Two novels published in the past two years which feature conservation, forgery and/or damaged works of art have garnered more attention than most novels. “The Restorer”, by Daniela Murphy Corella, in which a conservator-restorer uncovers a lost fresco in a remote Italian church, was awarded First prize in the 2012 International Rubery Book competition. “Duel”, by Joost Zwargerman, a novel in which a conservator is an important character and in which a valuable painting by Mark Rothko is copied, stolen, and accidentally damaged, was commissioned in 2011 as the “Book Week in the Netherlands” giveaway book and distributed to hundreds of thousands of people free of charge.
If even a small number of the readers of these books and other works of “conservation fiction” gain from them some understanding of conservation, then these novels will have served a valuable outreach function.
I have a lot of friends who asked me questions after they read People of the Book and others who are fans of the Daniel Silva series on Gabriel Alon. If only our lives were so dramatic – both professionally and personally! I definitely think that for the most part these books are great outreach. I know that the Restorer is already garnering interest online.