In the boatyards of Belfast, a magnificent new ocean liner was under construction
that its builders boasted would be “unsinkable.”
In Antarctica, Captain Robert Falcon Scott was trudging across the frozen plateau to the
South Pole, the Union Jack folded in his pack, dreaming of making history.
In Paris, a plan was brewing to pinch the most famous painting in the world.
Of these three grand escapades, the first seemed assured of success, the second likely,
and the third not only improbable but impossible.
.
Excerpted in the :London Times • Read on BBC Radio 4
Available in Hardcover • Audio CD • Large Print
Published in 15 Countries
Washington Times
“ R. A. SCOTTI'S PEN IS AS DEFT AS LEONARDO'S BRUSH....
If one can applaud a true-crime whodunit that doesn't certify who actually did it. .., the possibilities are fabulous, and the telling sublime.”
Time Magazine
"WEEKEND CRITICS' CHOICE:" " R.A. Scotti's deft account of the crime and its aftermath draws bumbling investigators, aristocratic con men and Picasso into a story that La Gioconda herself would have smiled at — enigmatically, of course."
2nd review in Time
“READS LIKE A POSE POEM WITH NARRATIVE GALLOP”
Washington Post
“LUMINOUS…. Scotti narrates the investigation with gusto and grace, eliding its more fitful passages and smoothly negotiating its swerves and detours… This stylish volume exhales fragrant period detail.”
The New York Timea
“SVELTE…. The painting was missing for more than two years, and the names of the prime suspects in the case — Pablo Picasso and his friend, the poet and art critic Guillaume Apollinaire — push this story past something even Dan Brown could concoct.”
Boston Globe
“ELEGANT AND ERUDITE…. Scotti follows the trail of the missing masterpiece with the same zestful sense of adventure that she brought to Basilica, her 2006 book about the construction of the Vatican.”
Florida Weeky
.”REMARKABLE…. R.A. Scotti documents a crime that was as brazen as it was infamous.”
Christian Science Monitor
“FRESH, ENGAGING…. Equal parts art history and crime caper. This rollicking tale makes for fascinating reading.”
Providence Journal
"CAPTIVATING..... Scotti’s sophistication, wit, style and illuminating research make this a delightfully suspenseful read, rich in depth with a mystifying turn of events in Casablanca"
Booklist
“DELECTABLE.... Scotti, brisk and irreverent, introduces characters with a keen eye for quirky traits, and enticingly sets the scene..... Her exciting true-life mystery yields intriguing disclosures"
Kirkus (Starred review)
“BOLD AND ELEGANT....Scotti masterfully excavates historical truths and brazen speculations,...weds heady prose to shrewd investigative journalism."
Richmond Times-Dispatch
"SUPERB...An art-heist page-turner that will delight art enthusiasts as well as true-crime buffs. (Note to Hollywood: This may be your best hope for a caper starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney as Picasso and Apollinaire.)"
Publishers Weekly
"CHARMING.. Scotti explores not only the puzzling crime but also the source of the painting’s universal appeal and its provenance."
Bookpage
“AS FULL OF TWISTS, TURNS AND SUSPENSE AS ANY MYSTERY NOVEL!
Scotti positions the painting's disappearance at the crossroads of tradition and modernity....Placed in these contexts, the theft of the world's most beloved painting makes the Mona Lisa's story even more significant—and her smile even more alluring.”
Business Standard
“AN APT TRIBUTE to Leonardo da Vinci’s mysterious muse…. In Vanished Smile, RA Scotti deftly uncovers the mysterious theft of the art world’s prima donna, close to a century ago to this day. Thanks to Scotti’s meticulous research and atmospheric writing, a crime that had all the trappings of insanity, national prestige and obsession is brought to light marvelously.”
The Daily Beast
“WHO NEEDS THE DA VINCI CODE when you can have the real thing? Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti is a harrowing account of when the Mona Lisa was really stolen for two years in 1911.”
