The Vanishing Point

(Paperback)

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A dazzling and spellbinding debut about a mysterious painting, the secrets it keeps, and the two women connected across centuries by a quest to discover the truthfor readers of Geraldine Brooks, Tracy Chevalier and Maggie O'Farrell.

London, 1991: Alex Johns, trainee art intern at the Courtauld, believes a hidden secret lies within Diego VelzquezsLas Meninas one of the most written about paintings of all time.

Her own mother died in mysterious circumstances while trying to uncover its secrets and Alex is troubled by memories of her own encounter as a child with the girl in the painting the Infanta Margarita who continues to haunt her. Alex must take up her mothers work and find evidence to uncover the truths within the canvas.

A treacherous trail through the art world, the church and 17thcentury Spanish Court via mysterious drawings, letters and cryptic notes has Alex trying to piece together what happened in King Philips court...

But powerful players will do anything to stop these truths coming to light.

Madrid, 1656: The Infanta Margarita senses that those around her believe the royal household is cursed.

She wonders why her father, the King, is a pale shadow of himself and why the Queen is distressed; what threatens the royal offspringShe struggles to fight for her own destiny as the forces around her seek to marry her off and send her from the home she loves.

In the tradition of Tracy ChevaliersGirl With a Pearl Earringand A.S. ByattsPossession, Andrea HoteresThe Vanishing Pointslowly reveals the secrets in the painting that have been closely guarded for centuries.

But will Alex live to share them with the art world or is she, too, cursed

Author Bio

Andrea Hotere grew up in a house rich with words and images. After studying history at the University of Otago (BA Hons) and journalism at the University of Canterbury, she travelled to London where she worked on newspapers and magazines. Returning to New Zealand, she worked on various television documentaries and programmes as a researcher, investigative journalist and as a producer, and is the co-author ofUndreamed Of... 50 years of the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship.