A book of love and betrayal, set in two timelines... WWII and 1997.

Maddelena, leaves Sicily to work for the Montefalco family in Rome...

When Maddelena dies, her daughter Beatrice finds a fragment of a piece of a very old painting, when asking Jude Adler an art expert to view the house to see if there is anything worth selling to pay the bills her mother leaves her. Old photos are found, and the painting.

Beatrice and Jude travel to Rome and uncover secrets of the past which have been kept for her.

A great story.

The Seeker of Lost Paintings is a beautifully written novel. It tells the story of Beatrice, who is following her dying mother Maddelena's last request in organising the sale of her father's belongings. Chief among them are some photographs that he took in Italy when he was a younger man.

She enlists the help of Jude, an art dealer. During his visit to Beatrice and her mother, he notices a small portrait which catches his eye. Believing this to be a missing masterpiece, he requests a closer look.

Sadly, Maddelena soon passes away, leaving instructions for Beatrice to return the painting to its original owner.

Here begins the story of Maddelena's past. Together Beatrice and Jude follow the clues contained in a letter. It takes them to Rome, where they make a startling discovery, which shakes Beatrice's world.

Sometimes a dual time novel like this favours one period over the other. The reader can become more invested in the past story, than the present one - or vice versa.

However, this is not the case with this story. For me, both past and present were fabulous stories.
The past was heartbreakingly touching, with historical events adding to the dramatic backdrop. The present was engaging and appealing, also touching and very well presented.

Very deserving of this 5⭐️ review, I'd give it more if I could.

Thanks to Netgalley.co.uk for a copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

A really interesting and well written book. Set in 2 time periods and countries 1930/40's Rome and 1990's London. Great characters and there was a Da Vinci code esque element to the story with the involvement of the Vatican. A recommended holiday book perfect to read on holiday.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sarah’s second book having also enjoyed the first!

A story set across two time lines, looking at Italy in the 1940’s as well as people in the current day searching for answers from the past.

I was drawn in very quickly with the mystery around the art dealer. The story is also well paced, the characters are likeable, relatable and realistic which meant I found myself flying through chapters in order to try and discover the next piece of the puzzle.

I particularly loved the attention to detail that spans both eras. Whether it be life during the war and the associated horrors and injustice of living under both Mussolini’s and then Hitler’s reigns or the detail surround the art scene and the historical links to the painting.

I found myself more caught up in the back story of Maddelena and Luca than the current day time line and finished the book still wanting to know more about their time together what what life looked like for them in later years.

One thing that is clear is the sheer volume of time and extensive research that has gone into “The Seeker of Lost Paintings” and I cannot wait to see what Sarah comes up with next.

A huge thank-you to Simon & Schuster UK and Net Galley for this advanced reader copy and an even bigger thanks to Sarah for sharing her work with the world.
In a digital age, I am sure putting yourself out there for others to love or criticise is possibly one of the hardest things you could do - like TripAdvisor for books!

I really enjoyed this book! The story starts in 1990s London, an era before everyone had mobile phones and the internet at the touch of their fingers. I really liked the fact there was a historical puzzle and enjoyed watching the story unfold, learning more about Italy during the Second World War which was a bonus for me. Everything came together at the end, although I would have liked this to have been a little slower as so much happened in the last few pages. It was a fun story to follow along with and I would love to see some Caravaggio paintings, visit Rome and read the previous book by the author too!

A beautifully written story set in early 1940s and modern days. I loved the main characters from both wears and how the story unfolded. Would highly recommend this book

Well written book set in two separate periods of time. The sections set in Italy during the war are very interesting depicting the difficulties living under Mussolini then the Nazis.
The story is a great mystery surrounding a painting and I found it a real page turner. Thoroughly recommended.

Sarah Freethy offers the reader a well engineered novel that covers all the bases needed to give readers the best chance to enjoy her writing. Lest this sounds like a ‘writing by numbers’ approach let me rule that out straight away. This is writing that captures the reader’s interest in a tale that connects two time periods and different generations, whilst at the same time drawing the reader’s attention to the horrors of life in wartime Italy, especially after Italy abandoned its alliance with Nazi Germany and much of Italy fell under Nazi occupation.
Characters are well drawn and easy to ‘know’. Alongside these well described key players is the author’s writing, which powerfully evokes the two time periods and the different geographical settings.
Overall, a very enjoyable read and well recommended.

A really good read. This story is set in two eras and it marries together beautifully. When Beatrice's mother dies she comes across part of a very valuable painting and her wish that it be returned to its rightful owner and with the help of art dealer Jude their journey takes them to Rome where it all began in 1939.Its a story of love,loss and betrayal with lots of interesting and heartbreaking memories and the secrets that come to light make for a very interesting read.

Having received an e arc of this title from Simon and Schuster through NetGalley, this is my honest review of The Seeker of Lost Paintings, by Sarah Freethy.
As someone who has seen some of Caravaggio's works with their masterly depictions of light, both here and in Florence, I knew this would be of interest to me as Beatrice and Jude, the two modern day characters in the novel seek to find a lost Caravaggio painting's provenance.
What I wasn't expecting was to be so caught up in the 1940s back story of Maddelena and Luca, a story of one quarter of the lost painting.
The story moves between 1997 London and 1940s Rome and I very much enjoyed both parts.
There are happy endings, of course, but there is more to those endings than just a simple romantic one. Some happy endings are more about justice and completion rather than two people finding love.
I learned much about what happened in Italy, particularly in Rome, in the Second World War.
Sarah Freethy has obviously done a great deal of research for her book and has come up with a fascinating and very enjoyable mystery and love story combined.
I would thoroughly recommend it...and Caravaggio 's paintings!

