Catch Me If You Can meets Patricia Highsmith in this “stylish” (New York Times Book Review) page-turner of greed and obsession, survival and self-invention that is a piercing character study of one unforgettable female con artist. At the end of the 1990s, with the art market finally recovered from its disastrous collapse, Miss Rebecca Farwell has made a killing at Christie’s in New York City, … a killing at Christie’s in New York City, selling a portion of her extraordinary art collection for a rumored 900 percent profit. Dressed in couture YSL, drinking the finest champagne at trendy Balthazar, Reba, as she’s known, is the picture of a wealthy art collector. To some, the elusive Miss Farwell is a shark with outstanding business acumen. To others, she’s a heartless capitalist whose only interest in art is how much she can make.
But a thousand miles from the Big Apple, in the small town of Pierson, Illinois, Miss Farwell is someone else entirely—a quiet single woman known as Becky who still lives in her family’s farmhouse, wears sensible shoes, and works tirelessly as the town’s treasurer and controller.
No one understands the ins and outs of Pierson’s accounts better than Becky; she’s the last one in the office every night, crunching the numbers. Somehow, her neighbors marvel, she always finds a way to get the struggling town just a little more money. What Pierson doesn’t see—and can never discover—is that much of that money is shifted into a separate account that she controls, “borrowed” funds used to finance her art habit. Though she quietly repays Pierson when she can, the business of art is cutthroat and unpredictable.
But as Reba Farwell’s deals get bigger and bigger, Becky Farwell’s debt to Pierson spirals out of control. How long can the talented Miss Farwell continue to pull off her double life?
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As I began this book and met this smart young woman, Becky, as she is finishing up high school. She is brilliant when it comes to math, and has been helping, or earning money, doing math papers all of her HS years, and she has taken over the management, or financial part of her father’s business, so as much as she may want, college for this brilliant girl is not on the plate.
She begins her career with her local town, and again with her brilliant mind, she flourishes and advances, has she found her niche.
We follow this shy young woman as she blossoms and spreads her wings, and we cringe as she uses her gifts in a way to aid her obsession.
We wonder how long she can keep up what she is doing? Will her health give, or will her deeds be found out?
There is another world out there, and we are going deep into the bowels of it with Reba, and in the end, was it worth it?
I received this book through Edelweiss and the Publisher Custom House. and was not required to give a positive review.
2.5 stars
This book had so much more promise than what was actually delivered. I loved the idea of the dual life and money fraud all embedded in the world of art. However, what we got was a fairly ho-hum story that basically just “talked” at you, stating “facts” and very methodically stating details. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen and nothing was ever delivered.
I am actually quite surprised that I even finished this book because the bottom line is that I found this truly boring. At first I was pulled into the story and maybe that is why I kept going because I wanted to see what happened.
This book was likened to The Talented Mr. Ripley and Catch Me if You Can but it literally had none of the excitement or chase that either of those stories had. It was simply “Becky skimmed $60,000 out of this account so that she could buy this painting”, “when she sells this painting, she will be able to put back $5,000 into the city of Pierson so that they can have their prom, complete with a DJ and fireworks”. “Becky was the big winner at this auction and she is now hobnobbing with the who’s who of the art world in NYC. She is savoring the attention”.
I have seen some good reviews out there, so maybe if you didn’t have the same kind of expectations that I did going in, you might enjoy this book.
Thank you to Harper Collins for my copy of this book via Edelweiss
So I didn’t know going into it that The Talented Miss Farwell by Emily Gray Tedrowe was based on a true story, once I did though that completely enhanced the story for me. I mean, who would think anyone (especially a woman *gasp*) would be able to pull off such a large crime and get away with it for so long? But be aware this is a book that you are going to want to read if you are looking for a very informative slow burn. Fast-paced this is not, but I found it fascinating to see the life this author created for Miss Farwell. The life Becky led as Reba dropped me into the New York art scene, while her life as Becky had a very small town feel about it. I loved the two sides of her and found myself glued to the pages wondering what she would do next.
I listened to the audio and I feel like that is a great way to go. Allyson Ryan narrates, and I think with how slow the book is, it was very helpful to have someone as talented as her voicing it. I know some people said it was boring, but I didn’t find that to be the case at all and I think audio helps a ton with slower reads. It is a fairly short audio at under 10 hours, and I was a little sad when it was over. The end was nothing too crazy, and some might say this book was predictable, but I was really into it and just let the story take me away.
I actually found myself feeling sorry for Becky, although I’m not sure why, and her character really resonated with me. Her obsession with art fascinated me, and I loved the parts where she becomes Reba. I don’t know very much about art, but I love reading about it which made the book even more enjoyable for me. Call it what you will, but for me The Talented Miss Farwell is about obsession and one woman’s need to feel powerful.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book, all opinions and thoughts are my own.
What a surprising, engrossing and original page-turner. Tedrowe has done a number of amazing things in this genre-bending caper/thriller/small-town Americana/feminist novel. She’s created a criminal so loveable and relatable she could be your best friend. You’ll both worry about and root for her as she continues to up the ante of the risk she puts herself in. It’s clear Miss Farwell’s innate financial acumen would have logically put her at the top of any corporation had her hard-scrabble childhood been different. The corkscrew of a plot will have you on the edge of your seat and equally fascinated by the minutiae of the accounting practices of small municipalities and the horse-trading of the global art world. Tedrowe makes them as interesting as Netflix’ The Queen’s Gambit makes chess. If I write any more I’ll give it all away.
