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A review by sfetzer
The Forger's Daughter by Bradford Morrow
2.0
"The Forger's Daughter" follows retired literary forger Will, his bookstore owning wife Meghan, and their two daughters as someone from Will's sordid past tries to pull them back into the world of creating high risk literary forgeries. Will and Meghan each struggle with their own parts to play in orchestrating the forgery and sale of one of the rarest works in American literature while trying desperately to keep from entrenching themselves in a criminal past that they would rather forget.
While this book is advertised as a thriller, I found it anything but. Any danger or risk inherent in the plot is immediately overwhelmed by extensive and tedious descriptions of outdoor surroundings or antique literary works. Both Will and Meghan narrate the novel, but their points of view are written so similarly that the reader often only knows who is speaking once they mention someone else's name in dialogue. These characters feel static and undeveloped. Will spends a lot of time congratulating himself on his skills in both creating and detecting literary forgeries while Meghan spends a lot of time dropping not-so-subtle hints as to just how cultured and impressive she is in everything from what she buys for her store to what kind of music she listens to. Even Will and Meghan's teenage daughter Nicole has somehow become a wine connoisseur while attending college as well as possessing incredible calligraphic and printing talents. Overall, I didn't find the family interesting to read about, the action compelling, or the constant asides to literary culture amusing.
While this book is advertised as a thriller, I found it anything but. Any danger or risk inherent in the plot is immediately overwhelmed by extensive and tedious descriptions of outdoor surroundings or antique literary works. Both Will and Meghan narrate the novel, but their points of view are written so similarly that the reader often only knows who is speaking once they mention someone else's name in dialogue. These characters feel static and undeveloped. Will spends a lot of time congratulating himself on his skills in both creating and detecting literary forgeries while Meghan spends a lot of time dropping not-so-subtle hints as to just how cultured and impressive she is in everything from what she buys for her store to what kind of music she listens to. Even Will and Meghan's teenage daughter Nicole has somehow become a wine connoisseur while attending college as well as possessing incredible calligraphic and printing talents. Overall, I didn't find the family interesting to read about, the action compelling, or the constant asides to literary culture amusing.