The Talented Miss Farwell - by Emily Gray Tedrowe (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Catch Me If You Can meets Patricia Highsmith in
this "stylish" (New York Times Book Review) page-turner of greed and
obsession, survival and self-invention that is a piercing character study of
one unforgettable female con artist.

At the end of the 1990s, with the art market finally
recovered from its disastrous collapse, Miss Rebecca Farwell has made a killing
at Christie's in New York City, selling a portion of her extraordinary art
collection for a rumored 900 percent profit. Dressed in couture YSL, drinking
the finest champagne at trendy Balthazar, Reba, as she's known, is the picture
of a wealthy art collector. To some, the elusive Miss Farwell is a shark with
outstanding business acumen. To others, she's a heartless capitalist whose only
interest in art is how much she can make.
But a thousand miles from the Big Apple, in the small town
of Pierson, Illinois, Miss Farwell is someone else entirely--a quiet single
woman known as Becky who still lives in her family's farmhouse, wears sensible
shoes, and works tirelessly as the town's treasurer and controller.
No one understands the ins and outs of Pierson's accounts
better than Becky; she's the last one in the office every night, crunching the
numbers. Somehow, her neighbors marvel, she always finds a way to get the
struggling town just a little more money. What Pierson doesn't see--and can
never discover--is that much of that money is shifted into a separate account
that she controls, "borrowed" funds used to finance her art habit. Though she
quietly repays Pierson when she can, the business of art is cutthroat and
unpredictable.

But as Reba Farwell's deals get bigger and bigger, Becky
Farwell's debt to Pierson spirals out of control. How long can the talented
Miss Farwell continue to pull off her double life?

Review Quotes

"Becky Farwell is one of the most wickedly compelling characters I've read in ages--a Machiavellian marvel, a modern Becky Sharp, a character to root for despite your better judgment--and her story, both topical and timeless, will knock you off your feet." - Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers
"If ever you are looking for a book to provide an escape from your own reality, I heartily recommend Emily Gray Tedrowe's The Talented Miss Farwell. Becky Farwell is the most sympathetic, art-collecting, money-laundering villain I have ever encountered. She literally bleeds her hometown dry -- the empty swimming pools of Pierson are heartbreaking -- and yet somehow, I loved her." - Marcy Dermansky, author of Very Nice
"The Talented Miss Farwell is utterly magnificent. Not since Tom Ripley have I fallen so hard for a con artist...Becky Farwell is an unforgettable character. She is the beating heart of this spellbinding page-turner about art, greed, and self-invention." - Cristina Alger, New York Times bestselling author of Girls Like Us
"A read-it-to-believe-it page-turner about a con artist whose luck can't last." - Real Simple
"Riveting. ... With Becky Farwell, Tedrowe has created one of the year's most fascinating, complex, nuanced characters." - Medium
"A page-turner about a con woman who steals from her town government to make it big in the art world. ... A fantastic character -- and compelling story." - Alma
"Perfectly executed...Tedrowe does a spectacular job of demonstrating the mindset of a character who justifies her criminal activity while believing she's ultimately good." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Stylish. ... The fictional Becky is playing a more morally complex game." - New York Times Book Review
"Tedrowe has a talent for incrementally (and believably) stacking a house of cards and keeping readers wondering just how crazy things will get. The answer: way crazier than you'd expect for a small-town art lover." - Chicago Magazine
"There's just nothing as compelling as a juicy, sordid scam--which makes Emily Gray Tedrowe's latest a must-read." - Harper's Bazaar
"The gritty underbelly of the art market and the pathology of decades of financial chicanery meet their delirious match in Tedrowe's Miss Farwell, who stands glaring up at the reader from the intersection of Hitchcock's Marnie and Highsmith's Ripley. Watch out for paper cuts." - Jonathan Lethem
"Smart, psychologically insightful. ... Tedrowe makes the pages fly through the secrets and self-delusions, skillfully inspiring empathy and identification with a criminal mastermind." - National Book Review
"Both light-hearted and deeply conflicted, Tedrowe's caper, with its Becky Sharp allusions, raises significant moral issues." - Booklist
"Sharp, darkly comedic, and full of fascinating facts about the art world." - CrimeReads