Genre Fiction
![Grace D. Li - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B099X9FPS7.jpg)
![Grace Li - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B095B7MH59.jpg)
Portrait of a Thief: A Novel
Named A Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by *Marie Claire* *Washington Post* *Vulture* *NBC News* *Buzzfeed* *Veranda* *PopSugar* *Paste* *The Millions* *Bustle* *Crimereads* Goodreads* *Bookbub* *Boston.com*and more!
"The thefts are engaging and surprising, and the narrative brims with international intrigue. Li, however, has delivered more than a straight thriller here, especially in the parts that depict the despair Will and his pals feel at being displaced, overlooked, underestimated and discriminated against. This is as much a novel as a reckoning."
-New York Times Book Review
Ocean's Eleven meets The Farewell in Portrait of a Thief, a lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums; about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity.
History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now.
Will Chen plans to steal them back.
A senior at Harvard, Will fits comfortably in his carefully curated roles: a perfect student, an art history major and sometimes artist, the eldest son who has always been his parents' American Dream. But when a mysterious Chinese benefactor reaches out with an impossible-and illegal-job offer, Will finds himself something else as well: the leader of a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago.
His crew is every heist archetype one can imagine-or at least, the closest he can get. A con artist: Irene Chen, a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang, a premed student with steady hands just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Each member of his crew has their own complicated relationship with China and the identity they've cultivated as Chinese Americans, but when Will asks, none of them can turn him down.
Because if they succeed? They earn fifty million dollars-and a chance to make history. But if they fail, it will mean not just the loss of everything they've dreamed for themselves but yet another thwarted attempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.
Equal parts beautiful, thoughtful, and thrilling, Portrait of a Thief is a cultural heist and an examination of Chinese American identity, as well as a necessary critique of the lingering effects of colonialism.
"The thefts are engaging and surprising, and the narrative brims with international intrigue. Li, however, has delivered more than a straight thriller here, especially in the parts that depict the despair Will and his pals feel at being displaced, overlooked, underestimated and discriminated against. This is as much a novel as a reckoning."
-New York Times Book Review
Ocean's Eleven meets The Farewell in Portrait of a Thief, a lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums; about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity.
History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now.
Will Chen plans to steal them back.
A senior at Harvard, Will fits comfortably in his carefully curated roles: a perfect student, an art history major and sometimes artist, the eldest son who has always been his parents' American Dream. But when a mysterious Chinese benefactor reaches out with an impossible-and illegal-job offer, Will finds himself something else as well: the leader of a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago.
His crew is every heist archetype one can imagine-or at least, the closest he can get. A con artist: Irene Chen, a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang, a premed student with steady hands just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Each member of his crew has their own complicated relationship with China and the identity they've cultivated as Chinese Americans, but when Will asks, none of them can turn him down.
Because if they succeed? They earn fifty million dollars-and a chance to make history. But if they fail, it will mean not just the loss of everything they've dreamed for themselves but yet another thwarted attempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.
Equal parts beautiful, thoughtful, and thrilling, Portrait of a Thief is a cultural heist and an examination of Chinese American identity, as well as a necessary critique of the lingering effects of colonialism.
Editorial Reviews
Praise for Portrait of a Thief
"The thefts are engaging and surprising, and the narrative brims with international intrigue. Li, however, has delivered more than a straight thriller here, especially in the parts that depict the despair Will and his pals feel at being displaced, overlooked, underestimated and discriminated against. This is as much a novel as a reckoning."
-New York Times Book Review
"A heist caper...that turns on breakneck action, fast cars and a thoughtful exploration of Western colonialism and the complexities of Chinese diaspora identities."
-Los Angeles Times
"Beneath its glitzy European museum settings, late-night street races, sexual tensions and a plot involving an enigmatic Chinese billionaire, Grace D. Li's debut art-heist novel, Portrait of a Thief, ...wrestles with some weighty questions about cultural repatriation and the legacy of colonial crimes."
-San Francisco Chronicle
"This clever debut is an absolutely thrilling ride from start to finish."
-Buzzfeed News
"A tender and tenacious art-heist story wrapped around an intimate cultural history of extraction, Portrait of a Thief is a novel that names the unsutured wounds left by the violence of immigration, xenophobia, and diasporic longing in the lives of its Asian American characters, a story of the comradery of resistance and a testament to righteous grievance."
-Vulture
"You are going to want in on this one."
-E! Online
"Portrait of a Thief manages to be both a gripping thriller and thoughtful exploration of Chinese American identity."
-Business Insider
"Full of schemes, dreams, intrigue, chases, and the thrill of the steal, Portrait of a Thief also asks larger questions about cultural identity, repatriation, and...
"The thefts are engaging and surprising, and the narrative brims with international intrigue. Li, however, has delivered more than a straight thriller here, especially in the parts that depict the despair Will and his pals feel at being displaced, overlooked, underestimated and discriminated against. This is as much a novel as a reckoning."
