Zoia's Gold

by Philip Sington

A tale based on the life of the Romanov court artist, Madame Zoia, finds down-on-his-luck art dealer Marcus Elliot overseeing the sale of the enigmatic late artist's works and uncovering facts about her dramatic private life, from her escape from Bolshevik torturers to her relationships with a series of devoted men. 35,000 first printing.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Russia, Fiction, Art, Drama, Sweden

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

aka Patrick Lynch (with Gary Humphreys)

Philip Sington is an English novelist and playwright. He was born in Cambridge, UK.

He read history at Trinity College, Cambridge. Together with mystery writer Gary Humphreys he co-authored six thrillers under the joint pseudonym of Patrick Lynch, selling over 1 million copies worldwide. The third, 'Carriers', was adapted for the screen in 1998. They also collaborated on the stage play 'Lip Service', which premiered at the Finborough Theatre, London in 2000. His first solo novel, 'Zoia's Gold', was published in 2005. His second, 'The Einstein Girl' was published in 2009. This was followed in 2012 by 'The Valley of Unknowing'. His work has been translated into 21 foreign languages. He lives in London with his German wife and their two children.

Reviews

[Tea Jovanović · Rating 5 out of 5]

U vreme kada sam čitala rukopis ove knjige i kada sam procenila da će se dopasti čitaocima u Srbiji optužena sam da je Laguna kupila prava za ovu knjigu samo zato što sam smatrala da je autor zgodan... Napustila sam Lagunu pre objavljivanja knjige... I knjiga je postala Lagunin hit... I dan-danas, mnogo godina od objavljivanja knjige, slušam od raznih čitalaca koliko im se dopala i kako su je kupovali svojim prijateljima za poklon i kako mi je preporučuju... pri tome ne znajući da je ta knjiga bila moj urednički izbor... (e kad se takve situacije dese, mnogo godina posle objavljivanja neke knjige onda znam da mi je procena bila dobra... uvek biram knjige koje će plesati duže od jednog leta i koje će i godinama nakon objavljivanja privlačiti nove čitaoce)... Filip i ja se slatko smejemo toj priči da sam kupila njegovu knjigu samo zato što je zgodan (a jeste zgodan, s obzirom na to da je Englez, prim. prev.)... :) Nije zločin biti zgodan i napisati dobru knjigu... :)

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this read. I choose historical fiction early and often, but have rarely come across such a mix of intriguing historical fact paired so well with modern day mystery and suspense. Russian history is also something I'm not well-read on and so I really enjoyed learning more about what is really a fascinating country and culture. This was a book I had fun reading AND felt like I was learning throughout as well.

[Aileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional read, fascinating and I enjoyed every page. I was sorry when it finished.
I have not read books by Philip Sington before but will defineltly be following him now.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting and worthy read :)))

The book elegantly merges together fact and fiction, quoting directly from letters Zoia left and interweaving the resolution of Marcus’ past: his failed marriage, his mother’s death and his collapsed business. The book is pacey and mysterious, a fascinating insight into the real life of an enigmatic artist as well as the psychological mess that ties up the fictional Marcus. It is a masterpiece of fact and fiction creating a wholly believable story and highlighting a largely unknown 20th century artist.

Marcus Elliott, an art dealer who has lost his wife and his business and is in danger of losing custody of his daughter, is invited to write the catalogue for a sale of Zoia’s work in Russia. Travelling to her snow-bound Swedish home he is immersed, even obsessed, by his research through her many love letters and correspondence left after her death the previous year.

Marcus is fictional, but Zoia is real. Known as the “painter on gold” she was the last-known survivor of the Romanov court. Her father and stepfather died in World War I and she escaped with her mother to Moscow post-Revolution. She was imprisoned in Lubyanka, but was saved by a Swedish Communist, who was to become her second husband. She led a bohemian life, scattered with lovers and admirers across Europe. Her great accomplishment was to master the art of painting on gold, producing works with have an amazing luminescence and detail.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give this 4.5 stars if I could. I really enjoyed it.

