April Vogt, a Continental Furniture Specialist at Sothebys, is sent to Paris to inventory the contents of a Parisian apartment that has been sealed for 70 years, since 1939.
The apartment once belonged to Marthe de Florian, a demimondaine of the Belle Epoque. Marthe's treasures are numerous, but the most shocking of all is a previously unknown portrait by the artist Boldini. April also discovers Marthe's journals which provide provenance for the items in the apartment, but also help her discover who Marthe was. Or who she appeared to be.
Marthe's journals help April discover things about herself. April has left a cheating husband in New York , (whether temporarily or permanently she has yet to decide), a family crisis that has been brewing for decades, and her less-than satisfying career in New York. As her personal life reaches a tipping point, April is tempted by wine, pastries, and the handsome solicitor who works on behalf of Marthe's heir.
Will the auction give Marthe the glory she so desperately sought and allow April to find her happy ending?
I found both Marthe's and April's stories compelling. April uses the journals as a way to escape her present-day problems and the two narratives are interspersed.
This novel is based on true events. See here for a look at Marthe de Florian's apartment:
http://shareably.net/art-found-in-paris-apartment-that-
was-vacant-since-1939/
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