The author of the acclaimed suspense novel The Forger returns to the dangerously rarified world of literary forgery in this tense sequel. When a scream shatters the summer night outside their country house in the Hudson Valley, reformed literary forger Will and his wife Meghan find their daughter Maisie shaken and bloodied, holding a parcel her attacker demanded she present to her father. Inside … present to her father. Inside is a literary rarity the likes of which few have ever handled, and a letter laying out impossible demands regarding its future.
After twenty years on the straight and narrow, Will finds himself ensnared in a plot to counterfeit the rarest book in American literature: Edgar Allan Poe’s Tamerlane, of which only a dozen copies are known to exist. Facing threats from his former nemesis Henry Slader, Will must rely on the artistic skills of his older daughter Nicole to help create a flawless forgery of this Holy Grail of American letters.
Part mystery, part case study of the shadowy side of the book trade, and part homage to the writer who invented the detective tale, The Forger’s Daughter draws readers into the diabolically clever–and, for some, inescapable–world of literary forgery.
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The Forger’s Daughter is a fascinating mystery about a likable husband and wife who love books. When something from the past pops up, they keep deep, dark secrets from each other. A suspenseful story told from alternating points of view, this is a riveting page-turner. Reading about auction houses, running a bookstore and selling rare books was intriguing. I loved this book and highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
It appears that this is a sequel to “The Forgers”. That being said I had no problem following the story and relationships between the characters. The book flows in a manner in which can confuse as its shifts narration from Will to Meghan randomly.
This book has taken me so long to read. It was interesting but not enough to captivate me. I was easily distracted by all the extraneous information about forgery, classical music and characters I found less than thrilling.
Will and Meghan adopted Maisie when Mary Chandler, Meg’s best friend/business partner dies. The father is unknown as it is told that Mary used a “donor” to have a baby. The antique book store owners also have an adult daughter Nicole who also has a talent for replication. Will and Meg finally feel settled in New York after living in the countryside in Ireland.
Their lives are suddenly changed when an unexpected and undesired visitor from the past makes his presence known. The history between Will and Henry Slader was competitive and contentious back when Will was deeply involved with forgery of old documents for profit. The relationship ended rather violently when Slader attacks Will ultimately mutilated his right hand. Will had hoped to never see the dangerous man again. Unfortunately, Slader shows up requesting one last favor knowing he has a secret from the past that Will would prefer not be revealed.
The two men share a mutual acquaintance Atticus who is peripherally involved with this latest scam involving a forgery of Edgar Allen Poe’s “Tamerlane”. The historical information regarding Poe was unknown to me and added to the significance of the crime if discovered. The murder of Meg’s brother Adam Deihl has remained unsolved for years. Will and Slader have kept the details of her brother’s involvement with their illegal activities. Meg has her own past secrets which ultimately tie the whole story together.
Overall, I was underwhelmed and found the story predictable. The historical information seemed well researched although laborious in detail. This book is well suited for those interested in mysteries particularly about Poe and antique books.
Is a thief always a thief? How about someone who scams people for a living? Can they turn the corner and change their lives? That’s the gist of what this book is about. I had a hard time believing this plot. The idea of an old pal blackmailing a former forger into recreating a Poe poem is not difficult to comprehend. Somehow though the involvement of a past forger participating due to extreme concern about his family and then involving his own daughter to help just didn’t fit with me. I kept thinking “go to the police”. There would then have been no story, huh?
Truth is, I just had a difficult time with the beginning of this book. I felt it moved very slowly. I didn’t read the previous book. Maybe that would have given me a better understanding of the explanation I felt I was being given. I was very confused at first, but I think that had to do with the pace of the book.
All told if you enjoy hearing about the rare materials and books and a little bit of flowery language, this may be your book. I wasn’t disappointed I read the book, but I would not go back and read Book 1.
The Forger’s Daughter by Bradford Morrow was an insider account of the forgery of a first edition book by Edgar Allan Poe, with no author’s name, only 12 being in existence. This was done on a letterpress. Also, an accompanying letter in the author’s handwriting. It was done under threat of blackmail by an experienced forger and his adult daughter. It was an interesting story, which even at its conclusion left many unanswered questions. Another important fact: no one told the truth.
This was an interesting novel, which was mostly a first person narrative, but the speaker varied. It was in turns the story of a marriage, the story of a murder, the story of a past life, and the story of blackmail. The entire thing was the story of stress, for many people. It was interesting and well done. It held my rapt attention, at first because I couldn’t understand then because I needed to know why, which I figured out, in part, before the author revealed all. It was at times frightening, at other times, loving. Murder. Blackmail. Corruption. I recommend it.
I was invited to read a free ARC of The Forger’s Daughter by Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #theforgersdaughter
What a ride! If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes and intricate, convoluted puzzles, this is a novel for you.
Will is a much-consulted bibliophile with extensive knowledge of the history of published 19th century American literature, a printer of classic letterpress work, and personal history as a long reformed forger of the same. His wife Meg is the owner of a renowned NYC book store specializing in rare books of that period and the impetus that keeps Will on the straight and narrow path, along with their two daughters, Nicole and Maisie. Nicole is 20-something, just about finished with college, and a talented artist and calligrapher taught at her Daddy’s knee. Maisie, Will and Meg’s adopted daughter and the child of Meg’s deceased partner in the book shop, Mary Chandler, is just 11.
