The Improbability of Love

The improbability of love by Hannah Rothschild
The story is about the painting, “the improbability of love”by Watteu and the story is told in the first person by the painting and we get to hear the painting’s point of view and find out about the prestigious previous owners. The main character is Annie who suffers from a broken heart and she buys the improbability of love painting on a whim and her life changes after she buys the painting. The previous owner of the painting was a Jewish family who were killed in the holocaust and we find out who they really were.
I enjoyed the story although I felt that there were too many characters that were not crucial to the tale. I particularly enjoyed reading about Annie’s creativity and I really liked the ending.

Interesting and fun but not really my cup of tea...
Fun holiday read and learnt about the art world which Rothschild obviously knows a lot about but the fact that this priceless painting had a personality and narrated chapters itself, irked me no end.
It was stuck up and snobby and desperately annoying. Without this angle I think I probably would've given the book 4 stars.

Houghton Reading Group have got this title as an Official Baileys Prize shadowing book group and of all the titles we have read so far, we believe we have been quite lucky to get something so light-hearted. There is intrigue, lies and deception in the art world and this book does a really good job of showing why people behave this way and the repercussions they cause.

At the heart of the book is a mystery surrounding a painting, just what is it's provenance? Is it worth anything and does it's current owner really care? The protagonist takes her own journey through this book dealing with heartache and finding her purpose in life, seeing the art world from an outsiders perspective shows how corrupt and remote from the real world it is.

It is well written, with interesting characters and it ticks along through the story with no slow parts. You never really know what the ending is going to be it has so many twists, and it often wrong foots you as a reader, which just adds to its appeal.

It also features one of the most interesting characters I have come across in a book, one who I would love to hear more from - it's an unusual perspective, very funny, the redoubtable Moi . . . .