In Jo Piazza's THE PARISIAN HEIST, we don't meet the brilliant artist Vincent van Gogh, but we learn a lot about him through the fictionalized character of his sister-in-law, Jo van Gogh, and the completely fictional character of a friend, Claire Donadieu. Piazza alternates the narrative between Jo’s real battle to get van Gogh's paintings to be seen, admired and --- ultimately --- valued, and a modern-day thriller about three art students who have been invited to participate in one of the strangest heists in history.

In 1996, Emma had come to Paris to study art at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts on a three-year scholarship. Unfortunately, after two years, the funding was abruptly stopped, and Emma is cleaning houses and trying to stay solvent before her visa expires. She has loved art since she was a child, and painting is her whole world. 

One of her clients is Stella Swanson, the grand dame of the art world, who was married to Maxwell Swanson of the billion-dollar Swanson Industries. Museums all over the world have works of art donated by the Swansons or on loan from them. The largest art dealers in the world, they represent buyers and sellers of fine art and move in rarefied circles. So when Stella says to Emma, “It is absolutely terrible to be rich,” Emma has a hard time believing that statement as she struggles to pay rent and take care of her mother.

"There are twists and touching turns, and we root for the sorority of female collaborators to come out unscathed and triumphant at the end. Piazza's writing is superb, and this is a novel that will resonate with women and men, whether or not they are art lovers."

Stella lives in the penthouse of a beautiful apartment building, but there is little furniture there, and all the paintings that graced the walls have left empty rectangles where they had once resided. Even her bedroom is empty of decoration except for a sword over her bed. Stella seems afraid that her stepson and his children will try to have her sent to a facility where she will lose her freedom. And when Emma meets Matthew, Stella's handsome, wealthy grandson, he admits that such is the plan for Stella.

But Stella has plans of her own, and they involve Emma and others. They are big and bold, and they include her getting revenge on the Swanson family for their crimes in the art world, as well as for what they have done to her. 

More than a century before Emma and Stella meet, Jo had inherited hundreds of van Gogh's paintings from her husband, Theo, van Gogh’s brother. They are worthless at that time, but Jo is determined to continue Theo’s work and bring them to the attention of the world. By her side is Claire, a prostitute who was friends with her husband, who also was one of her clients. Claire befriends Jo, and together they battle to make van Gogh's paintings valued and appreciated.

Interestingly, the setting here differs from that of Piazza’s previous novel, THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE. In Sicily, the main characters encounter prejudice and misogyny in both timelines, but the focus is women helping each other. In THE PARISIAN HEIST, while we see the general prejudice against women working in the historical timeline, in the present, Emma, Stella and the other women are empowered and strong. They do help each other to right wrongs and uncover crimes that have enriched an evil man.

The novel’s central focus is on art, fine art, and what the appreciation of art means for the human condition. One of the issues that Jo and Emma face is the truth that Jo explains is a lesson from Theo: “Demand makes an artist, demand and scarcity.” So selling art and making an artist famous is as much about psychology as it is about brilliance in painting. And in the present, Emma realizes that dealers often hold on to pieces knowing that they will appreciate in value and even be considered more valuable because of the fact that they have been held in secret for years. Everyone wants the piece of art that is most exclusive, that no one else has. 

The theme of art and money brings to mind Fredrik Backman's recent novel, MY FRIENDS, in which he posits that art should be for everyone, not just for the ultra-wealthy, locked away in mansions that few are invited to visit. Piazza writes, “Art is money and money is art.” In the art world, as she points out, female and male artists are not equal. While men who struggle and fight their demons to create passionate works of art are lauded, women are not held in such high regard. Can you imagine a woman who cut off her ear being hailed as a brilliant artist and not just a kook? And as in the past, female painters, no matter how talented, are not given the same respect as their counterparts with different genitalia. 

The writing is not only gripping and engrossing, it's lovely. Emma's thoughts on seeing the Mona Lisa are that "[s]he's well protected from every possible threat --- human breath, bacteria, bullets. If only hearts and bodies could be so carefully preserved.” But we human bodies aren't, and Emma's background --- with a father who abandoned her and her mother, and a mother who struggles with her mental health --- makes life almost unbearable at times. She's relying on her association with Stella to change that. This heist and Stella's plans could alter the course of Emma's life. If only she can trust Stella.

There are twists and touching turns, and we root for the sorority of female collaborators to come out unscathed and triumphant at the end. Piazza's writing is superb, and this is a novel that will resonate with women and men, whether or not they are art lovers. There is just so much that is well done --- from the Paris and Amsterdam settings to the excerpts of letters by and to Vincent van Gogh, from the history of dealing art to the current undercover movement of art by crime bosses as a method of laundering money. Book clubs will be discussing THE PARISIAN HEIST and its implications for hours.