Fiction by Karen Swan
At the beginning of this story, set in approximately 2017, an apartment in Paris is discovered that has been sealed and unoccupied since the second world war. The place is owned by the rich Vermeil family, but they had been unaware of its existence; that is, most of them did not know about it. When the information comes to light, M. Vermeil finds out that his widowed nonagenarian mother had kept the property a secret on purpose, and indeed the old lady still wants to completely forbid entry. But why?
M. Vermeil calls on British art agent Flora Sykes to investigate the property and see what it contains, keeping to the letter of his mother's wishes by not going into the apartment himself. Flora discovers a treasure trove of artwork, including several pieces of great value. She begins to research the provenance of the art so that it can be sold, and runs up against a problem: the valuable art pieces seem to have all passed through the hand of a known and hated Nazi collaborator, a man known for stripping assets from Jewish families during the war. It's an ethical dilemma. Does this art belong to the Vermeil family at all?
As an intellectual exercise, this plot is really interesting and gave me a lot to think about. However, as a story it was a bit lacking. The author left some loose ends but still managed some leaping coincidental plot twists, and the characters were often less than believable. I didn't love this book.
