The Gallery Assistant by Kate Belli Book Review

About the Book:

November 2001: Chloe Harlow wakes up late, with hazy memories of the party the night before but no recollection of how she got back to her Brooklyn apartment. Ever since the terrifying and catastrophic terrorist attack, it seems she has been on a collision course with destruction.

When she finally arrives at the exclusive Upper East Side art gallery where she works, she is immediately called into her boss’s office. A pair of NYPD detectives greet her, also very curious to know how her evening ended…because the host of the party, a rising painter and the gallery’s newest artist, is dead.

Navigating both the sophisticated high-stakes art world and her personal life in burgeoning Williamsburg, Chloe struggles to piece together a complete picture of that lost night. As she digs deeper, inconsistencies emerge between what she remembers and what people tell her actually happened, and more questions are raised. Everything begins to feel like a conspiracy and maybe it is. Because Chloe is the only one who glimpses the secrets the murdered artist left behind, and the closer she gets to the truth…the more deadly it becomes.

My Review:

Chloe is a troubled young woman. She suffers from PTSD after her experience on 9/11. She drinks too much alcohol, often to the point she blacks out. In fact, she was drunk the night of a party celebrating an artist and apparently the murder of that artist. Chloe cannot remember much of the party or how she got home. She is a deeply flawed character and I had difficulty liking her. She turns out to be unreliable in her memories. It was hard to know if that was by design or not. Some memories do return and we realize there may be something else going on.

I really appreciated all the information about art, paintings and the techniques of running a gallery. The novel centers on Chloe and it was interesting to have more of her background revealed, explaining her flawed character. I did really want her to succeed. The novel takes place shortly after 9/11 and it was interesting to revisit that time. I had forgotten how many people smoked back then. This is a book for readers who like a mystery revolving around the art world.

My rating: 4/5 stars

About the Author:

Kate Belli writes historical mystery and contemporary thrillers. Fascinated by history from an early age, she earned a PhD in American art and has variously worked as an antiques appraiser, a museum curator and a college professor. Kate has lived all over, from Florence, Italy, to Brooklyn, New York, to the Deep South, to a cottage next to Monet’s gardens in Northern France. Today she lives and works in Central Pennsylvania with her husband and son.

Atria, 288 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)