-New York Times Book Review
"A heist caper...that turns on breakneck action, fast cars and a thoughtful exploration of Western colonialism and the complexities of Chinese diaspora identities."
-Los Angeles Times
"Beneath its glitzy European museum settings, late-night street races, sexual tensions and a plot involving an enigmatic Chinese billionaire, Grace D. Li's debut art-heist novel, Portrait of a Thief, ...wrestles with some weighty questions about cultural repatriation and the legacy of colonial crimes."
-San Francisco Chronicle
"This clever debut is an absolutely thrilling ride from start to finish."
-Buzzfeed News
"A tender and tenacious art-heist story wrapped around an intimate cultural history of extraction, Portrait of a Thief is a novel that names the unsutured wounds left by the violence of immigration, xenophobia, and diasporic longing in the lives of its Asian American characters, a story of the comradery of resistance and a testament to righteous grievance."
-Vulture
"You are going to want in on this one."
-E! Online
"Portrait of a Thief manages to be both a gripping thriller and thoughtful exploration of Chinese American identity."
-Business Insider
"Full of schemes, dreams, intrigue, chases, and the thrill of the steal, Portrait of a Thief also asks larger questions about cultural identity, repatriation, and...
Readers Top Reviews
L. Miller
The entire premise of highly educated college kids being hired to pull off a major heist at 5 world class art museums around the world is laughable. Whats also laughable is the five kids that agreed to this ridiculous non-sense without any more thought than what type of toothpaste to buy. The entire premise was only the first problem, the second being the writing. Just flat, non-involving and boring. I barely finished 50 or so pages and threw in the towel. Not recommended.
Kindles and Wine
Art heists and an examination of Chinese American diaspora? I couldn't get my hands on this debut fast enough! PORTRAIT OF A THIEF is told through five POVs, all college-aged students, who are quickly assembled as a team tasked with stealing back priceless pieces of art from Western museums that rightfully belong to China. They each have their own reasons to take part, and their backstories and complicated relationship to their Chinese heritage, more than the heists themselves, is the focus of the story. The writing is lyrical and lush, and it asks many questions that I myself have faced as a Korean American born in Seoul but adopted and raised as an American in the Midwest. In addition to the challenges and complexity of cultural diaspora, I was impressed with how themes of colonialism and imperialism were touched on within the heist setup. That said, it was a lot to address in a single story supposedly about art heists, and I do feel like some things only got a surface-level treatment. It was as if this book was trying to be/do too many things all at once, and it affected some of the pacing and my ability to really sink into the story the way I wanted to. I do think some of this can be attributed to misleading marketing by the publisher. This is not a flashy heist novel, so comparisons to OCEAN'S ELEVEN are puzzling at best. If you're looking for a fast-moving caper, this isn't it. So, did I enjoy it? I did, but not as much as I wanted to. There were glimpses of really great storytelling and character development—I just wanted more. And that's okay! I think this author has amazing potential, and I'm looking forward to whatever she does next. P.S. This story has been optioned by Netflix, and I'm excited to see what they do with the film adaptation. RATING: B (Note: I received a review copy of this title courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.)
RatBruceKindles a
I loved this book! It's an art heist book, a family drama novel, a Chinese diaspora tale, and an immigrant story. The author weaves all of these seemingly disparate ideas into a well paced book with wonderfully relatable characters. Although it is told from the perspective of the five main characters, they are all written in the third person, and the story moves seamlessly from one to the next. HIghly recommended Thank you NetGalley and Tiny Reparations Books for the ARC.
Short Excerpt Teaser
1
Will
State your name for the record, please."
This was how things began: Boston on the cusp of fall, the Sackler Museum robbed of twenty-three pieces of priceless Chinese art. Even in the museum's back room, dust catching the slant of golden, late-afternoon light, Will could hear the sirens. They sounded like a promise.
"Will Chen."
"And what were you doing at the Sackler Museum, Mr. Chen?"
"I work here part-time. I'm an art history student at Harvard."
"Did you see anything unusual before the theft?"
"No."
"Describe what you saw during the incident. Any distinguishing features of the thieves, anything the security cameras might not have caught."
"It all happened very fast. I looked up from my essay and the alarms were going off. When I ran into the exhibit, they were already leaving. They had on ski masks, black clothes." He hesitated, just for a moment. "I think they were speaking Chinese."
For a moment, the only sound was the scratch of the detective's pen against his notepad. "I see. Do you speak Chinese, Mr. Chen?"
"Yes, I-does it matter? I couldn't really make out what they were saying. The alarms were going off at this point."
"Of course. And do you know what they stole?"
Will thought back to the empty room. If he closed his eyes, he could fit the pieces back where they were supposed to go-a pair of jade tigers, a dragon vase. A jade cup with three crested bronze birds, midflight. "Not really. I've been gone all summer."
The detective slid a sheet of paper across the table. "Can you read the title of this for me?"
It was a printout from the Harvard Crimson, from late August. Will swallowed hard. "'What Is Ours Is Not Ours: Chinese Art and Western Imperialism.'"
"Did you write this?"
"Yes."
The detective leaned forward, his fingertips touching. "Tell me if this sounds suspicious to you: A Chinese student writes an article about looted art, and a few weeks later, Harvard's largest collection of Asian art is robbed. All the priceless pieces mentioned in the article-gone."
Will leaned back in his chair. The golden light made everything feel like a painting, and he let his mind drift for a moment, thinking of the paper on Renaissance art that was due next week, the sculpture he still had to finish for his portfolio. "Not particularly."
"And why is that?"
"I was born in the US, Detective . . ." Will looked for a badge, a name.
"Meyers."
"Detective Meyers."
"What is your-"
"I'm Chinese American," Will said, lingering on the American. He adjusted the rolled-up cuff of his button-down, imagining how his sister would handle this situation. "You said I was Chinese. But I was born and raised in the US, just like you, and I work part-time at the Sackler, and three weeks ago the Crimson published a paper I wrote for an art history class at Harvard. Last time I checked, none of those are crimes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have homework to do."
"This is procedure, Mr. Chen. I just have a few more questions, if you will-"
Will rose. It might have been a small thing, to be called Chinese instead of Chinese American, to have this detective who spoke in a Boston accent look at him as if this place, this museum, this art didn't belong to him, but-it didn't feel like a small thing. Not when he was at Harvard, this place of dreams, and he was so close to everything he had ever wanted.
It was his senior year, and the whole world felt on the verge of cracking open.
"I've told you everything I know," he said, "and I know my rights. Next ...
Will
State your name for the record, please."
This was how things began: Boston on the cusp of fall, the Sackler Museum robbed of twenty-three pieces of priceless Chinese art. Even in the museum's back room, dust catching the slant of golden, late-afternoon light, Will could hear the sirens. They sounded like a promise.
"Will Chen."
"And what were you doing at the Sackler Museum, Mr. Chen?"
"I work here part-time. I'm an art history student at Harvard."
"Did you see anything unusual before the theft?"
"No."
"Describe what you saw during the incident. Any distinguishing features of the thieves, anything the security cameras might not have caught."
"It all happened very fast. I looked up from my essay and the alarms were going off. When I ran into the exhibit, they were already leaving. They had on ski masks, black clothes." He hesitated, just for a moment. "I think they were speaking Chinese."
For a moment, the only sound was the scratch of the detective's pen against his notepad. "I see. Do you speak Chinese, Mr. Chen?"
"Yes, I-does it matter? I couldn't really make out what they were saying. The alarms were going off at this point."
"Of course. And do you know what they stole?"
Will thought back to the empty room. If he closed his eyes, he could fit the pieces back where they were supposed to go-a pair of jade tigers, a dragon vase. A jade cup with three crested bronze birds, midflight. "Not really. I've been gone all summer."
The detective slid a sheet of paper across the table. "Can you read the title of this for me?"
It was a printout from the Harvard Crimson, from late August. Will swallowed hard. "'What Is Ours Is Not Ours: Chinese Art and Western Imperialism.'"
"Did you write this?"
"Yes."
The detective leaned forward, his fingertips touching. "Tell me if this sounds suspicious to you: A Chinese student writes an article about looted art, and a few weeks later, Harvard's largest collection of Asian art is robbed. All the priceless pieces mentioned in the article-gone."
Will leaned back in his chair. The golden light made everything feel like a painting, and he let his mind drift for a moment, thinking of the paper on Renaissance art that was due next week, the sculpture he still had to finish for his portfolio. "Not particularly."
"And why is that?"
"I was born in the US, Detective . . ." Will looked for a badge, a name.
"Meyers."
"Detective Meyers."
"What is your-"
"I'm Chinese American," Will said, lingering on the American. He adjusted the rolled-up cuff of his button-down, imagining how his sister would handle this situation. "You said I was Chinese. But I was born and raised in the US, just like you, and I work part-time at the Sackler, and three weeks ago the Crimson published a paper I wrote for an art history class at Harvard. Last time I checked, none of those are crimes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have homework to do."
"This is procedure, Mr. Chen. I just have a few more questions, if you will-"
Will rose. It might have been a small thing, to be called Chinese instead of Chinese American, to have this detective who spoke in a Boston accent look at him as if this place, this museum, this art didn't belong to him, but-it didn't feel like a small thing. Not when he was at Harvard, this place of dreams, and he was so close to everything he had ever wanted.
It was his senior year, and the whole world felt on the verge of cracking open.
"I've told you everything I know," he said, "and I know my rights. Next ...
