The Improbability of Love
Hannah Rothschild, 2015 (2016, U.S.)
Knopf Doubleday
512 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781101872574
Summary
Wickedly funny, this totally engaging, richly observed first novel by Hannah Rothschild is a tour de force. Its sweeping narrative and cast of wildly colorful characters takes you behind the scenes of a London auction house, into the secret operations of a powerful art dealer, to a flamboyant eighteenth-century-style dinner party, and into a modest living room in Berlin, among many other unexpected settings.
In The Improbability of Love we meet Annie McDee, thirty-one, who is working as a chef for two rather sinister art dealers. Recovering from the end of a long-term relationship, she is searching in a neglected secondhand shop for a birthday present for her unsuitable new lover.
Hidden behind a rubber plant on top of a file cabinet, a grimy painting catches her eye. After spending her meager savings on the picture, Annie prepares an elaborate birthday dinner for two, only to be stood up.
The painting becomes hers, and as it turns out, Annie has stumbled across a lost masterpiece by one of the most important French painters of the eighteenth century. But who painted this masterpiece is not clear at first.
Soon Annie finds herself pursued by interested parties who would do anything to possess her picture. For a gloomy, exiled Russian oligarch, an avaricious sheikha, a desperate auctioneer, and an unscrupulous dealer, among others, the painting embodies their greatest hopes and fears. In her search for the painting’s identity, Annie will unwittingly uncover some of the darkest secrets of European history—as well as the possibility of falling in love again.
Irreverent, witty, bittersweet, The Improbability of Love draws an unforgettable portrait of the London art scene, but it is also an exuberant and unexpected journey through life’s highs and lows and the complexities of love and loss. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—May 22, 1962
• Where—England, UK
• Education—B.A., Oxford University
• Currently—lives in England
Hannah Mary Rothschild is a British writer, philanthropist and documentary filmmaker. She is the eldest child of Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, and his wife Serena Dunn Rothschild. Through her father, she is a member of the Rothschild banking family.
She serves on the boards of various philanthropic trusts and museums. In 2015, she became chair of the London National Gallery's Board of Trustees—the first woman to hold the position. That same year, 2015, she published her first novel, The Improbability of Love, a satire set in the London art world.
Career
A documentary filmmaker, Rothschild's films include profiles of Frank Auerbach, Walter Sickert, R. B. Kitaj, as well as the BBC series Relative Values and The Great Picture Chase. She produced the fly-on-the-wall documentary, Mandelson: The Real PM? (2010), which concerns the UK's former Business Secretary Peter Mandelson in the run up to the 2010 general election.
Great Aunt
In 2008 Rothschild produced "The Jazz Baroness," a documentary for BBC's Storyville series and for HBO. The film is the story of her great-aunt Pannonica Rothschild de Koenigswarter, who rebelled against her family, becoming a jazz afficionado and patron, as well as a devoted follower of Thelonius Monk. The same year, Rothschild also produced a radio profile of her aunt "Nica" for BBC 4 Radio. In 2012, she published her aunt's biography—The Baroness: The Search for Nica the Rebellious Rothschild.
Philanthropy
Rothschild was appointed a trustee of the National Gallery in London in 2009 and later became the Gallery's liaison-trustee to the Tate Gallery in 2013. Six years later, in 2015, she become the first woman to chair the National Gallery's board when Mark Getty stepped down.
She is also a trustee of The Rothschild Foundation, a registered charity, whose activities include preserving Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire on behalf of its owner, the National Trust.
Rothschild was formerly a trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery and the ICA. She was the co-founder of the charity Artists on Film.
Personal life
In 1994, she married William Lord Brookfield. The couple had three children but have since divorced. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 2/21/1016.)
Book Reviews
The book may on occasion be…over-the-top, even for a satire. But Ms. Rothschild writes with such exuberance and spins such a propulsive yarn that you happily accept these excesses as part of the package…. It helps that Ms. Rothschild…knows a great deal about art…. Her erudition—about restoration, authentication, art history in general—comes through on page after page, and it's one of the incidental pleasures of reading The Improbability of Love…Ms. Rothschild makes an impassioned case for art—as a companion to the lonely, as a restorative to those in pain—and leaves us with the unambiguous impression that it speaks with equal power to angels and demons.
Jennifer Senior - New York Times
The novel is a fast-paced imbroglio of skullduggery, dirty dealing, even murder, and finishes with a sort of James Bond flourish when the British security services finally intervene.
Lynn Barber - Sunday Times (UK)
[A] satire worthy of the pen of Evelyn Waugh. A real crowd pleaser.
Vanessa Berridge - Daily Express (UK)
Though this novel goes into the darkest of dark places, the overall tone is totally delicious; conspicuous consumption on this scale hasn’t been seen since the Eighties.
Kate Saunders- London Times (UK)
This richly satisfying debut novel features Nazi-looted treasure, Russian oligarchs and romance…an ingenious meditation on the true value of art.
Hephzibah Anderson - Mail on Sunday (UK)
[A] pacy satire of the art world.… Rothschild dishes up a salmagundi of unscrupulous dealers, desperate auctioneers and dodgy art experts, with a side-order of scheming Russian oligarchs. It’s on the money.
Jackie McGlone - Sunday Herald (UK)
[A] clever, funny, beguiling and wholly humane romance…Hannah Rothschild's first novel is a meditation on both great art and human passion, and as such reads like a confection concocted by Anita Brookner and Judith Krantz.… Part of the novel's charm is that its characters, rich or poor, are all a mixture of frailties.... Rothschild understands the dance between art and mammon.… Her imagined painting of a fête galante by the greatest artist of the Rococo is as scholarly, passionate and enticing as her portrait of the fabulously wealthy, largely philistine and possibly criminal, bunch that pursues it is not.
Amanda Craig - Independent (UK)
Mischievous, fun and on the money.… This debut novel from the new chair of the National Gallery is both a satire of the art world and a romance.
Sebastian Shakespeare - Tatler (UK)
Despite some plot holes, it’s rewarding to see Rebecca viciously come into her own once she divulges Memling’s dark secret. Additionally, Rothschild packs the narrative with vivid details, especially about art and food. The book is at its best when delving into the lives of the many people affected by the Watteau.
Publishers Weekly
The painting speaks! It also thinks, feels, complains, and narrates its own story—one that began 300 years ago.... [An] irresistible blend of art, mystery, and intrigue along the lines of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch.… This compulsively readable, immensely enjoyable novel will deeply satisfy that craving. —Barbara Love, formerly with Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont.
Library Journal
An opulently detailed, suspensefully plotted, shrewdly witty novel of decadence, crimes ordinary and genocidal, and improbable love.… [Rothschild] is a dazzling omniscient narrator giving voice to an irresistible cast of reprobates and heroes. —Donna Seaman
Booklist
[T]he action moves through multiple, often nail-biting plot twists—yes, there are a few convenient coincidences, put across by the fast pace and vivid prose—toward a slightly hasty but nonetheless satisfying resolution. Smart, well-written, and thoroughly gripping.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
The voice of The Improbability of Love shifts between sections. How does the oscillation between the removed third-person narrative and the "voice" of the painting contribute to the narrative progress? What does the painting’s voice reveal to readers? How would you characterize "him"?
2. The Improbability of Love provides readers with a glimpse into the high-stakes world of the art-buying market. How would you characterize the business? Discuss the tension between art for collectors (or capital gains) versus art for public consumption as explored within the novel.
3. How would you describe Annie’s personality in the beginning of The Improbability of Love? How does it shift over the course of the novel? When does she demonstrate the most self-confidence?
4. Deception and secrecy are found throughout the plotlines of The Improbability of Love. Which characters use deception to get ahead? Which people demonstrate the most authentic version of themselves to the world? Which secrets are most surprising?
5. Intrinsic to the discussion of the art market is the relationship between commerce and beauty. How is this relationship explored in the novel? For whom does art exist? What does the sudden public interest in The Improbability of Love assert about trendiness in art?
6. Viewing a painting is a highly subjective experience, informed both by emotion and intellect. What initially attracted Annie to The Improbability of Love? How does her perception of the painting change over the course of the novel?
7. Discuss the various players who are vying after the painting and their intentions behind purchasing it. Whose intentions—if any—are pure? Whose motivations are capitalistic?
8. The dinner party scenes within the novel describe a world of unfettered lavishness. How do these scenes contrast with Annie’s day-to-day life? Did you find any of the meals appealing? Discuss the concepts of "consumption" and "excess" as described throughout The Improbability of Love.
9. How would you characterize Annie’s relationship with her mother? What information about their shared history helped shape your understanding of Annie’s views on love?
10. The "voice" of the painting provides important historical and aesthetic context throughout the novel. Trace the history of ownership for The Improbability of Love. What struck you about the painting’s provenance? Why do you think the author chose to utilize this unique stylistic choice?
11. Discuss the role of Barty in the novel and his service of shaping the social elite. How is he received by his clients, particularly the Russian oligarch? What are his "rules" for making a grand entrance into high society?
12. Discuss the exclusivity of the art world in relation to class. How does the acquisition of art translate into power for various characters within the novel? Describe how Watteau’s impoverished history is contrasted with the multi-million-dollar frenzy surrounding his painting.
13. How does Annie’s view toward love change over the course of the novel? Describe her initial meetings with Jesse. When do her feelings toward him begin to shift?
14. Discuss Rebecca’s role in the art world and in her father’s business. How would you characterize her professional persona versus her personal one? When is she most powerful? Describe her moral dilemma when she finds out the truth about her father.
15. Memling’s life story is inspired by Nazi art thieves and the horrors of the Holocaust. Are there some parallels between Memling and historical figures?
16. How familiar were you with the art world before reading this novel? Did your perception of the business change or shift throughout the reading experience? Can you recall any particular works of art, exhibits, or performance pieces that elicited the same sort of frenzy described around Watteau’s work in the novel?
Questions issued by the publisher.)