Praise for The Forger's Daughter:
A New York Times "10 Best Crime Novels of 2020" selection
A Publishers Weekly "Best Mysteries & Thrillers of 2020" selection
An Amazon "Best Books of the Month: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense" selection
A New York Post "Best Books of the Week" selection
"In Bradford Morrow's The Forger's Daughter, there is artistry in the successful re-creation of rare books and manuscripts"¦His sympathetic cast of charactersHenry asideface difficult moral choices and try to prove the old cliché that there is honor indeed among (literary) thieves."—Wall Street Journal
"Love is strange. It ennobles some people, makes fools of others, and occasionally leads to murder. In Bradford Morrow's lovely literary mystery, The Forger's Daughter, the love of books causes all of the above"¦The elaborate artistic details that go into a literary forgery is itself a work of art."—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
"Evocatively rendered and emotionally resonant, this literary crime novel is the real deal. Morrow's gothic tale bears comparison with Poe's own work."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"The novel flits evocatively from upstate New York farmhouses to Manhattan auction houses, and there's an aptly gothic tinge to the tense drama that ensues."—Guardian
"This is a crime novel for booklovers"¦Fascinating and vividly rendered."—Booklist
"If you believe that forgery, specifically in the art and rare-book worlds, is a nonviolent, victimless sort of crime, The Forger's Daughter will give you pause"¦Nearly every character in this novel is practiced at the art of deception, so reader beware."—Air Mail
"If you are unfamiliar with the underground world of forgery, then prepare to be fully schooled"¦You don't have to be a book collector or a lover of antiquarian books to enjoy The Forger's Daughter, as it merely provides the backdrop for this classy literary thriller."—Bookreporter.com
"How fitting that the central literary object in Bradford Morrow's new novel, The Forger's Daughter, is a rare work of Edgar Allan Poe. Morrow has long been a master of the literary novel. But with his two forger novels, like Poe himself Morrow has secured his high and enduring place in our cultural landscape in part by demonstrating the deep thematic and aesthetic connectedness of compelling mystery and serious literature. This book will race the pulse and nourish the mind in a dazzlingly seamless way. Morrow's brilliance is unforgeable."—Robert Olen Butler, award-winning author of Paris in the Dark
"Most sequels end up feeling like a pale shadow of their originals, but this one's more like a long-lost twin: unexpected and differently scary. The Forger's Daughter is a fully-formed and satisfying complication of the problems in The Forgers, a morally complex look at the way we forge the bonds of family and friendship, and the very real way in which these bonds are, in a sense, forgeries. This is a book about both what we hide and what we agree not to look at too closely so as to be able to go on living not only with those around us, but with ourselves."—Brian Evenson, award-winning author of The Open Curtain
Praise for Bradford Morrow and The Forgers:
"An excellent suspense novel. . .Bradford Morrow is, quite skillfully, paying homage to one of Agatha Christie's most famous whodunits. Yet even then, he offers a few twists of his own and will keep all but the most astute mystery aficionado guessing about the truth until the end." Washington Post, on The Forgers
"From its provocative opening line . . . Bradford Morrow's latest novel takes on a knowing, noirish tone, like a crime movie by the Coen brothers. . . . The pleasure of reading The Forgers comes not only from trying to figure out what happened to Diehl but also in deciding, chapter by chapter, how much trust to grant the narrator, who is our only source."—Miami Herald, on The Forgers
"Like the love child of Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle . . . delightful to read."—NPR.org, on The Forgers
"The Forgers is quintessential Bradford Morrow. Brilliantly written as a suspense novel, lethally enthralling to read, and filled with arcane, fascinating informationin this case, the rarified world of high-level literary forgery."—Joyce Carol Oates, on The Forgers
"The Forgers is remarkable. Bradford Morrow is remarkable. The Real Thing, which is rare on this earthly plane."—Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours and The Snow Queen, on The Forgers
"Written in a highly polished style . . . The Forgers is an unusual blend of mystery, romance, and the fine art of the fake."—Mystery Scene, on The Forgers
"[An] artfully limned suspense novel. . .The insights Morrow offers into the lure of collecting, the rush of forgery as a potentially creative act, and underlying questions of authenticity render the whodunit one of the lesser mysteries of this sly puzzler."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) , on The Forgers
"Will, the narrator of Morrow's seventh novel, is a fine creation."—Kirkus Reviews, on The Forgers
★ 07/20/2020
In Morrow’s sterling sequel to 2014’s The Forgers, the enviable life that erstwhile literary forger Will has painstakingly crafted since he survived a savage attack by criminal rival Henry Slader two decades earlier threatens to come crashing down. One evening outside Will’s farmhouse in New York’s Hudson Valley, a spectral figure springs from the bushes and shoves a package at the younger of Will’s two daughters, 11-year-old Maisie, with the order to deliver it to her father. Inside is what appears to be the rarest book in American literature—Edgar Allan Poe’s Tamerlane and Other Poems—along with a letter from Slader asking for a meeting. When Will, now a beyond-reproach manuscript expert at a Manhattan auction house, meets Slader at a local tavern, his nemesis demands that he forge the Poe book or his most shameful secret will be exposed. Will feels he has no choice but to agree. What he doesn’t realize is just how dangerous the gamble could prove for his family, especially for his coolly enigmatic 20-year-old daughter, Nicole, whose sublime artistic skills he will need in order to create the forgery. Evocatively rendered and emotionally resonant, this literary crime novel is the real deal. Morrow’s gothic tale bears comparison with Poe’s own work. Agent: Henry Dunow, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary. (Sept.)
04/01/2020
The founding editor of Conjunctions, Morrow follows up his LibraryReads-crowned literary mystery, The Forgers, with former literary sleight-of-hand man Will compelled by old colleague Henry Slader to create a convincing replica of Edgar Allan Poe's Tamerlane, of which only a dozen copies have survived. Daughter Nicole contributes her artistic talents. Watch for Poe events in New York, Philadelphia, and Richmond, VA.
The dual narration of this audiobook is unique in that both characters are voicing the same character, Will, a forger being extorted into doing a special job. At first, it might take the listener aback, but it does not mar the performance as both voices are woven seamlessly into the story. When Will’s wife, Meghan, speaks, Christina Delaine shapes her voice with appropriate emotion and frustration as she deals with her husband’s plight. Delaine also does the dialogue for Will in those scenes. When Will is in the first person, Phil Thron gives the character a deep-voiced, consistent presence. Delaine gives a lower tone to Maisie, who is Will and Meghan’s precocious and likable young daughter, while Thron creates a pompous accent for Slater, Will’s nemesis. M.B. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine