In a spellbinding new masterpiece by #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva, Gabriel Allon undertakes a high-stakes search for the greatest art forger who ever lived Legendary spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon has at long last severed ties with Israeli intelligence and settled quietly in Venice, the only place where he has ever truly known peace. His beautiful wife, Chiara, has taken over the day-to-day management of the Tiepolo Restoration Company, and their two young children are discreetly enrolled in a neighborhood scuola elementare. For his part, Gabriel spends his days wandering the streets and canals of the watery city, bidding farewell to the demons of his tragic, violent past. But when the eccentric London art dealer Julian Isherwood asks Gabriel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the rediscovery and lucrative sale of a centuries-old painting, he is drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse where nothing is as it seems. Gabriel soon discovers that the work in question, a portrait of an unidentified woman attributed to Sir Anthony van Dyck, is almost certainly a fiendishly clever fake. To find the mysterious figure who painted it--and uncover a multibillion-dollar fraud at the pinnacle of the art world--Gabriel conceives one of the most elaborate deceptions of his career. If it is to succeed, he must become the very mirror image of the man he seeks: the greatest art forger the world has ever known. Stylish, sophisticated, and ingeniously plotted, Portrait of an Unknown Woman is a wildly entertaining journey through the dark side of the art world--a place where unscrupulous dealers routinely deceive their customers and deep-pocketed investors treat great paintings as though they were just another asset class to be bought and sold at a profit. From its elegant opening to the shocking twists of its climax, the novel is a tour de force of storytelling and one of the finest pieces of heist fiction ever written. And it is still more proof that, when it comes to international intrigue and suspense, Daniel Silva has no equal.

Before Europeans arrived in British Columbia, the coastal Indians lived in an environment where there was no want. The fish and fur-bearing mammals in the sea fed and clothed them, they were sheltered in post-and-beam houses, and they travelled around is sturdy canoes. They plundered and waged war against their enemies, and they captured slaves. There's was a world filled with superstition and magic, with supernatural creatures such as the raven, the gluttonous trickster, that could assume human form. The Europeans brought with them smallpox and other communicable diseases to which the Indians had no immunity, and they died by the thousands. The Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands (since renamed Haida Gwai) were particularly hard hit, their numbers reduced from an estimated 14,000 to 800. Ignoring the rights of the Indians, the Europeans established government, first as a crown colony of Great Britain, then as a province of the Dominion of Canada. The jurisdiction was sustained at first by gold strikes, but when the gold ran out, the mainstay of the economy became the forests. The ones on the coast, with huge trees nudging 300 feet in height and some exceeding 12 feet in diameter, were the first to be exploited. There arose a stalwart band of men known as loggers, who harvested the big trees. One of them, whose name was Bill Clayton, became a legend in his lifetime for his strength and ability to do the work, and they called him "Logger Bill." At the end of the depression, when he is just 16 years old, Bill is unable to find work in Queen Charlotte City. He is forced to leave his Haida sweetheart and go to a remote logging camp, where the only holidays come at Christmas time, and only last for two weeks. She find she is pregnant, and marries her cousin, a common practice among the Haida. Bill is crushed when he hears the news, and sublimates himself in the logging business.Through tragedy and triumph, Bill works his way through life, with four loves and three illegitimate offspring, and through a living history of forest management in BC. He meets a premature death, and his three sons eventually find out about their ancestry. Throughout, the raven appears from time to time, giving rise to the feeling that he may still have some magic in him.

In London, before the First World War, where in society love and money predominate, Bertha and Nigel had been inseparable. But then Nigel felt he had to focus on the economics of life, and after all Bertha's family were quite modestly off. Whereas the heiress Mary, also interested in him but not anywhere near so charming, was very well set up. His decision was made. Though initially heartbroken, Bertha realises quickly that she has escaped from a delusion. Equanimity returns, and she finds in Percy Kellynch a devoted lover, though one a little more sober and less racy. They marry, as do Nigel and Mary, and over time the two become friends again, though now with wise awareness on Bertha's side. Nigel begins to see his error, as Mary's jealousy and her wish to supervise his life take their toll. He finds comfort in simply seeing Bertha initially, but inevitably begins to wish for more. Bertha is not interested, having moved on, but, if noticed, Nigel's attentions could be misconstrued... In the meantime, Bertha is also looking out for the future of a young friend, Madeline Irwin, who is smitten with Rupert Denison, a young man with rather too much of a penchant for patronising and "educating" young women. Madeline is impulsive, a little inexperienced and quite needy. Her headlong qualities precipitate problems very readily. As Bertha negotiates several crises arising from Nigel's reviving attachment, she also tries to assist Madeline in avoiding her own self-created disasters. Much depends on Bertha's talent for good management and wise counsel in the perils of both their lives. She is determined to win over adversity, but it will be a strong test of her skills.... Bird of Paradise, Leverson's fifth novel, as radiant with wit and wisdom as those which preceded it, was first published in 1914.