Eleven months out of the year were spent in Manhatten. The family traditionally spend August at an old farmhouse they own in the Hudson Valley, and it is there that Will is approached by his old nemesis, Henry Stader, also a forger of manuscripts from back in their younger days, and blackmailed into duplicating a copy of Edgar Allen Poe’s first self-published work, a 40-page tale titled Tamerlane, and a cover letter. Will is over twenty years out of practice as a forger of 19th-century works, though over those years he has taught and encouraged Nicole in the art of classic lettering, and due to an extensive hand injury twenty-something years ago – his right hand hatcheted, leaving only the thumb and part of the little finger by nemesis Slader – not as good as he was as a young man with calligraphic work, but his daughter Nicole is excellent – better even than he in his heyday – and she worms her way into helping with the forgery very much against her mother’s wishes and at the heartfelt protest of her dad.
Henry Slader holds an intense grudge against Will, as he did many years in jail for the attack on Will in Scotland. And he intimates knowledge and photos from back in his forging days that would have Will doing hard-time in New York and completely destroy Meg’s business reputation.
Then the bumps in the night begin, the little tells that someone has been in the house when they are gone, the missing photo from the family display, and Slader with inside-knowledge that he could only have obtained by spying on the family from the surrounding wooded acreage as they went about their lives. And then Meghan is a witness when a familiar-looking dead man is dumped on a dead-end road. Does she recognize him as the ginger-haired driver who brought Harry Slader to the farmhouse the first time?
Who can you turn to when your life is as at stake, as is your freedom and reputation? How do you keep your children safe in their beds at night?
I received a free electronic copy of the ARC of this novel from Netgalley, Bradford Morrow, and Grove Atlantic- Mysterious Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.
Will has been walking a clean line for quite a few years. But, he is reeled back into the forger arena by his enemy. He is asked to forge Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tamerlane. Will must rely on his daughter to help with this project. This is not what he ever planned to happen.
I had a hard time with this book. It sounds just like something I would absolutely love. But, the way it is written just did not work very well for me. The story is told in several points of view with no separation. This might be corrected on the final copy. But, half the time, when I realized which one was narrating a section, I would have to back up and figure out what was going on. There is a good bit of history in this and that is enjoyable but just a little confusing in some areas.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
THE FORGER’S DAUGHTER is a sequel to THE FORGERS and takes place some twenty years later. I believe that not reading THE FORGERS first would be to do a disservice to oneself. Although THE FORGER’S DAUGHTER has the legs to stand alone, having the background from the first book makes this one all the more meaningful.
There are any number of books that are about somebody’s daughter (or wife, or sister) which I tend to view as somewhat demeaning to the daughter/wife/sister (or any other possessed female character). For example, THE HANGMAN’S DAUGHTER is more about the hangman than the daughter. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Morrow has created a daughter that can truly be seen as a strong character quite vital to the plot.
Although the murder mystery is explained in the first book, the consequences of that murder linger in the mind of a deranged bookman. The result is an ingenious forgery plan that adds to our knowledge of the underbelly of the rare book market.
As was THE FORGERS, THE FORGER’S DAUGHTER is a book to savor for its rich prose and fine storytelling.
20 years ago Will was a successful infamous forger of antique manuscripts and documents. After losing part of his hand in an attack in Ireland and being found out as a forger, he moved back to the States with his family and walked the line since then. Now someone from his past has resurfaced and blackmails him with a secret that could land him life in prison. They want him to copy a rare and previously unseen first edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s earliest poem, so they can switch them and sell the real booklet in an auction without the actual owner being any the wiser that he’s left with a duplicate. Meg, his wife who doesn’t know about this secret, strongly disagrees with this plot, but his eldest daughter, a skilled artist and printer becomes more and more involved in the illegal work.
Of course, blackmail is never that simple and usually, it doesn’t end once you give in to the blackmailer. And the story doesn’t end here, this is only the start of the family’s problems. There are secrets, theft, and murder in both their future and past.
Will the criminal plan succeed? Will Will’s old secret be found out by his wife, or by the police? Will Meg tell what she witnessed? Lots of questions, that need to be answered in the rest of the book.
This is a pleasant and entertaining story full of suspense with an original plot, but it’s not the discovery of the century. Certainly the first half of the book lacks incoherence. It’s a very chaotic rendering of the family’s history up to the point where the blackmail starts. The whole book is told in the alternating voices of Meg and Will, so sometimes you see the same occurrence told from both their points of view. But their retelling of the past isn’t chronological and I had problems to assess what exactly had happened in their earlier lives and when exactly it did, and what the relationship between the various characters actually was. It takes up a very large part of the book to tell all those previous events. Maybe it would have worked better if they had a short linear coverage of the past and then another part labelled ’20 years later’. As it is now, we don’t know how exactly the forgers fell out or how they were found out. Did he confess and tell about every fraud? Obviously not, as he still comes across them. How come that his only punishment was to refund the money he wrongfully received?
The second part of the book is a lot faster paced and there’s a lot going on as well. It feels almost as if it’s a different book.
The author uses several difficult -and to me hitherto unknown- words and expressions. Not that many, that it interferes with the comfort of reading, most of the time the meaning is clear from the context. But I don’t think that some of them are used very regularly in everyday speech.
At least I learned quite a few interesting things about the world of rare book collectors, calligraphy, and about forgery that goes with it.
I didn’t know at the time but apparently there’s a book called ‘the forgers’ by the same author that tells the story of Will’s forging years.
I thank Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for giving me a free ARC of this book; this is my honest and unbiased review of it.