The Painting – Book Review

When Anika Molnar flees her home country of Hungary not long before the break-up of the Soviet Union, she carries only a small suitcase – and a beautiful and much-loved painting of an auburn-haired woman in a cobalt blue dress from her family’s hidden collection.
Arriving in Australia, Anika moves in with her aunt in Sydney, and the painting hangs in pride of place in her bedroom. But one day it is stolen in what seems to be a carefully planned theft, and Anika’s carefree life takes a more ominous turn.
Sinister secrets from her family’s past and Hungary’s fraught history cast suspicion over the painting’s provenance, and she embarks on a gripping quest to uncover the truth.
Hungary’s war-torn past contrasts sharply with Australia’s bright new world of opportunity in this moving and compelling mystery.

No. of pages:- 259 pages

Date published:- 15th July 2021

Publisher:- Red Door Press

Genre:- Mystery

Rating:- 3.5/5

Anika flees from Hungary to Australia with a painting which is a gift from her father and hangs it in the living room of her aunt’s house. The painting seems to have a known value. However, the painting gets stolen and the painting seems to have a history spanning during the WWII years to Hungarian Revolution.

The plot sounded interesting to me. In the beginning, it was a little bit boring, but in the middle part of the book, the story gets interesting with the painting being stolen and the history behind the painting fascinated and intrigued me at the same time. Nonetheless, the story was set when Berlin Wall collapses and the end of Soviet Union with Hungary having their first elections after years of communism rule so the author did a good job researching about the history. The writing was great however and so are the characters.

Overall, it was actually a good book–worth three and a half stars in my opinion. I haven’t read any books from this author but I would like to read more books from her in future.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.