The Portrait Girl by Nicole Swengley

Jewellery designer Freya suffers a devastating bereavement, shortly after her ex-husband stole her designs. Penniless and in mourning, she begins to sort out her late mother’s belongings. Among them she discovers an attractive miniature portrait of a young woman in Victorian clothes. The brushwork has identifying features, but no signature or documentation. Wondering if the subject of the miniature was her ancestor, Freya takes it to a famous museum in London for valuation. As a result, she is enticed into a shadowy world of intrigue and exploitation.

At the museum Freya meets Ralph Merrick, an urbane and charming art expert who is keen for her to attend his cultural salons. Against the advice of her more worldly friend Brooke, on the appointed date she goes to Merrick’s house. She was afraid she might be overdressed in her best long frock, but the other guests have taken dressing up to a whole new level. Each of them has adopted a persona from a group of famous English artists who were active in the 1880s. They dress for the period and interact as their chosen characters. To Freya’s surprise everyone greets her as Emily Meadowcroft. In her given role as Emily, Freya meets and falls for Jack, an aspiring artist. Jack appears to return her feelings – but who is he in real life? When the group holds a séance, it dawns on Freya that Brooke was right. She is in danger. Merrick is not what he seems, and his salons are a front for something much less wholesome than historical role play.

If the smile of a girl in a painting has ever made you long to know more about her, and you are fascinated by the bohemian lifestyle of Victorian artists, The Portrait Girl by Nicole Swengley is for you.