From critically acclaimed author Barbara Bourland, comes an “impressively intelligent thriller,” nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award, about a young painter who tracks the mysterious life and death of her role model, uncovering strange secrets that lead to the truth of her demise (Refinery29). After a fire rips through her loft, destroying the seven billboard-size paintings meant for her … paintings meant for her first major exhibition, a young painter is left with an impossible task: recreate the lost artworks in just three months without getting caught — or ruin her fledgling career. Homeless and desperate, she begs her way into Pine City, an exclusive retreat in upstate New York notorious for three things: outrageous revelries, glamorous artists, and the sparkling black lake where brilliant prodigy Carey Logan drowned herself.
Taking up residence in Carey’s former studio, the painter works with obsessive, delirious focus. But when she begins to uncover strange secrets at Pine City and falls hard for Carey’s mysterious boyfriend, a single thought shadows her every move: What really happened to Carey Logan?
for Carey’s mysterious boyfriend, a single thought shadows her every move: What really happened to Carey Logan?
for Carey’s mysterious boyfriend, a single thought shadows her every move: What really happened to Carey Logan?
for Carey’s mysterious boyfriend, a single thought shadows her every move: What really happened to Carey Logan?
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This book delivers the perfect smart-thriller paradox: you’ll be driven to finish the twisting plot, but you will not want the narrator’s wise observations to end. So drop everything to follow Bourland’s brilliant narrator to Pine City, the upstate artist colony with its crumbling camp buildings and secret histories. You will not see the art world-or a woman’s place in it-the same way again.
I picked up FAKE LIKE ME because I was looking for a quick thriller to read on a plane, and wow! I was gobsmacked not only by Bourland’s witty, gorgeous descriptions of what it means to be an artist, but by the sharp, often darkly comic social observations about the commercialization of art and the “branding” of the individuals who make it. This is an original, highly intelligent novel that entertains as well as informs. And, by the time you finish it, you may very well want a studio of your own, if only to feel the hot passion of creativity Bourland uses to heat up every page.
This novel was an unexpected surprise in that it’s marketed more as a psychological thriller, when in fact it’s a literate, lyrical, fascinating exploration of not only an unnamed narrator, a young female artist, but also a group of 5 more established artists who have formed a sort of art commune called Pine City. Our protagonist eventually becomes part of this community when a fire destroys the eight major works she’s completed for a gallery showing in three months. Through connections, she’s able to use the abandoned studio of Carey Logan, one of the five, who drowned herself on the property. I worked as an art consultant for years and so was totally transfixed by the descriptions of this artist’s work, so detailed and so intriguing. The only other recent description of how an artist works that I can remember was Mia in Little Fires Everywhere and Bourland has given us even more insight into the creative mind, not only the inspiration for this women’s paintings but the sheer physicality and the quite large expense that goes into the production of large-scale works such as these. There is a central mystery to the narrative but no terror/suspense/fear in the sense of the Gone Girl clones. No, this is literary fiction/women’s fiction with fully-formed characters, a well-paced plot, and insights into the creative mind. I loved it.
An interesting look through a young artists eyes as she strives to become famous in her chosen field. As her life progresses and she becomes older there are a lot of changes to her and those she looks up to for inspiration and direction. The author, who I’ve never read before, does a good job of holding my interest throughout this entertaining read.
A satirical take on the contemporary art scene—smart, witty and eye opening. This gripping tale throws back the curtain on a world of secrets and intrigue.
An interesting read to say at least. I know nothing about art and painting but we all know or heard stories about artists that live in their own world and they are always moody and self absorbed,the fact that some of them have no inhibitions or have to use alcohol and other substances for their creativity to occur to the next news about their bodies found out of life and always the mystery around them. The story is compelling and told only from the point of view of our heroine that has no name, I for one found it odd but interesting as well. As a young artist who wants to make a break through the well known art society, we get to know a lot about how she struggles to become one, being unemployed and homeless, how her obsession with another woman artist grow so much to the point of living her life after said artist passed away. A lot of new terms and interesting small things about art life to find in this book for which I was grateful to learn about.
In Bourland’s decadent twist on the classic campus novel, a group of struggling artists succeed beyond their wildest dreams, but at what cost? Gloriously mordant, and just the right amount of rococo, you have to start your summer with this glittering new read.
A ridiculously propulsive page turner. Barbara Bourland has written a ‘du Maurier-esque’ literary thriller about sexual jealousy and artistic legacy, a gorgeously scathing critique of the New York art scene, and a warning about the deadly consequences of stifling female expression. Could. Not. Put. It. Down.