The Forger: A Novel

by Paul Watkins

On the eve of World War II, David Halifax, a young American painter, receives a scholarship to come to Paris and work under the tutelage of the mysterious Russian artist Alexander Pankratov. But as Nazi forces encroach, Halifax realizes the true purpose of his visit: to forge masterworks of the Paris museums, and with the aid of a wily art trader, barter the fakes to Hitler's legion of art dealers. What develops is a riveting cat-and-mouse game that moves through Paris's silent streets, through the tunnels beneath its museums, and eventually into the war-torn countryside of Normandy.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, France, Art, World War II, War, Literature

336 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2000

About the author

Paul Watkins is an American author who currently lives with his wife and two children in Hightstown, New Jersey. He is a teacher and writer-in-residence at The Peddie School, and formerly taught at Lawrenceville School. He attended the Dragon School, Oxford, Eton and Yale University. He received a B.A. from Yale and was a University Fellow at Syracuse University, New York. His recollections of his time at the Dragon School and Eton form his autobiographical work Stand Before Your God: An American Schoolboy in England.

Writes crime fiction set at the birth of Stalin's Russia under Sam Eastland.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Halifax is an American art student who wins a mysterious scholarship to study in a Parisian atelier under an “enigmatic” white Russian teacher in 1940. Pankratov, the teacher, has inexplicably destroyed all his own paintings and is now engaged in making forgeries of old master paintings. It’s never really explained why he has destroyed his own work. Pankratov also has a daughter who models at the atelier and who hates him. Again we don’t understand why she hates him. When war breaks out Halifax decides to stay on in Paris and he and Pankratov begin forging paintings to pass on to the Nazis as the genuine article.


Halifax himself narrates the story. The ironic thing about this novel is it’s a bit like a forgery itself. It’s well written, professionally crafted and, apart from a couple of high profile errors (most notably the Musee d’Orsee making an appearance in 1940) it’s decently researched and yet it never quite comes alive, never benefits from the charge of inspiration. It reads like a commissioned novel rather than a labour of love. Halifax himself is the prime problem. He’s essentially a hollow character. He has no friends, no loves and fails to convince as anything but a plot device. There’s little character development at all in this novel. We watch the characters rather than feel for them.


There’s a faintly ridiculous back story involving an Uncle Charlie and the mysterious scholarship which is dropped early on. And the story of Pankratov’s daughter is equally lacking in meaning. I did quite enjoy The Forger but it’s not a novel I would feel confident to recommend.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

A librarian recommended this book to me saying that the story was compelling and that the prose was "spare". I was intrigued by the description, but even more intrigued by the concept: an unassuming American artist enlisted to make forgeries of famous paintings to give the Nazis in order to save some of France's cultural history. As an art history major, I gobbled this up, but that is where the "spare prose" left me wanting. I wanted to "see" the art and the techniques in the writing, but Watkins' minimalist writing left me feeling like I was reading about sketches rather than masterpieces. If Watkins' writing were a painting, it would definitely be more of a Mondrian than a Manet. And that is absolutely okay (and even refreshing at times) except that my art-loving self just wanted more detail throughout. That being said, I would easily recommend this book to any art and/or history lover. It is "safe" and interesting enough for almost any crowd. 3 stars, but really a 3.5.

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since I encountered Watkins' amazing memoir Stand Before Your God I have admired his well wrought writing style. This novel of intrigue during the Second World War does not disappoint. The contrast of the artistic life with the imminent dangers of war provides a unique background for what becomes as much a psychological drama as an historical fiction. To be twenty-one in Paris ready to immerse one's self in the world of art seems to be a dream come true. However the dream soon darkens into a life on the edge of intrigue and brings with it concern for more than aesthetics.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

So much build up for a main plot that was almost entirely glossed over in flash forwards...

[Chelsea Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book! It is an adult book vs. young adult- so it may be a difficult read for some, but I think it is worth the challenge. Action and suspense right along with art history, Parisian culture, and WWII. Good historical fiction!

