Provenance

Set in Hungamon (aka Bogalusa), Louisiana, 1988-89, Provenance takes the reader through progressive historical discoveries to the sources of a Hungarian painting that escaped the grasping fingers of Nazis and Communists, and to the secrets of two families: one Jewish, the owners of the Hungarian painting, and the other gentile, the owners of an American painting that hides a dark tale. Adam Shaw, brought as a child from Hungary to America by his adoptive parents, carried with him a gift from his birth parents -- a painting. Now married to Rachel French and living in Louisiana, Adam wishes to determine if the painting is, as he surmises, the work of a Hungarian master. While he tries to discover the provenance of the painting, Rachel investigates the Southern roots of her family. Lynchings, shootings, and suicide provide the impetus for the Shaws to involve themselves with children, race, family secrets, provenance, and a conflict that brings into focus the principle characters who occupy a busy canvas of mystery and lies. "Set in Hungamon (aka Bogalusa), Louisiana 1988-89, the book takes the reader through progressive historical discoveries to the sources of a Hungarian painting that escaped the grasping fingers of Nazis and Communists, and to the secrets of two families, one Jewish, the owners of the Hungarian painting, and the other Gentile, the owners of an American painting, which hides a dark tale"-- Provided by publisher