Dani Heywood-Lonsdale’s debut novel, The Portrait Artist, is an art mystery set in Victorian England with hints of the supernatural reminiscent of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

When a portrait of a Kunekune pig is left on the steps of the National Gallery in London one morning in 1890, it sends the art world into turmoil. Both the signature and the technique point to the artist being the mysterious Timothy Ponden-Hall, thought to have been dead for the last fifty years. Ponden-Hall, an explorer and painter, caused a sensation earlier in his career, when rumours spread that he had discovered the elixir of life during a sea voyage and was using it to bestow immortality on those who sat for his portraits. Does this new portrait mean the artist is still alive – and why has he started to paint again after so many decades of silence?

Art historian and Ponden-Hall expert Solomon Oak is brought in to investigate, but as he tries to interpret the new painting and its meaning, he makes some discoveries that cause him to question everything he thought he knew about the reclusive artist. Meanwhile Solomon’s daughter Alice has been befriended by Lou, the coachwoman, who gives her a job helping to deliver parcels. But why do their deliveries always take place under cover of darkness – and could Alice’s new job and new friend lead her to solve the mystery of Ponden-Hall before her father gets there first?

I enjoyed The Portrait Artist. My only problem with the book came towards the end, when the truth about Ponden-Hall was revealed. It wasn’t exactly a surprise – I had already at least partly guessed it – but it required a huge suspension of disbelief which was just too difficult for me to accept. Still, the story up to that point had been fascinating to follow. Solomon and Alice Oak are both characters I liked and I thought the complex relationship between them was handled well, with Alice feeling that she can never quite live up to the memory of her late sister Emma, who had been the closest to their father. Solomon, for his part, has to come to terms with Alice growing into a woman and not wanting to follow the path through life he has mapped out for her. Another interesting character is Grace, an artists’ model from a humble background who longs to be part of the world of academia and sees a possible route to that by involving herself in the Ponden-Hall mystery.

Heywood-Lonsdale explores a lot of different issues throughout the novel, including the idea of the dead being immortalised through art, both literally and figuratively; how adding to our knowledge of the artist and the sitter can change the way we view and appreciate a painting; and the difficulties of being of mixed race heritage in Victorian society. The supernatural element involving the question of whether youth can be preserved in a painting is mainly there to explain the level of mystique that has formed around Timothy Ponden-Hall and we can choose how much we want to believe.

Apart from my problems with the ending, I think this is an impressive first novel and I hope Dani Heywood-Lonsdale will write more.

Book review number two with the flu: ‘The Portrait Artist’ by Dani Heywood-Lonsdale. [PR copy]

A masterful portrait of a pig is left outside the National Gallery in late Victorian London. When it’s confirmed as being recently painted by Ponden-Hall, an explorer-artist most had presumed long dead, it reignites gossip about Faustian pacts and the painter’s meddling with a rumoured elixir of life.

The story follows Ponden-Hall expert Solomon Oak, and artists’ model Grace, who is desperate to study art history, as they try to unravel the mystery of the the pig, Ponden-Hall’s other mysterious paintings, and the painter behind them. While Oak is engrossed in his research, his daughter Alice, desperate for freedom and friendship, takes a job helping a mysterious coach woman named Lou make nocturnal deliveries around Oxford. They’re all in for some surprises…

I liked the novel’s exploration of how we remember and commemorate the dead in art and life, how what we think we know of the artist and subject affects our interpretation of a painting, of constraints imposed by gender, race, and class prejudice, and of popular gossip taking precedence over real human stories. Grace, the Oaks, and Lou were also very likeable, engaging people to spend time on a page with.

The description of Ponden-Hall’s painting process was really interesting, and sensory details were delectable, mouthwatering food, plenty of biscuits (always a good thing), and great use of smell that brought scenes to life.

I did stumble a little with some of the dialogue, which, to me, felt too archaic at times and at others too modern, but these things are very subjective, I can be annoyingly picky, and I’m not always right.

One to add to the list if you like an intriguing mystery, plenty of description of historical setting, are willing to suspend disbelief and pedantry, and if you enjoy modern-feeling characters who explore contemporary ideas in the past. Thematically, goes will with thinking about painting and immortality in Wilde’s Dorian Gray, and race and confinement in Jane Eyre.

Thanks to @netgalley and @bloomsburypublishing for the advanced copy.

An intriguing story about who is noticed and remembered and who ignored and forgotten. Talented women and people of mixed heritage are kept in the margins by a colonial Victorian society based on a strict social hierarchy. Author Dani Heywood Lonsdale writes with insight about love and the complex nature of identity and uses a satisfyingly rich and nuanced vocabulary. I am a painter and was impressed by her understanding and knowledge when describing materials, processes and ideas. For me, the ending was too slow paced and I had guessed the plot twist but it is a debut novel with engaging characters and I look forward to reading more from this intelligent, thoughtful author.

