Artifice by Sharon Cameron is about a young woman, Isa de Smit, who sells forged artwork to the Nazis in order to help evacuate Jewish children out of Amsterdam. Isa has been raised in her parents’ small art gallery. She was surrounded by art, beauty, and creativity until the Nazi occupation deemed art to be degenerate. It caused artists to go into hiding or risk being deported. Isa’s friend, Truus, joined the Dutch resistance against the Nazis to help protect the most vulnerable.
When unpaid taxes threaten her beloved art gallery, Isa decides to make the Nazis pay. All of the art her family kept was taken by the Nazis either by stealing or buying from illegitimate sources. She decides to sell them a fake Rembrandt that was drawn by her talented father. After selling the fake, Isa wants to sell more to get more money for the resistance groups that are evacuating children.
Isa feels that one more forgery, a copy of a Vermeer piece, that her father was working on will help generate enough to get more children out of harm’s way. However, she needs help from a master forger to make her new painting look like it was painted in the proper time period. Isa is desperate to find help before the children get deported to Nazi camps or that Isa becomes outed as a collaborator. The only thing the Dutch people hate more than the Nazis are the people who help them. Isa discovers that she has an unlikely ally from an unexpected person. Will Isa be able to help Truus rescue the children?
The novel is based on true events, and I found it to be an okay read. I wasn’t familiar with the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. The book started interestingly, but it was a slow and boring read for me. I felt like nothing happened for a while and then towards the end, it picked up again. I also had a hard time connecting with Isa. I didn’t feel anything toward Isa and her journey. I would be open to reading more books by the author.
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