The Rules of Perspective A Novel

On April 3, 1945, the advancing American army shells the historic town of Lohenfelde, and the Kaiser-Wilhelm museum. Within the museum's vaults, Heinrich Hoffer is hiding from the bombardment, and trying to keep a priceless Van Gogh from falling into the hands of a rogue Nazi. After the shelling, an American corporal, Neal Parry, finds a beautiful eighteenth-century oil painting in the rubble, and must confront both its beauty, and the morality of stealing it. The stories of Herr Hoffer, Parry, and their paintings unfold simultaneously in this gripping, brilliantly structured novel about art and war.

Adam Thorpe, a poet and novelist, is the author of five novels including Ulverton; his most recent poetry collection is Nine Lessons from the Dark.

"The Rules of Perspective is one of those rare novels that will make you think and feel in equal measure: it tickles the brain and batters the heart . . . Fascinating."--The New York Observer
 
"In earthy, poetic prose, Thorpe proves that art, defenseless against artillery, holds the power to bring back to life what weapons destroy. Nothing is wasted, no character less than fully formed. . . . A marvelous and affecting tale."--San Francisco Chronicle
 
"The Rules of Perspective resonates with empathy for the human spirit in the face of war."--Booklist
 
"The novel's ending is both technically faultless and aimed straight at the heart."--The Guardian (U.K.) "Thorpe's writing is a testament to our ability and need to find beauty in the horrific, and turn a statistic into a story."--San Francisco Chronicle
 
"A beautifully wrought, profoundly meditative and highly readable work . . . Thorpe brings a fresh, well, perspective to his moving exploration of beauty and war."--BookPage
 
"This eloquent and moving novel succeeds in saying something new on the overworked topic of Nazi looting."--Library Journal