The Rules Of Perspective - Tapa blanda

"Art and war collide in this powerful novel... Moving and thought-provoking" (Daily Telegraph)

"An intricately constructed, powerfully written piece: the work of a serious, hard-working novelist in his prime. In the nexus of art, war and flawed humanity, Thorpe has found a thrilling, evanescent beauty" (Sunday Telegraph)

"An elaborately plotted work of formal brilliance and invention...a compelling fiction that memorably portrays the wretchedness of war" (Evening Standard)

"A gem...he enfolds us in the macabre, dust-laden terror of an enemy artillery strike, his imagery so vivid it causes one's throat to constrict" (Literary Review)

"A wholly gripping meditation on the place of art and beauty in a world governed by violence... Beautiful and compelling" (Daily Mail)

It is April 1945, and the historic town of Lohenfelde is about to be overrun by the Allied Third Army. Huddled in the vaults of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Museum are Heinrich Hoffer and his three colleagues. Their petty rivalries and resentments surface quickly in this claustrophobic confinement as the four prepare themselves for their fate.

Above the ground, picking through the rubble, is Corporal Neal Parry, who wishes he was back in West Virginia studying art. When he finds an exquisite painting in what remains of the museum vaults, he is immediately reconnected with a lost world of beauty and order. It is this small 18th-century oil that is the poignant link between the young American soldier and the four charred corpses he finds at the same time. As the narratives interweave, the story of the painting reveals the hidden story of Herr Hoffer and his three associates - and in doing so uncovers other, darker mysteries.