Featured Book: The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild

Sara Trucksess

Hannah Rothschild’s 2015 novel, The Improbability of Love, has it all: art, food, romance, murder, comedy, mystery, spies . . . no theme is left unturned. A book for art lovers and non-art lovers alike, anyone who has ever appreciated one single painting in their lifetime will enjoy this novel. Billed as a satirical comedy of the world’s current art market, at its heart, this smart read is a simple story of provenance and restitution, one of the oldest tales in history, with a few new twists and turns along the way.

Similar in perspective to Donna Tartt’s wildly popular 2013 bestseller, The Goldfinch, Rothschild’s narrative follows the story of one fictional 17th century Antoine Watteau painting through time. Told from the viewpoints of a multitude of oddly-named characters embroiled in a scandal involving the titular painting (“The Improbability of Love”), the artwork is personified to receive several snarkily-toned chapters of its own as it speaks from personal experience regarding …