Rupert Briggs, a recently divorced man who, in the summer of 1963, heads off to Greece to find new items for his uncle's art collection. But, like quite a few things in this beautifully written book, the title is deceiving; although it does refer to dubious works of art, it also (and primarily) refers to Rupert himself, a man who isn't quite what he appears to be. There's also friendly Steve Kelly, who may not be merely the journalist he claims to be. In fact, the story itself is something of a forgery, a psychological thriller posing as a gentle travelogue, a fairly dark voyage of self-discovery posing as a relatively light story of comic misadventure. Rupert is an intricately designed, intriguingly presented character: we know we like him, but we also know there are plenty of things about himself he isn't telling us (including, perhaps, the truth about the death of his young son). Murray does a lovely job of transporting us to mid-1960s Greece, a country teetering on the edge of political upheaval; unlike the people, this place, which no longer exists, feels entirely genuine. Forgery is a deeply complex, emotionally and intellectually rewarding novel about the lengths people can go to to make themselves into the people they wish they were. Pitt, David

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1ST edition (June 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802118445
• ISBN-13: 978-0802118448
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,728,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars you should read this book!, December 13, 2007

By 

Patricia R. Hennessy "Patty H." (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Forgery: A Novel (Hardcover)

I read this book last spring when I was starting a very new experience in my life. I had just moved to Manhattan and I took the subway to work in a school in a very economically challeged neighborhood in Brooklyn. The school was amazing, but the trip was long and I often found myself getting sad when the train emptied out at Wall Street, which marked the halfway mark of my commute. But luckily for me, I was never alone because I had Rupert and Nikos, and the rest of the wonderful characters in this most brilliantly written novel. Beyond the characters, Murray's writing style in general made me feel curious about art and the Greek culture in general. Sabina Murray's writing style (that got me with Carnivore's Inquiry) just makes me hungry for more!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Starred Review from Booklist, September 5, 2007

By 

Reader (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forgery: A Novel (Hardcover)

In his starred review for Booklist, David Pitt puts it best:
(starred review) Forgery.
Murray, Sabina (author).
June 2007. 272p. Grove, hardcover, $24 (0-8021-1844-5).
REVIEW. First published June 1, 2007 (Booklist).

Murray's latest novel tells the story of Rupert Briggs, a recently divorced man who, in the summer of 1963, heads off to Greece to find new items for his uncle's art collection. But, like quite a few things in this beautifully written book, the title is deceiving; although it does refer to dubious works of art, it also (and primarily) refers to Rupert himself, a man who isn't quite what he appears to be. There's also friendly Steve Kelly, who may not be merely the journalist he claims to be. In fact, the story itself is something of a forgery, a psychological thriller posing as a gentle travelogue, a fairly dark voyage of self-discovery posing as a relatively light story of comic misadventure. Rupert is an intricately designed, intriguingly presented character: we know we like him, but we also know there are plenty of things about himself he isn't telling us (including, perhaps, the truth about the death of his young son). Murray does a lovely job of transporting us to mid-1960s Greece, a country teetering on the edge of political upheaval; unlike the people, this place, which no longer exists, feels entirely genuine. Forgery is a deeply complex, emotionally and intellectually rewarding novel about the lengths people can go to to make themselves into the people they wish they were.
-- David Pitt

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mood & conversation strong; plot week plot in Murray's latest, June 16, 2007

By 

Roy E. Perry "amateur philosopher" (Nolensville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Forgery: A Novel (Hardcover)

An accomplished stylist, Sabina Murray (Slow Burn, The Caprices, and A Carnivore's Inquiry), currently a member of the MFA faculty at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, has written, in Forgery, a novel strong on aesthetic mood and weak on plot.

The story is told in the first person by Rupert Brigg, 30, an American plagued by guilt and grief over the death of his son Michael and a divorce from his wife Hester.

Rupert travels to Athens, Delphi, and the Greek archipelago, in search of classical artifacts unearthed by archaeological digs. He travels to Aspros and other islands of the Cyclades, encountering a menage of donkeys, sheep, and goats along the narrow streets.

The conversationalists who populate this novel are akin to the avant-garde artists and French existentialists of West Bank cafes. There's a lot of cigarette smoking, imbibing of alcohol, and, oddly, consumption of eggplants. One wonders where all the chatter and wandering hither and thither is leading.

Picaresque? Peripatetic? Pathetic? One struggles to describe this strange novel, and to arrive at some "justification" (a big word in this story) for its publication.

Rupert Brigg is not a bad man; he's just amoral. He doesn't believe in right and wrong, good and evil. Even when he learns of a murder, he responds with a curious shrugging-off, apathetic, "whatever" fatalism.

The ancient Greek philosophers sought the meaning of the true, the good, and the beautiful. Sabina Murray's Forgery is a similar examination of the meaning (if there is such) and the relationship (if such exists) of these qualities.

Forgery is an artsy, subtle, and sophisticated work. Its postmodern skepticism casts suspicion on naive interpretations of reality and warns us that people are often not who we think they are and things are often not what they seem.