The Estate

Jost (Five First Chances) stumbles in this awkward fantastical story of an art historian who can see into the inner lives of long-dead artists by viewing their work. Camille Leray has used her uncanny ability to build an impressive career specializing in 19th-century sculptor Constance Sorel, a contemporary of Auguste Rodin. When a lost piece of Sorel’s is discovered, Camille inspects it and encounters its creator’s twisted mental landscape, which doesn’t match up with her impression of Sorel. Suspicious of the sculpture’s provenance, she ruins her career and reputation by making a scene at the auction house’s showcase of the work, where she claims it’s a fake. When Maxime Foucault, a mysterious French aristocrat whose family were once Sorel’s patrons, discovers more of Sorel’s lost works and asks Camille to authenticate them, she seizes the chance to revive her career and piece together the mystery behind Sorel’s disappearance at the height of her productivity. At the Foucault estate, where Sorel once lived, Camille uncovers secrets about the artist’s connection to the family, and about the estate’s connection to the legend of King Arthur (Maxime claims the crystal palace on the property was crafted by Merlin for the Lady of the Lake). As Camille learns more about Sorel, Jost reveals that the artist’s mental health was less sound than Camille believed. Unfortunately, Jost’s depiction of Sorel’s instability feels hackneyed, and the frequent Arthurian references are heavy-handed. Readers can take a pass. Agent: Liv Maidment, Madeleine Milburn Ltd. (Nov.)