It was on the 10th of February 1946 that Dr George Sandilands all innocently did the deed which was to result, a few years later, in one of the most vigorous controversies and gravest scandals that ever shook the art world of Europe and America.
In my last review I was raving about Doris Langley Moore's My Caravaggio Style, and as I said, I couldn't resist buying another of her recent Dean Street Press reprints. It turned out to be another great success.
In the previous novel we were in the world of literary forgery. Forgery, or the suspicion of it, is also a theme in All Done by Kindness - but this time it's paintings which are the focus. As the novel starts, a kindly country doctor, Dr George Sandilands, gives some much needed help to an elderly patient - she's run into debt and he makes out a cheque for the £50 needed to clear it. Although this is money he can barely afford, he insists that he doesn't need any repayment, but the old lady absolutely insists that he get some recompense. Much to her regret, she has already sold all the valuable furniture and ornaments in the house, but she remembers that there are some old trunks in the attic with various items in them, which she insists on giving him. He tries hard to refuse, but when she says there is some old linen in one of the trunks, he agrees to take them - the vicarage is in dire needs of some good sheets.
The old lady tells him there are some old paintings in another trunk, and looking round her house at the very inferior artworks on the walls, his heart sinks. But she absolutely insists he takes all the trunks, so very unwillingly he gets them transported to his home. His older daughter, the very bossy Beatrix, is absolutely appalled. The promised linen is not bed sheets but some ancient and moth-eaten underwear, probably several centuries old, and there are tapestries and embroideries in similarly poor condition which she declare to be not even good enough to donate to the next jumble sale. As for the paintings, her scorn knows no bounds. There are fifteen of them, painted on wood, all very ancient and filthy dirty, some actually broken in half. As far as Beatrix is concerned, the sooner they are put out in the rubbish the better.
This could very well have happened, but the doctor's younger daughter Linda, who works at the local library, has recently made friends with a young woman colleague named Stephanie du Plessis. Stephanie's consuming passion is Renaissance art, of which she has made a considerable study. She is intrigued to hear about the paintings and wildly excited when she sees them. She is certain that they are all very important lost masterpieces. But when she manages to contact a well-known expert, Sir Harry Maximer, he pours cold water on all her ideas. Not originals at all, he tells her - he assumes they must be late 18th-century copies or forgeries, and assesses the value of the entire collection at £100.
But Sir Harry is not all he seems. Despite being a bona fide expert and celebrated collector, he seems to have been involved with some slightly suspicious deals in the past. Luckily Stephanie's new boyfriend, the curator of the local art gallery, is very astute at following up clues and uncovering evidence. Will his discoveries come in time for the paintings to be recognised for what Stephanie is still convinced they really are?
This is another totally delightful novel. Doris Langley Moore writes extraordinarily well, with great wit and obvious intelligence. Wonderful characters, an exciting plot and a very satisfactory resolution. Highly recommended.
