The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild will be featured on the Radio 2 Book Club on Monday 1 June.
The book was selected with the help of a panel made up of Reading Agency and library staff from across the UK.
We have an exclusive extract available for you to read.
The Improbability of Love
Annie McDee is searching for a present for her unsuitable lover in a neglected second-hand shop. Within the jumble of junk and tack, a grimy painting catches her eye. Leaving the store with the picture after spending her meagre savings, she prepares an elaborate dinner for two, only to be stood up, the gift gathering dust on her mantelpiece. But every painting has a story – and if it could speak, what would it tell us?
For Annie has stumbled across The Improbability of Love, a lost masterpiece by Antoine Watteau, one of the most influential French painters of the eighteenth century. Soon Annie is drawn unwillingly into the art world, and finds herself pursued by a host of interested parties that would do anything to possess her picture. In her search for the painting’s true identity, Annie will uncover the darkest secrets of European history – and in doing so, she will learn more about herself, opening up to the possibility of falling in love again.
Selection panel review
Our reading panel of librarians and staff from The Reading Agency enjoyed The Improbability of Love – here are some of their comments:
“What a delightful read – a satirical look at the world of art with some love, mystery and comedy thrown in for good measure. There is a darker element to the plot which I won’t spoil here, but it is tempered by a wonderful cast of characters and has the unusual addition of the painting as an occasional narrator. It’s certainly a clever way of weaving the provenance of the painting into the story.”
“Interesting tale of a long-lost painting by Watteau, partly told through the voice of the painting itself. The painting is found in a junk shop by Annie who becomes unwillingly drawn into the art world and finds herself pursued by a number of influential collectors who are desperate to possess her picture. It’s a complex and intriguing plot and a good, pacy story.”
About the author
Hannah Rothschild is a writer and film director. Her documentary feature films have appeared on the BBC and HBO and at international film festivals. She has written film scripts for Ridley Scott and Working Title, and articles for Vanity Fair, New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and others. Her first book, The Baroness, was published in 2012 and has been translated into six languages. She will become the Chair of the National Gallery Board in August 2015, and is currently a trustee of the Tate Gallery and Waddesdon Manor, and a Vice President of the Hay Literary Festival. She lives in London.
A word from Hannah
“It’s very exciting that The Improbability of Love has been chosen by the Radio 2 Book Club. I wrote much of it in a library and though my view out of the window was 21st century London, the heroine of the novel, Annie, travels from the court of a greedy French Monarch to the inner sanctum of an avaricious Nazi via an artist’s garret to the boudoir of an Arab princess. At heart it’s a story about a lost painting and a young woman looking for love.”
Get involved
Tune in to Simon Mayo’s Drivetime show on Monday 1 June to hear a live interview with Hannah Rothschild talking about her book.
Have you read The Improbability of Love? You can share your thoughts on Twitter, or post a review
Want to find out more? The Radio 2 Book Club has a dedicated Twitter feed.
