description: An unlikely con man wagers wife, wealth, and sanity in pursuit of one of art's elusive old masters.Martin Clay, an easily distracted philosopher, and his scrupulous art-historian wife are invited to dinner by a boorish local landowner to assess the value of three dusty paintings moldering in the freezing breakfast room. But blocking the soot from the chimney is nothing less, Martin believes, than one of the world's lost treasures, camouflaged by misattribution and the grime of centuries. Thus begins a wild trail of lies and concealments, soaring hopes and sudden panics, as Martin embarks on an obsessive quest to prove his hunch, separate the painting from its owner, and resolve one of the great mysteries of European art.
language: English
title: Headlong
titlecomplete: Headlong
characters: Laura Churt, Martin Clay, Georgie Churt, Kate Clay, Tony Churt, John Quiss
genres: Fiction, Mystery, British Literature, Humor, Literature, Novels, Contemporary, Art, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 4823
places: England
awards: awardedAt: 915177600000
name: Booker Prize, awardedAt: 915177600000
name: James Tait Black Memorial Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 915177600000
name: Whitbread Award
category: Novel, awardedAt: 757411200000
name: Tähtivaeltaja Award
publisher: Blackstone Publishing