Zoia's Gold: A Novel [Hardcover]

Philip Sington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 21, 2006

Drawing faithfully on Madama Zoia's actual correspondence and on accounts of her early life, Zoia's Gold tells the story of a remarkable woman and her bewitching world.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this gorgeously written novel of suspense, which shifts between contemporary Sweden, czarist Russia and 1920s Paris, Sington uses the life of actual Russian-born painter Zoia Korvin-Krukovsky (1903–1999) as a puzzle—and fractured mirror—for the fictional Marcus Elliot, a British art dealer living in Sweden whose career is scuttled by his role in a scam importing undervalued icons. Commissioned to write a catalogue for an exhibition of Zoia's luminous paintings (gold leaf over gesso), Elliot becomes seduced across time by his subject, believing Zoia holds the key to the suicide of his Swedish-born mother. Sington beautifully captures the raw Baltic winter as Elliot delves into Zoia's correspondence, trying to determine whether her "Crimean" paintings are lost, destroyed or his own fevered fantasy. Elliot is unsure whether his work for another art dealer is part of a legitimate retrospective of Zoia's oeuvre or preparation for an illegal auction that will violate the old woman's will. Readers will come away intrigued by Korvin-Krukovsky and the cross-cultural conundrum Sington so elegantly constructs. Under the pseudonym Patrick Lynch, Sington has coauthored six thrillers. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

A solo effort for Sington, who with Gary Humphreys writes fast-paced thrillers under the Patrick Lynch pseudonym, this "psychological detective story" is a decided change of pace. Told through flashbacks and letters, this novel is loosely based on the real-life story of Madame Zoia, a Russian artist who was raised among the young royalty of the Romanov court. The enigmatic Madame Zoia dies in her Swedish country home in the winter of 1999, leaving behind a collection of her signature works painted on gold leaf as well as an assortment of letters and other private papers. Marcus Elliott, a former art dealer in disgrace from a black-market antiquities scandal, is hired to write the catalog for the sale of her paintings. As he begins to investigate her papers, he becomes mesmerized by her intriguing personal life: her privileged upbringing among the czarist nobility, dramatic escape from the Bolsheviks, artistic endeavors in the Bohemian Paris of the 1920s--not to mention her complex and varied love affairs. As Marcus uncovers her secrets, his growing obsession with her life and loves begins to have a strange effect on his own life. Mystery and suspense readers will find this slow going, but others may find it engrossing historical fiction. Michael Gannon
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (November 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743291107
• ISBN-13: 978-0743291101
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,829,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Philip Sington was born in Cambridge. His father was an industrial chemist and his mother an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). He studied history at Trinity College, Cambridge and then worked as a business journalist and magazine editor for nine years.

Between 1993 and 2001 he co-authored six novels under the joint pseudonym Patrick Lynch, selling well over a million copies worldwide. The third, 'Carriers', was adapted for the screen in 1998. He also co-wrote the stage play 'Lip Service', which was awarded 4 stars by 'The Scotsman' at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival.

His first solo novel, 'Zoia's Gold', was published in 2005. This was followed in 2009 by 'The Einstein Girl', which was a national bestseller in Germany, and by 'The Valley of Unknowing' in 2012. His work has been translated into twenty-one foreign languages.

Philip lives in London with his German wife, Uta, and their two children.