[Lucile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful, exotic, a delight.

[Emelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am absoluctly in love with the story! It is truely a treasured piece of art!

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've heard this described as a very upmarket Da Vinci Code, although given that the writing is excellent, that's rather insulting to the author! Actually, I think it's wrong to read this primarily as a mystery. It's quite an insightful book about the past reaching into the present via a legacy of art. The time-spanning element was what I liked most. Was surpised to discover Zoia was a real person.

[Tony Lush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zoia's Gold by Philip Sington is highly recommended. The lives of several flawed characters -- past and present, real and fictional -- are intertwined in this thriller. You don't know until the end how it will come out.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a real Zoia, and Sington draws upon extensive research as he moves back and forth between the past and the present. The descriptions of her art are lovely and thoughtful. The book is a little slow at first and the main character seemed opaque to me, but in the last third the pace picked up (so much so that I stopped putting the book down), and the main character's complexity began to emerge.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful, increasingly suspenseful investigation into the secret life of an extraordinary female survivor. Madam Zoia was a real person whose inner journey was/is revealed to a troubled researcher through a cache of letters, paintings and some electrifying encounters. A very unusual novel, but one that grew on me as it went on. To be read without preconceptions.

[Estela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro entretenido, me ha gustado bastante.
Se va desarrollando poco a poco el misterio y la trama va intercalando momentos del pasado con momentos del presente que ayudan a ir resolviendo el enigma de la historia.

[RumBelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zoia, the last survivor of the Romanov court, and the mysterious painter on gold had died leaving behind a house full of art and mysteries. Marcus traveled to Sweden to catalog her works for sale. In the process, he underwent not only a journey into this enigmatic woman's life and art, but also a journey of introspection. In learning the truth about Zoia and what made her and her work unique, Marcus learned the truth about himself.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always loved the paintings of Gustav Klimt with his use of gold. This novel also concerns a woman painter new to me. The subject matter looked fascinating, when I chose it from the library. I enjoyed the book but it was nothing outstanding, just something to pass time.

This story concerns a Russian woman painter, Zoia Korvin-Krutovsky, who "painted in gold." From the Romanov court, this novel takes us through her leaving Russia after the Revolution and the following years. Fast forward to 2000; a prestigious art gallery is planning a retrospective on Mme. Zoia'a paintings, and a former art dealer, Marcus Elliot, is asked to find background material for an exhibition catalogue. The story takes us from one time period to the other. Marcus becomes deeply involved in tracing out this woman's life and motivations, through letters, papers, and newspaper articles; the author informs us in the 'Author's Note' they are genuine, however possibly abridged. Marcus has a personal reason for researching so deeply; he possesses a self-portrait of the woman and wants to find out the full truth about it. What about Zoia's 'lost years' in Sevastopol and her lost Crimean paintings? Woven into the story are a mysterious woman reporter who dogs Marcus' footsteps with a startling revelation about the will the painter left. Also worries to Marcus are a pending divorce and custody battle imvolving his daughter. He can't escape his guileless involvement in an icon smuggling scheme years before, which has destroyed his reputation and impoverished him.

After much excitement, greed and betrayal, the story is wound up much too conveniently. It felt as though the author was rushing through the denouement to meet a publisher's deadline. The rest of the story had been laid out very well. The writing style was adequate. I did like the explanations about the art techniques of gilding or painting on gold [actually gold on gesso]. I did not like the graphic descriptions of Zoia's love affairs during her Bohemian émigré years in Paris. This was an interesting suspense novel on a relatively obscure artist.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that there are two parallel stories, with the life of Zoia the artist in the past and Elliot the collector in the present. Both stories progress pleasantly and I enjoyed the brief tour of Russian history, but the ending is very unfulfilling. The reason for Elliot's obsession with Zoia is never made apparent, and there isn't really any resolution to the question of Zoia's motivation either, so both plot lines fail to give any closure. It was a bit disappointing, even if it is a fair read otherwise. It was neat to find out that Zoia was a real person though.

[Corrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I really enjoyed the construction of the book with the two separate story lines, and the writing itself was lovely, I felt it lacked a bit in the storytelling itself. I didn't find myself really caring about Marcus and interesting tidbits didn't occur at quite the right pace for my liking. The mystery became clear before the reveal and then didn't fully reveal in a satisfactory way for me.

[Danica · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was a bit stressful to read, i was more interested in Zoia’s story than the main character and I found their relationship hard to believe. there were some loose ends i wish were concluded and many parts of the story that i felt dragged on for no reason, i think this was way too long. i did love the ending and it made me understand certain parts.

[Rosanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it terribly boring. The quality bits are buried under a pretentious prose. Don't get me wrong, I like high literature; Proust's Remembrance of Things Past is one of my favourite books. This is neither high literature nor entertainment. I didn't find it a good read, I'm afraid.

[Evdok · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story but I feel it should have been shorter as it gets tedious in some instances.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly a mystery, not exactly a biography of an artist totally new to me, this book left me scratching my head as to WHY the author chose to tell Zoia's story this way. The book jumps back and forth between Zoia's story happening at various times (NOT chronologically) throughout the 20th century, and Elliot's story, happening in the present. Also, the pronoun "he" is used so heavily that you often have to hunt through a few pages to figure out who "he" is.

Around page 250 I gave serious though to giving up on this almost four hundred page book, but I read a few more pages and thought, "I know what's going to happen". Of course I had to keep reading to see if I was right. I was except for one little bit. Then the author wraps up all the loose ends on about three pages and gives everyone a happy (or as near as possible) ending.

The author is the co-author of six thrillers. Maybe he should stick to that genre and leave biographies alone.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I sort of enjoyed this book, though to give it a rating of 3 is perhaps slightly generous. Not sure what genre it would sit in, mystery/thriller/biography? It's about a Russian woman, an aristocrat from the Romanov court, who eventually escapes Russia and takes up painting on gold leaf. It wasn't until I got to the end of the book I realised she was a real person but I think the author should perhaps have stuck to a straight biography rather than trying to make it something more, and it consequently having an ending which is rather an anticlimax. Still, it gave a flavour at times of what it was like to endure life in revolutionary Russia.

[Louise Coughlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was confused by this book, it was given to me by a friend and I didn't know anything about Zoia, only that she was a Russian artist and had a hard life.
Her life was being investigated by an art dealer. It didn't grab my attention and I just read it quickly to finish it.

[Verka.mm · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are two stories in parallel: the history and the current. The history story is a better part of the book. It is about Russian revolution and its intimate consequences on the main heroine, yang painter. Current story is common: divorce, dirty trading, self introspecting. All this stuff is rather disappointing in connection with "real history".

[Margaret]

I couldn't finish this one. Right when you thought you hit the cliff-hanger, it just kept going on. There was also too much flip-flopping from present day to the past and I just found that I didn't care what was going to happen. So, I stopped reading.

[Cecile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less interesting than the reviews suggested but I learned about a female artist I had never heard of as well as some background to early 20th century Russian history. It's a novel based on a real person and her papers. Well written but somehow less gripping than it should have been.

[linnea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ok read. I was expecting a wonderful story with lots of art and Sweden, but it lacked elements i was looking for. It was a book club book and, I am proud to announce that I would have read it in its entirety had I read it on my own. This so far is the best I can do.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the ending of this book but getting there was tedious at times.

[Natasa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ok read. I was expecting a wonderful story with lots of art, but it lacked elements I was seeking for. Nicely written but somehow less captivating.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

good story, tough at beginning

[Lorna Halnan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was frustrated by the end, we really don't find out anything. It's all speculation. There was too much about the man and not enough about Zoia and Russia.

It was intriguing about the painting on gold leaf and about the downfall of the Russian elite and how they struggled.

It wasn't a bad book, but not spectacular either.