Woman on Fire

On Thursday I finished reading Woman On Fire by Lisa Barr. Woman on Fire is part historical fiction, part art heist mixed with romance. Jules Roth is a young rising journalist who is being sent by her boss Dan Mansfield on a secret assignment. Jules is sent to retrieve a painting that was stolen from the Nazis 75 years earlier. Jules doesn’t have time to waste though, the owner Ellis Baum is dying. Jules also has to face off against gallery owner Margaux De Laurent, a ruthless, greedy woman who’s willing to do anything to get what she wants. Can Jules with the help of Ellis’s grandson Adam get the painting in time before Margaux does?

Pros

The idea for the story is excellent and even though this novel is fiction, it has history in it because the nazi’s did steal art work and for some of the people who lived through the Holocaust it took them a long time after the war ended to get them back. I like the character of Jules, Adam, Dan and Ellis. The book immediately hooked me in from the beginning. I also did like the ending.

Cons

 Unfortunately while I made it half way through the novel, the story seemed to get long winded after a bit. There was too much downtime in my opinion. The novel could have benefitted if it were shorter. The villainous character of Margaux I found to be extremely annoying, to me she came off as a cartoon villain. There were also things that seemed too unrealistic for me.

 Overall

Despite the gripes I had with the novel it’s a piece of history that does need to be told. I think if this book were shorter it would have been great. The book for me falls into the Okay but not great category. Regardless I can’t wait to read more from Lisa Barr and to do a Q&A with her in the spring.