The Paris Thief (Lisa Rochon)

The publisher’s presentation

For readers of The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, The Paris Library and The Paris Bookseller, a story of love, betrayal and sacrifice. In wartime Paris, a woman is entrusted with saving the Mona Lisa during the Nazi occupation – until her first love walks back into her life now wearing the uniform of the enemy.

She feels the weight of her responsibility, the weight of her secret. With bitter hands, she wraps up the portrait, closes the case and clicks the latches in place.

1910: Eighteen-year-old Mathilde has escaped her lonely provincial childhood to become a painter in Montmartre. Moving in bohemian circles, she models for Picasso and lives hedonistically amongst the artists, writers and intellectuals of Paris. But when the Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre, and a number of Mathilde’s friends and lovers become suspects, life will never be the same again.

1940: As the enemy marches into Paris, Mathilde, now an archivist at the Louvre, is tasked with the evacuation of hundreds of priceless masterpieces to the Château de Chambord. With her she carries a secret – the Mona Lisa is now under her sole protection, safe from looters. Nobody must discover its whereabouts. But when a face from her past arrives at the château, dressed in Nazi uniform, Mathilde finds herself agonisingly torn between love and duty .

My reading experience

I enjoyed reading this book. It requires a bit of focus because the author is moving between timelines. One of the timelines is the central character Mathilde’s childhood, the second is her youth in Paris before the First World War, and the third is during the Second World War. The story goes back and forth between these different timelines.
This being said, it is very well researched and beautifully written. The author’s background in art and architecture is definitely coming through in Mathilde’s youth timeline, where she spends time in Paris at the Bateau Lavoir. She meets many artists there, and a particular focus is placed on Picasso. The mix of fiction and historical background really brings this period to life. Picasso’s complex personality dominates this part, as well as the true story of the Mona Lisa theft in the Louvre in 1911 by Vincenzo Peruggia, both providing an excellent backdrop to Mathilde’s story.
The Second World War timeline was equally well documented and based on true events, with Mathilde bringing art to safety, in particular the Mona Lisa, and the role played in her life, and in real life, by Franz Von Wolff-Metternich.
Saying more would spoil it for future readers, but it is a good story. All the back and forth between timelines shows what a life someone like Mathilde would have had through this period, what the art world was like at the time of Picasso and the Bateau Lavoir, and how certain pieces of art have been coveted over time.
I felt that the end of the book was a little sudden and I would have loved to know a little more about what happened to the characters of Mathilde and Franz because we know that the real Franz Von Wolff-Metternich had an interesting story. But I still enjoyed the book very much and I got to read more about Franz and what happened to art during the Second World War, which is a fascinating story, with still many open chapters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Headline for giving me the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own.

This book led me to read a lot about the true stories it features. This is why I included the links in the review, as a start point. It is of course one side of a story many of you will know from the film Monument Men, and there is plenty to read on the Monument Men foundation. There are also any resources on internet about Jacques Jaugard and Rose Valland. Their stories are fascinating.

Also, there is plenty on the Bateau Lavoir, and here is a start point to learn a little about it.

You can also learn more about the author on her website.