Artifice

Welcome to the June episode! I’m so happy to be talking to you about Artifice by Sharon Cameron. I stumbled on this novel while browsing my local library’s shelves and amidst the crazy traction some fandoms have been gaining, I think it’s time we all touch some grass.

Artifice is a historical fiction novel published in 2023 and when I saw the author thanking Ruta Sepetys in the acknowledgments, I knew I had to read it. Ruta is my favourite author. She is amazing at bringing the stories to life and makes them feel so real despite her writing historical fiction. She deeply researches the locations, people, events and she has the patience to make every detail accurate. Safe to say Sharon Cameron did not disappoint. The end of the novel contains her reflections about the different characters and how their lives intersected. She lists part of her sources and most of the characters in the novel were real people which is really awesome!

So, before I go off on tangents here, let me tell you what you can expect. We follow Isa De Smit, a young artist during the Second World War in Amsterdam. To be able to keep paying her bills and smuggle money to some Resistance workers, she sets out to sell fake paintings to high Nazi officials.

But what I think this novel does well is balance this darkness with hope, beauty, and resilience.

I know that the setting and context is not what could inspire joy or excitement. It really was a dark period for humanity and the novel does touch on that. It focuses a lot on the daily stress people lived with. The fear of being unfairly arrested, kidnapped, killed, molested, honestly you name it. But what I think this novel does well is balance this darkness with hope, beauty, and resilience. Isa is a very bold and strong woman. She is keeping it together for her father’s sake and to keep her mom’s art gallery alive. Of course, she does have a love interest, Michael. And Michael is her perfect opposite. He is very smart, resourceful, witty, and confident. The thing I liked most about their character dynamic was that their camaraderie formed slowly and the attraction and love they feel for each other came fast given the story timeline but at the same time they were taking it slow. They started out as accomplices and romance was not something that crossed their mind at all. It really felt very sweet and like the kind of love story you could pass down to generations and remember fondly. There is no sexual connotation or description of any kind. And I love that! BookTok trendy novels are more often than not smut novels where every romantic relationship needs to have graphic sex scenes described. Artifice is the perfect alternative.

Honestly this book is a solid 5 out of 5 for me. I can’t say anything bad about it. It was exactly what I expected and it met the mark.

The setting is properly laid. What I mean is each location gives the reader insight into the personality of each character living or interacting in that space. Given the character descriptions of Isa’s mother, I can really picture that gallery and how she ran it with an open mind. The other locations where some of the Nazis’ hosted parties and gatherings really show how out of place they are and do not belong. They are often described by their brown, straight uniform. This contrast with expressive art and houses with “personality” if you know what I mean.

Honestly this book is a solid 5 out of 5 for me. I can’t say anything bad about it. It was exactly what I expected and it met the mark. So if all this talk and hype around the new Off Campus series has you needing to ground yourself, Artifice should be on your TBR. If you’re worried about the violence level, it really not bad. There are of course mentions about war atrocities and the genocide that came with that time period, but there is no heavy description of such acts. As always, I want to thank you for listening to this month’s episode of the Exploring Reader.

Please take some time to enjoy the start of summer and keep exploring those pages!