I really enjoyed this - great sense of setting, a captivating story and an interesting central mystery.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review

This may be my favourite read of the year so far! High praise I know, but the topic really captured me. The story centres around a mysterious explorer-painter, Timothy Ponden-Hall, who has not been seen in over 50 years but leaves paintings - considered to be exceptional masterpieces - on the doorsteps of The National Gallery or the Royal Academy of Arts. There are rumours that Ponden-Hall discovered the elixir of life on a sea voyage and now uses it to capture the souls of his sitters, in some kind of deal with the devil, which made him a household name. For 50 years all has been silent, until a new painting is found on the doorstep of the gallery once more, shocking everyone back into a craze of speculation. Art Historian Solomon Oak is called in to authenticate it while the press swirl and clamour, intent on finding the mystery painter once and for all. It’s well written, and to me the mystery of the painter was just an exceptionally intriguing one, and didn’t disappoint as we got deeper into the mystery or the reveal. Watch out for this one early next year!

My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher, Bloomsbury, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up

This is a difficult book for me to review because it hit some good notes but not enough for me to really fall in love, and I wasn’t totally satisfied with the ending. The question of “what happened to famous painter Timothy Ponden-Hall” is the central thread of the book, and while there were some great twists and mysteries there, I also felt let down by certain elements that leaned towards the supernatural. There was some interesting stuff about mixed-race identity that I thought was well handled, and the art history buts in general were cool (as someone who knows less than nothing about art history). It’s an ensemble cast, but the relationships 18 year old Alice has with her father and her new friend were a highlight of the book, however they also weren’t tied up in a wholly satisfying way—Alice and her father spend the book not properly communicating about what they want, and I wish more resolution happened on page, where they actually dealt with the holes in their relationship.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This book was a slow starter and I very nearly gave up but perseverance paid off and I was rewarded with an interesting and enjoyable book. The story developed with a number of different themes including attitudes towards women and prejudices, not my usual sort of book but I would recommend it. My thanks to Net Galley and the author for an ARC

An interesting and thought provoking read! Initially I found the book to be quite slow but the last half kept me captivated throughout with a great conclusion. 4/5

I just could not engage with this book. I'm sure it will suit some people, but I thought as an artist it would be right up my street. Sadly it wasn't. I couldn't find it in myself to care about what happened or the characters. I can't say why, however much I persevered I remained disinterested.

What a beautiful story. I was absolutely hooked from the second page and devoured this tale in a few sittings.

It has everything we might expect from a Victorian-era set tale, with their slightly strange obsession with phrenology, celebrity, mutton-chops, and bizarre leaps of faith about life, death and the afterlife.

Our main characters are Oaks, a professor in hiding following his oldest daughter's tragic death, his surviving daughter, Alice, and also Grace, a portrait sitter at the National Gallery. Oaks is somewhat pompous to begin with, very Victorian in his attitude, whereas Alice and Grace are certainly not. They're a slightly unconventional trio, and this is as much a story of their development as individuals as it is about uncovering Ponden-Hall's identity. And what a tangled web this proves to be. It is beautifully evocative and the ending, I feel, really does stand up to the rest of the tale.

I just really loved it, and I had to stop myself from turning to the back pages to discover the resolution from about 50% through the book. I'm glad I didn't give in and allowed the story to unfold as it was intended.

I don't read a huge number of more 'literary' fiction historical stories (I love a Golden Age cosy crime), but it had a similar 'feel' to Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver. Enjoy.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy. I will share my review on the blog when the book is released.

Art and deception. Set in the late Victorian era, the subject of this book is a mysterious painting and its provenance. It had been left outside the doors of the National Gallery in London. Professor Solomon Oak is called to give his opinion as to whether the was by the artist Ponden-Hall, a reclusive man thought to be long deceased. There are some interesting characters, such as artists’ model Grace and feisty Lou. As an art historian myself, I was interested to see how the artwork’s provenance was decided, but found the conclusion rather long-winded.

Reminiscent of other contemporary historical fiction authors, like Andrew Taylor and the husband-and-wife team writing as Ambrose Parry, Dani Heywood-Lonsdale is able to skilfully evoke the Victorian age through the way she uses language, locations, ambience and characters in the manner of a writer of the period, such as Anthony Trollope. Her novel, 'The Portrait Artist', is very clearly set in the era (the last decade of the 1800s, to be exact), yet given the modern perspective of looking back on it from the twenty-first century.

At the crux of the novel lie controversial topics, like race, discrimination and societal prejudice. Viewed from a twenty-first century viewpoint and through the lens of 'wokeness', Heywood-Lonsdale's handling of them is crude and lacks any degree of finesse or sensitivity. Some of the language used may have been acceptable in the seventeenth century, but in a contemporary context it is downright offensive. It seems a shame to have an otherwise competent novel spoiled in this way. Arguably, it should carry a trigger warning. I could see that some readers might find it an upsetting read. Furthermore, it could be said that the elements of mystery are not particularly well dealt with since I, for one, guessed who the portrait painter would turn out to be as soon as the character named, Lou, made her appearance. I'm sure other readers will be equally astute. Despite these shortcomings I am grateful for the opportunity to read and review his novel.

Many thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for the ARC.