[Medeiros · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sooo booooring.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Halifax a young American art student accepts a scholarship that he hadn't applied for from a group that he had never heard of to study painting in Paris in 1939 just as Europe is about to plunge into war. Once in Paris David is taken under the wing of a once famous Russian artist Pankratov and miss enigmatic daughter Vanya. However,he also falls under the malign influence of an unscrupulous art dealer called Fleury who sells some of David's sketches of Old Masters as originals initially without David's knowledge but later with it in a way to fund his extended stay. When war begins David decides to stay in Paris rather than return to his native America only to be coerced by the Resistance into forging some Old Masters when the Germans occupy Paris thus preventing the invaders getting their hands on the originals. These paintings are to be used as bargaining chips with the Nazis in return for originals that the Germans find unappealing. So begins a very dangerous commission.

This book gives a very different viewpoint on life under German occupation in Paris during WWII. David and his cohorts are not soldiers or members of the Resistance shooting and bombing the invaders but talented people who are just trying to find a way to survive the war and prevent the destruction or at least appropriation of great works of art. They are seen as collaborators by the local populace and of course discovery by the Germans will mean instant death or deportation to the concentration camps.

Watkins paints a very evocative depiction of life in Paris under occupation even if in many ways theirs is a pampered existence but it is still a very precarious one. His character descriptions were also very good and I found myself liking more and more about the main protagonists as the book went on in particular the bluff Pankratov. The book runs along at a good pace until its climax which I must admit did seen rather implausible.

This is the first book that I've read by this author and a very enjoyable one it was too. I will certainly be looking out for some of his other works if this is what I can expect.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

quotes#612731 The Forger


"You were a painter. A great one, from all I hear."
"All right," he said. "Maybe I was good. But I exhausted myself. I got so tired in here" - he bounced the heel of his palm off his forehead. "Some days, I would set up the canvas and stare at it for an hour and then be so exhausted I'd have to go back to bed. But with restoration, it's different" - he drew his fingers close together, like a man learning to pray. "It's about the creation of the paint itself. Using only those materials available at the time. Then the lacquer. Then the ageing process. The precision of it. The cheating of time! Do you know that my finest work in that Gericault is the part Gericault got wrong." p71

The next morning I woke, as usual, to the sound of muttering voices in the Rue Descalzi. I could smell the particularly sour, perfumy reek of Matelot tobacco, which was the cheapest brand. p53
[ah ... trivia]

quotes#392511 The Forger

They would not quit, if only to avoid the shame of quitting. p269
[cliche: but it struck my eyes]

And suddenly, set free from the seemingly endless training, I knew I could do it. The complexity was all there in my head, too much to grasp in any single thought, but all there, bunched up and tangled; and the only way to untangle it was simply to work and not think about working, but just work. p207
[painter]

[Julie Dolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the last few years I've read a number of novels set in and around Paris during WWII. Having lived in Paris in the late 1980s, books placed in city draw my in. With this book I was often wanting to pull out my street guide and walk along with David to see what he did. It is a book very much of it's setting.

The book is a fascinating look at another aspect of the war. These weren't soldiers, victims, or people in the resistance involved in espionage or destruction. It was a whole different duplicitous activity that I hadn't considered before and found really interesting. How were all these masterworks kept safe?

This book also gave me a view of living through the war that I hadn't had before. The author gave voice to living in fear in war that gave me a new way to understand ever so little what people in current war torn countries might be experiencing.

This was my first experience with Paul Watkins, I had not heard of him, but found this book at Goodwill and thought it sounded interesting. I will definitely search out other books by Mr. Watkins.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes it takes a while to get into a book but this one hooked me from the get-go. I was immediately drawn in on page 2 by the poetry of this phrase: “The panes [window] were old and gave a rippled view view of houses, trees ans roads, making them seem drunk and crooked, like a hundred-year old puzzle that has Ben forced together even though the pieces don’t fit”. Mr Watkins uses description well to set the scene, his characters are well developed and multi-dimensional and the dialogues ring true. I don’t know how I’ve missed this author but I will look for more by him.

