Staff Book Review

Meet Laura – Laura is the new Library Director for both Washington County Public Library branches. She loves to learn new things, especially about art and history, escape into the creativity of others’ stories, spend time with family, and, to her own surprise, watch college sports.

This month, Laura reviews The Thefts of the Mona Lisa: The Complete Story of the World’s Most Famous Artwork by Noah Charney, Pulitzer Finalist and author of the popular 2007 novel The Art Thief.

In this short snapshot into the history of the most famous and enigmatic painting in the world, Charney outlines the Mona Lisa’s history and why “thefts” is a misnomer; there has only been one known heist of the painting. Styled like a thriller, the author builds suspense by introducing the reader to the painting’s thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, in the first chapter, but then subsequently interweaves Peruggia’s story with interesting art historical anecdotes as well as the Mona Lisa’s provenance. Most entertainingly, the book includes how the investigation unearthed Pablo Picasso’s possible involvement in the heist of ancient Iberian figurines from the Louvre, which may have inspired one of his most famous paintings. Not to be left out, Charney also addresses speculation about the Nazi’s unlikely theft of the artwork during World War II.

The Thefts of the Mona Lisa is a wonderfully entertaining yet fact-filled exploration of the world’s most famous painting. The book, even though it reads like a novel, includes helpful color plates, a timeline of events surrounding the Mona Lisa, and extensive footnotes with sources for more exploration. Readers who enjoyed 2024’s phenom The Art Thief by Michael Finkel or older classics like The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel and Bret Witter, will devour this book in one or two sittings.