Versilio

Fiction
Country : France
Editor:
ISBN : 2221100336
Published Date : 22/03/2004

An extraordinary story of love and vengeance in the international art world... A fast-paced and gripping tale... Unanimously received as Marc Levy's most accomplished novel to date...

Jonathan and Anna are in the final stages of planning their Bostonian high-society wedding, when Peter, an auctioneer for Christie's and Jonathan's best friend, calls with news that will change all of their lives. He has just been informed that a small London art gallery has come in to possession of five canvases by the 19th century artist, Vladimir Radskin. Jonathan, the world's foremost expert on Radskin, immediately understands the significance of the information. If the gallery indeed has five paintings, then the collection could very well include Radskin's final canvas - a painting that has become legendary ever since it went missing in mysterious circumstances before its public unveiling in 1868. For Jonathan, who has spent the last twenty years of his career searching for this painting, its discovery and authentication would finally establish the under-appreciated Radskin as a true master. For Peter, whose recent auctions have come under fire from the critics, an ensuing high-profile sale would represent an opportunity to salvage his career. When Jonathan meets Clara, the owner of the London gallery, he is overwhelmed by a vertiginous sense of déjà-vu. But in the desperate rush to authenticate the fifth painting, he simply puts this strange feeling down to their shared passion for the late Russian painter. He and Clara are both convinced that this breath-taking painting is Radskin's mythical last work, but they need proof: for The Young Girl in the Red Dress is unsigned. Their quest takes them from a gallery in Piccadilly to a paint workshop in Florence, from a laboratory in the Louvre to a mysterious manor in the English countryside. The more Jonathan and Clara uncover about Radskin's last painting, the more they discover about themselves: three very different lives, three inextricably intertwined destinies, caught in a race against time.

Author's biography - Marc Levy


© Davin Ken

Marc Levy was born in France on October 16th, 1961. When he turned eighteen, he joined the Red Cross, where he spent the next six years. In parallel, he studied management and computer programming at Paris-Dauphine University. In 1983, he created a computer graphics company based in France and the United States.

Six years later, he lost majority control of the group and resigned. Starting again from scratch, he returned to Paris and co-founded an interior design and planning company with two friends; the company soon became one of the leading office architecture firms in France.

At thirty-seven, Marc Levy wrote a story for the man that his son would grow up to be. In early 1999, his sister, a screenwriter (now a film director), encouraged him to send the manuscript to Editions Robert Laffont, who immediately decided to publish If Only It Were True. Before it was published, Steven Spielberg (Dreamworks) acquired film rights to the novel. The movie,  Just like Heaven, produced by Steven Spielberg, starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, was a #1 box office hit in America in 2005.

After If Only It Were True, Marc Levy began writing full-time. All of his novels have hit the top of the best-seller list in France. They are also very successful internationally and are consistently on the bestseller list in several countries including Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, and Taiwan.

If Only It Were True, 2000 (adapted for film in 2005)

Finding You, 2001 (adapted for television in 2007)

Seven Days for an Eternity, 2003

In Another Life, 2004

If Only It Were True 2, 2005

London Mon Amour, 2006 (adapted to film in 2008)

Children of Freedom, 2007

All Those Things We Never Said, 2008.

The First Day, 2009

The First Night, 2009 (the sequel to The First Day)

The Shadow Thief, 2010

The Strange Journey of Mr. Daldry, 2011

Replay, 2012

Stronger than fear, 2013

Another Idea of Happiness, 2014

Elle & Lui, 2015

Hope, 2016

The Last of the Stanfields, 2017

 

His latest novel, A Woman Like Her, will be published in France on May 18, 2018.

 

The combined sales of Marc Levy's seventeen novels, translated into 49 languages, have surpassed the 40 million copy mark worldwide. Marc Levy is the most read French author in the world. (Source for all rankings and figures: Ipsos/Livres Hebdo/Le Figaro)

Marc Levy has also written short stories and directed a short film for Amnesty International, Nabila's Letter, screened in March 2004. In addition, he has written song lyrics for various artists including Johnny Hallyday.

 

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