In Naples in 1610, the artist Caravaggio paints a portrait of St John the Baptist, one of several the artist creates.

In 1997, art dealer Jude Adler visits the family home of Beatrice Fremont, whose dying mother Maddalena is about to leave Beatrice with huge debts. Her deceased father Luca’s photographic collection may help ease the situation but it’s a small painting that catches Jude‘s eye. Could it be a Caravaggio? Could her parents safety deposit box in Rome revealed the remaining portions of the painting? It seems that Maddalena has left a genuine mystery as well as unsound finances… Maybe the 1940s timeline where Maddalena meets Luca will supply the answers to the puzzle? Maddalena arrives from Sicily to be a cook at the Villa Velare, the home of wealthy Luca, Conte Montefalco just before Mussolini takes Italy into war.

How marvellous to return to the vitality of Rome with the author genuinely making me feel as if I’m there again because of the lively descriptions. I love the Caravaggio art mystery element which is interesting from the start but becomes increasingly so as the story develops. Wartime Rome is depicted extremely well with all the drama and danger of Il Duce and the Fascists. The threat of approaching war feels real and the reality of actual war is conveyed well. All this inevitably affects the Montefalco household in various ways especially with its connections to the Vatican.

All the central characters are very likeable but even the ones that are less easy to like, or in one case heartily dislike, are portrayed well. I want things to work out for Beatrice and for Jude to get back on his feet after a costly purchase which sadly for him proves to be a forgery. He is the seeker of lost works and he cannot fail Beatrice but his reticence is very understandable.

What Beatrice learns explains much about her parents and I enjoy how the story unfolds and its conclusion. Both timelines are good but the wartime one is probably the more interesting of the two.

Overall, this is a very well written, compelling and engaging read with a basis of fact which gives it an authentic feel. Recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Simon and Schuster for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.

I loved this book, it was so well written and really gripped me. I found the setting and characters engaging and was drawn into the story. A great read which I would highly recommend.

Good. Switches between Italy in the 1940's and London and Italy in the late 90's. Descriptions of Italy made me feel like I was there as they were described in lots of detail. Full of twists and turns. Full of romance.

This book was an easy read. An interesting premise – looking for the missing pieces of a painting possibly painted by one of the Old masters. The action takes place in two different cities and eras. The whole plot and outcome was predicable.

An enjoyable read set between two time zones early 1940s in war torn Rome and 1997 in London and Italy. A story with some mystery although some gaps along the way. Good, well developed, diverse characters. Interesting historically of Rome after the fall of Mussolini and during the Nazi take over, all based against the background of stored and stolen art works.

I very much enjoyed this novel, although the frequency of changes between the two time lines, war time Italy and present day, did not help me feel overly invested in the characters. Just as I was immersing myself in the particular aspect of the storyline, it shifted and I was left a little adrift. However, the historical aspect of the artwork and the Vatican’s investment in its art collection was fascinating and made this an engrossing read.

This book, with its two time lines, tells us a story which unfolds gradually as the past is revealed. I love this style and find myself torn when we leave wartime and come back to more recent days, and vice versa as we return to the past. I enjoyed the artistic references, as well as reading of wartime Italy and the privations of the local people.

The tale centres on a lost painting, as Jude, the art dealer, having lost his nerve as well as his money after buying a clever fake, is reluctantly helping Beatrice to trace the painting. She finds more about her family's history as a result. I found it fascinating, gripping and satisfying.

I really enjoyed this historical mystery set in two timelines - Rome during World War Two and the present day.

Jude is reluctantly drawn into the search for a missing portrait left to Beatrice by her mother. The search takes them to a safety deposit box in Rome, her estranged family and an exploration of her parents’ past and their love story.

The chapters dealing with the reality of life under Mussolini and then German occupation were hard to read and I was surprised by the lengths the Vatican went to protect its reputation.

I enjoyed the developing relationship between Beatrice’s parents which was mirrored by her own with Jude.

Interesting and absorbing.

One to be recommended.

A very enjoyable and captivating read. Set between UK 1997 and 1940s in Italy, we learn how Beatrice parents met and how they came to be in possession of part of a very old painting.

What an interesting novel this is. I dont usually enjoy books moving from one era to another, but this did seem to have consistency. Maddalena, who is a maid in the Chateau belonging to the Montefalcones, somehow ends up marrying the Count. It was perhaps a little far fetched, but the descriptions of the war years were excellent.
Later, moving on to 1997, Beatrice, Maddalena's daughter finds some photographs that might be interesting to a collector, and asks Jude to value them. The story becomes quite amazing, leaping from famaily revelations , hidden treasure, to a possible Caravaggio find, moving from London to Rome.
It's intriguing but again, a little impossible to beleive. However, I enjoyed reading the novel. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to review it.