Becky Farwell is a whiz at math. Because of this skill, she is able to save her father’s business for a bit. However, due to their financial problems, Becky isn’t able to go to college. Instead, she takes a course in accounting and begins working for the town. She quickly moved up the ranks, but not before noticing some errors in the books.
Meanwhile, Becky is bitten by the art bug. She gets a crash course in how to buy and sell art from a man she meets during a failed attempt to purchase a painting.
Driven by her obsession with art, Becky starts skimming money from the town, promising to return it when she can sell her art at a profit.
Becky also enters into a friendship with a high school classmate, Ingrid, because of Ingrid incredible kindness to Becky.
I felt this book was a bit dry, never quite hitting its mark. It talked a lot about art, but I never felt invested in it. I did want Becky to succeed, if only to help out the town.
Thanks to The Book Club Girl, Harper Collins and Net Galley for the ARC.
#TheTalentedMissFarwell #EmilyGrayTedrowe
#NetGalley #HarperCollins #TheBookClubGirl
Becky Farwell was brilliant in math and made money during high school tutoring friends either for money, clothes, or shoes.
Her life wasn’t easy, though. Her mother had died, and she was left taking care of her ill father so she felt she couldn’t go to college.
What she did do was help her father with his failing business and work as the town’s treasurer.
She does some shady things with the town’s money because she had developed a love and obsession for art, and you know art is expensive.
We follow Becky from her high school days to her days as an art connoisseur which got her into terrible debt to the town as she skimmed money from the treasurer’s office accounts into a personal account.
I actually liked her even though she was doing things not on the up and up. Becky was a determined woman when it came to her art and what she wanted.
THE TALENTED MISS FARWELL is an enjoyable read simply because you can’t believe what she is doing.
The writing is fresh and pulls you in. A wonderful book for a debut.
Art aficionados and any reader who just needs something different will find this book enjoyable. 5/5
This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I was looking forward to reading The Talented Miss Farwell. Becky did not have an easy life growing up in Pierson, Illinois. She lost her mother at an early age and her father’s business was floundering. She is gifted in math and delays college to help her father as the business goes down hill and he becomes housebound due to illness.
I love stories about characters overcome difficult obstacles to lead a life of purpose. This did not happen in Becky/Reba’s story. While I started this story having a lot of sympathy for her, it felt harder and harder to do as the story continued. I am not sure what the redeeming qualities are after reading this story. My thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Becky is The Talented Miss Farwell of the title and there are three areas in which she is particularly skilled – working with numbers through accounting. collecting and selling art for a profit and living a lie.
Becky grew up in the small town of Pierson, Illinois where she starts working at Town Hall right out of high school and becomes the town comptroller in her early 20s. Around the same time, unbeknownst to anyone in Pierson, she starts traveling to Chicago and New York buying expensive art as “Reba.” She soon becomes obsessed with the rush of not only owning the beautiful pieces but also selling them for a profit. To do that, though, she needs cash so Becky takes advantage of her role in Pierson and uses the town coffers to fund her art addiction. As Reba becomes more and more successful, Pierson becomes more and more rundown. How long will Beck/Reba be able to keep her secret under wraps?
I was immediately drawn into this book – Becky’s character is shrewd and compelling and she convinces herself what she’s doing will someday benefit the people of Pierson. But eventually I got frustrated with the story. Without giving too much away, there doesn’t seem to be a reason why Becky didn’t put some of the money she made back into the town and I wanted to know why she was so obsessed with the art – was it because she loved it or did she get a rush from the con? But it was her ignorance over how her crime affected those around her – especially her best friend Ingrid whose son has special needs and would have benefited from town programs – was really hard to stomach. I don’t need to like a protagonist to like a book but I do need to understand her motivations and in Becky’s case, I never did.
Thank you to The Book Club Girls, HarperCollins Publishers, NetGalley and the author for the advanced e-copy to review.
I finally finished this book after a week of reading it. I should have just dnf’ed it, but I really thought it would be better. I had high hopes for it. A female con artist? But, it just feel flat to me. I felt like I was in an art appreciation class.
Becky Farwell lives a double life. In Pierson, Ill she is known for her uncanny ability to get things done and find money for the town when all hope has fallen. In the art world, she is known as Reba. Reba loves art and makes stunning deals.
I didn’t care for this book, but that’s just my opinion. Give it a try, you may enjoy it. I am in the minority on this book.
I won this from Goodreads. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I really enjoyed this book, which was a bit of a roller coaster ride. Becky is always thisclose to having her secret exposed. As a result, I found myself reading with a semi-anxious knot in my stomach. The character of Becky is brilliant. Deeply self-delusional, she truly doesn’t see the errors of her ways or the consequences of her actions, and yet, she’s also strangely likeable. 4 stars.
This was an interesting read. While I was never sure if I liked it disliked Becky, the main character, the writing was very well done and it kept me intrigued the whole time. I think Becky used her intelligence with math and accounting to embezzle money from her town comptroller job as a way of escape from her life and things that had taken place when she was younger and the choices she felt she had to make. She relished the high society life of the art world and she became very good in it. While she was embezzling millions of dollars, she did do a lot of food for the town and she did try to help out as much as she could. I feel like she just got sucked in to something that overtook her and controlled her life. Eventually our lies always catch up with us