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  1. Hi Esther. I hear such good things about you. I am seeking pre-release reviews for my 81.000 word dual timeline art mystery novel. Its tagline is

    Seven pieces of priceless art, sold at a flea market in France ignite a present-day mystery
    and WWII thriller of betrayal, terror, and redemption.

    French village Villemont has a secret. Sitting at his computer, divorced, unemployed and drunk, Sydneysider Mark buys a house sight unseen in its ancient centre, hoping to find meaning and even love again.

    Like himself, the house he bought is a mess. Arriving in France, he takes its objet d’art and ugly bric-a-brac to the village market, where he sells it all cheaply. Unbeknownst to him, amongst it are seven filth-encrusted treasures of immeasurable value, once destined for Hermann Goering

    Though sceptical of Mark’s obsession with one small, unsold painting, newfound love Monique helps him restore it. Soon suspecting it a lost 16th-century Dutch Master, they go in search of its provenance and are horrified by what they find.

    Interspersed, we follow German art student Josef, son of an anti-fascist murdered while sabotaging Hitler’s military build-up. In 1941 Josef is sent to Paris by the Nazis and forced to lead violent art raids against Jewish families. His morals compromised and ever mounting, Josef finally goes rogue and is mortally wounded while helping a Jewish woman escape with a cache of priceless art. Before his death, he fulfills the woman’s dying wish by hiding her precious family painting in a house in Villemont, recently abandoned when Villemont’s villagers sent its Jewish owners to their death.

    Back in the present, the book follows the fate of the precious artworks Mark sold. Some are recovered, and some lost, but each of them profoundly affect the lives of those who bought them.

    Seven Treasures is about othering. Of the Jews during the war, but also of the Muslims living in Mark’s village. As the world rejoices at the recovered looted art, Villemont’s shunned and unwelcome Syrian refugees look on in disbelief as the village celebrates redemption from its shameful, antisemitic past… while their othering continues.

    If you are interested, I can be reached at mail@thinkingpictures.com.au

    Regards Paul Harmon

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