Read This Book…

Becky Farwell is a small town Illinois girl with a talent for math. As she comes of age in the late 1970s and early 1980s, she often feels alone and out of step with her peers, and obligated to stay close to home to take care of her widowed father. With college being out of reach, Becky gets an entry level position in her town’s finance department. One day, through sheer chance, she spots a painting in a gallery and falls in love with it. It costs $500. When an error in accounting at work puts a $500 check that no one would miss in Becky’s hands, she makes a decision that will change the course of her life.

I picked this book up thinking it would be a crime/thriller, but while it does detail the life and (many, many) nonviolent crimes of Rebecca Farwell, this novel is more literary than mystery. The reader follows Becky through more than three decades of her life, detailing her rough childhood, her discovery of art, her talent for accounting, and her knack for deception. It’s not long before Becky Farwell has transformed herself into Reba Farwell, art collection and connoisseur, with a collection worth millions. Living a double life is as much of a strain on Becky as it thrilling, and that thrill gives her a reason to get out of bed each day. The lengths she goes to in order to keep her secrets has the reader on the edge, wondering how long it can possibly go on and what, if anything, could ever bring her down. Becky is a criminal, there’s no doubt about it, but the way the author writes her made me genuinely have sympathy for her and worry about how deep of a hole she was digging herself in. Don’t expect any major revelations or thrilling twists, but if you want a deep and fascinating dive into the interior life of a woman who manages to lead two very different lives and keep some shocking secrets, this is it.

Bonus: If you liked More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez, then you’ll probably enjoy this one!