[The Frahorus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pregevole romanzo storico ambientato totalmente a Parigi ai tempi dell'occupazione nazista e narrato in prima persona dall'artista americano David Halifax. Lo studente d'arte si ritroverà a dover dipingere dei falsi quadri (poi invecchiati dal geniale amico e maestro russo Alexander Pankratov) il tutto nato da un equivoco. Storia ironica e ben scritta che vi consiglio.

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the first book I have ever quit reading before finishing. After 100 pages reading it felt like a chore.

[Mona · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a story. Historical fiction, my favorites. So much research/work put into this.

[Jennie Rosenblum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Paris at the beginning of World War II, this book had all the elements of a great Historical Fiction. Throw in an American artist on a mysterious scholarship, a grumpy Russian painter and the world of art forgeries and it should have been a winner. While the book starts in a lyrical tempo that pulled me in (I love when the words make you just float along with a story) it did not continue. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good story just not as great as I had hoped. I needed more details, more background, more something.

[Miriam Murcutt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about the fates of a famous art teacher, a talented art student and an art dealer who are coerced into forging works of art in order to prevent many great, original works from falling into German hands after Paris was occupied in 1940. This story is set in an interesting place at an interesting time, and along the way the author provides fascinating details about how works of art are authenticated. However, I found the writing to be a little ho-hum. This, and a wooden main character, turned this book into a rather limp read to me.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting book!!!
This story was about two topics I find most intereting- World War II and art forgery. I do not know why I find art forgery so interesting, but I love reading about it and learing more about the artists and theri techniques. It was enlightening to read aabout France during World War II. Mr. Watkins has written other books, and I would be curious to read them if I can get my hands on a few.

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were so interesting…I could pretty much picture them in my mind. The descriptions of the paintings and the smells in the warehouse were well done. The story was fascinating and suspenseful. I was on edge for the last half of the book just waiting for the flies to finally get entangled in the web they were flitting near. The ending was very interesting as it had left the reader hanging as Dietrich rode away on the motorcycle with the Vermeer.

[Ronaldo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read and interesting. Learnt a lot about art and France during WW2.

[Carsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the set-up and the setting - young American artist in Paris during WW2 (don;t want to spoil anything by saying more) and the moral issues he faces. Excellent coming of age novel

[Margi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story. A little too much wordiness in some spots, found myself skimming. Like they used some actual paintings for historical reference. Such a fascinating time.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was interesting. Not compelling enough to be a page turner, but I did want to finish the story. It ends rather abruptly, tied in a little bow.

[BreeAnn (She Just Loves Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows a young man in an art class in Europe during World War II. As the war picks up, it turns out that his art teacher is forging very valuable paintings to sell to the Nazis. The young painter learns to do the same thing. It is such a fast-paced book. I couldn't put it down! I've read it over and over again!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing story of a young painter in Paris during WWII. Instead of just learning to paint, he's recruited to forge great works of art to help hide them from the Nazis. A story that combines art and suspense.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Paris in 1938. A young artist wins a trip to Paris to study art. He ends up helping his Russian teacher forge copies of great paintings to sell or trade to the Germans. Very exciting and believable likable characters.

[Francesca Tronchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, but Watkins could have used an editor. The book wandered around a bit in the first half before getting to the more compelling bits in the second. As such, the energy felt somewhat cramped and rushed toward the end.

[Moke Iv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Builds to a suspenseful conclusion while weaving an intriguing plot full of realistic characters. There are some slow parts, however, and I did not enjoy the epilogue; it felt cheap and rushed. An interesting read, but a little plodding in the middle.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Paris six months before Germany invaded France, Watkins did a masterful job meshing the history of WWII and the struggle to save French art from Nazi ideology. The tension in the story will keep you turning the pages.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paris in WWII...a nice blend of drama and history.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite enjoyed it!

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the characters and plot of this book. Very interesting take on ethics and inspiration.