Painter of Time


Fiction - Mystery - Historical
246 Pages
Reviewed on 07/11/2017
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Charles Remington for Readers' Favorite

On her first day at the Cloisters gallery in New York, where she has been employed as a restorer, Mackenzie Ferrara is introduced to Italian restorer Anthony Bataglia, who is recognised as a world leader in the field. Painter of Time by Matthew O’Connell chronicles how, together, they begin work on restoring Berlinghiero Berlinghieri’s 1231 masterpiece, Madonna and Child, and how their relationship develops as they tackle a series of restorations on works by artists such as Daddi, Giotto and Filippo Lippi. Interestingly, the narrative also includes chapters dealing with the lives and times of the artists whose work they are restoring – descriptions of their work, their loves and fortunes during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in the Italian cities of Florence and Lucca.

Understandably, Mackenzie is captivated by the Italian’s easy charm and gentle ways, but she starts to notice some puzzling irregularities in the work they are undertaking - subtle inconsistencies that lead her to suspect that Bataglia may not be all that he appears to be. After much soul searching, she decides to confide in her father, Joe Ferrara, a retired NYPD detective, and together they amass a disturbing body of evidence which could cast serious doubts on the credentials of Mr Anthony Bataglia and the integrity of many masterpieces hanging in galleries around the world. But could there be another explanation - could the truth be even stranger?

Painter of Time is a brilliant piece of work; an evocative, carefully researched, well written narrative that will keep you enthralled from beginning to end. Intrigued by Matthew O’Connell’s story, I took the trouble of checking out some of the places, artists and masterpieces described in the book and, to my great satisfaction, found the underlying facts on which the storylines are based to be perfectly accurate. Because the book is basically a mystery, I will not go into too much detail, but I can confirm that I enjoyed it greatly and have no hesitation in recommending it. Read this book - you will not be disappointed.