Sophie Porter is the last person in the world you’d expect to be an art thief with a renaissance masterpiece hidden in her cupboard… and that’s exactly why she’s so good at it.

Growing up on the road, Sophie longed for stability. So when she bought a stately townhouse with her husband Brian, an up and coming curator for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, she thought it would provide the security for her children that she never had. But when they become victims of the housing market collapse, she finds that they’re in danger of losing it all. In a moment of confusion while visiting Brian at work, she walks out of the museum’s disorganized storage area with a stunning antique, and Sophie realizes she’s found a way out of their crushing debt. Soon she’s taking bigger and bigger risks, and growing fond of the sharp, metallic taste of adrenaline she gets every time she sneaks something past the museum guards. Balancing play dates with martini lunches and antiques dealers is thrilling at first, but when things start to spiral out of control, Sophie must figure out what’s most important in her life, and then find a way to save it.

“This thrilling, emotional, and tautly paced novel will appeal to fans of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. Cobb’s clear, unburdened prose allows Sophie’s innermost hopes and anxieties to shine. Her brilliant first novel is the story of a woman with nothing and everything to lose.” -STARRED Booklist review

“Cobb’s real-life knowledge of the museum acquisition process—she’s married to a curator—imbues this sizzling tale of suspense and moral dilemmas with a heightened sense of realism.” -Publishers Weekly
"Ideas of want and need provide the foundation for The Objects of Her Affection, an engrossing debut novel by Sonya Cobb...The thought-provoking, suspenseful plot will also hold crossover appeal for fans of thrillers as well as those intrigued by the lives of ordinary people misguided by their decisions and desires." -Shelf Awareness

"Cobb’s careful exploration of Sophie’s past and motivations makes her actions believable, and Sophie’s financial situation will seem all too real to many readers. The museum details are also meticulous and will place readers deep within the art world... This look into the life of an unlikely thief builds slowly but creates a believable picture that readers will admire." -Kirkus

“A tautly plotted and elegantly written debut … I held my breath with every twist and turn.” – Kelly Simmons author of Standing Still and The Bird House

“Sonya Cobb combines the rarified atmosphere of museum scholarship, illegal art trafficking, and the sticky desperation of young mother-hood to craft a superbly written thriller.” – Karen Engelmann author of The Stockholm Octavo

Sonya Cobb is an author, copywriter and journalist. She lives in Westchester with her two children and her husband, a curator who previously worked for the Philadelphia Museum of Art and currently works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She swears that the only thing she’s ever stolen was a candy bar when she was eight years old.

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kontakt:

Piotr Wawrzeńczyk

piotr@literatura.com.pl