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FUGITIVE COLORS

Nov 4, 2013 | 15 hours and 17 minutes
400 Pages | File Size: 1945 KB

About FUGITIVE COLORS

Stolen Art, Love, Lust, Deception, and Revenge paint the pages of veteran journalist Lisa Barr’s award-winning debut novel, FUGITIVE COLORS.

FUGITIVE COLORS asks the reader: How far would YOU go for your passion? Would you kill for it, steal for it, or go to any length to protect it?

Hitler’s War begins with the ruthless destruction of the avant-garde, but there is one young painter who refuses to succumb. An accidental spy, Julian Klein, an idealistic American artist, leaves behind his religious upbringing for the artistic freedom of Paris in the early 1930s. Upon arriving in the “City of Light” Julian meets a young German artist, Felix Von Bredow, whose larger-than-life personality overshadows his inferior artistic ability, and the handsome and gifted artist René Levi, whose colossal talent will later serve to destroy him. The trio becomes inseparable until two women get in the way — the immensely talented artist Adrienne, Rene’s girlfriend with whom Julian secretly falls in love, and the stunning artist’s model Charlotte, a prostitute-muse, who manages to bring great men down to their knees.

Artistic and romantic jealousies abound as the characters play out their passions against the backdrop of the Nazis rise to power. Twists and turns, destruction and obsession, loss and hope, captivate the reader on a journey from Chicago to Paris, Berlin to New York. With passionate strokes of compelling prose, Barr proves that while paintings have a canvas, passion has a face and that once exposed, the haunting images will linger long after you have closed the book.


Listen to an excerpt of Fugitive Colors:
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Recent Book Reviews

Insightful. Fascinating. Un-put-downable.

B. A. Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of The Art Forger

Masterfully conceived and crafted, Barr’s dazzling debut novel has it all: passion and jealousy, intrigue and danger.

Booklist

Lisa Barr paints with vivid prose the grim setting and dire choices of the era to create a haunting tapestry of human heroism and sacrifice that is truly unforgettable.

Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan's Tale

As a historical novel, Fugitive Colors offers a fascinating account of the Nazis attempt to ‘purify’ art (when they weren’t busy purifying the population). As an epic thriller, former Jerusalem Post editor Barr’s fiction debut keeps the pages turning by killing off the good guys and steadily upping the evil.

Judith Basya, literary editor, HEEB Magazine, which listed Fugitive Colors among its “Top 10” Books of 2014

Lisa Barr succeeds in drawing attention to a tragedy of the human condition whose ramifications are still shuddering through the vaults of high art. This novel is an important and engrossing tale that kept this reader burning a late candle.

Raoul Peter Mongilardi, producer, director, and author of “Next to the Gods” series

Written in bold and emotive strokes like the Expressionist painters and modern artists the novel tributes, one can’t help but be deeply moved by this arresting and driving drama. Told with heart and precision, one is drawn into the Parisian and German art world at the onset of World War II.

Stephanie Renee dos Santos

Blogger

Barr’s page-turning plot line includes the elements of a gripping story: rivalry, hate, jealousy, lust, ambition, intrigue, disloyalty, and true friendship, set in a tense, cruel historical time period. The book adds a personal, behind-the-scenes flavor to a wartime episode that continues to have contemporary relevance.

Abigail Klein Leichman

The International Jerusalem Post

Fugitive Colors is a thrilling page-turner with twists and turns at every step.

Amy Klein

Columnist for the New York Times

Barr creates dynamic characters that the reader can love and hate while weaving together a complex plot. As Fugitive Colors educates the reader on art history, the book gives the reader a portrait of how far a character can be pushed while under duress, both physically and emotionally. In the end, Fugitive Colors is about resiliency in one’s passion for art as well as resiliency in friendship and love.

Jessica Smith

Coal Hill Review

Lisa Barr asks the question: What is the value of art? Her answers take us on an exciting roller-coaster ride we won’t forget.

Christina Haag

New York Times bestselling author of Come to the Edge: A Love Story

Lisa Barr’s well-crafted novel is nearly impossible to put down. The passion and pain the characters experience is beautifully evident and practically sings from the pages. Graphic and disturbing in places, Fugitive Colors is a book about love, friendship, jealousy, betrayal, and the things that give people a passion for life. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction, this book is haunting, and will stick with the reader for some time.

Whitney Smyth

Portland Book Review

Well-written and engaging, Lisa Barr has provided a specific look into one area of the Nazi movement and how it affected the painters of that time ... Follow Julian’s story as he discovers the perils of being a Jewish Expressionist painter during World War II and just how far he will go to protect art, and his friends.

Lenna Stites

San Francisco Book Review

I read this World War II novel about the Nazis’ pursuit of modern artists in three days and felt a sense of suspense from scene to scene. I honestly couldn’t put it down and would have read it in one day if I didn’t have to attend to my family!

Nina Badzin

Pithy Book Reviews

I could not put this book down! Lisa Barr takes readers behind the scenes as the Nazis begin eliminating artists and ‘degenerates’ prior to World War ll. Her characters, Julian, Rene, Felix, Adrienne, and Charlotte come to life as she paints a painful and intriguing story of love, life, and loss.

Susan Nieman, publisher/editor of Jewish Scene Magazine

Period melodrama that will appeal to those who enjoy art or are receptive to a new take on Nazi Germany.

Kirkus Reviews

There a lot of Holocaust books written lately but this one is in a class by itself, character driven and a believable story line that could very well have happened. Hitler and his Nazis were cruel and inhuman people and it is always heartbreaking to read about the atrocities committed against a race of people. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the writing is very descriptive and enables the reader to almost be there. I love historical fiction and this time frame is especially interesting. I would highly recommend this book. I loved it!

Kathleen Kelly

Celticlady’s Reviews

Fugitive Colors is the best book I’ve read in a long, long time.

Jackie Pilossoph

Author of Free Gift With Purchase

Like a great painting, Lisa Barr’s book has combined skill and imagination to explore various profound concepts in their myriad colors.

Brad Herzog

Author of Turn Left at the Trojan Horse

Lisa Barr’s writing is mesmerizing, her palette of words is as colorful and energetic as the art and the artists she envisions.

Deby Eisenberg

Author of Pictures of the Past

The suspense and thrill make this a quick, can’t-put-it-down book and establish Barr, a journalist for more than twenty years, as a bona fide novelist.

Michigan Avenue Magazine

Mixing romance and horror, history and imagination, high art and double- dealing artifice, Lisa Barr has fashioned a dynamic page-turner of young artists caught up in the Nazis rise to power and their leaders’ attempted control over the definition, sanctioning and purposes of art...Fugitive Colors has a cinematic feel.”

Philip K. Jason

Professor emeritus of English at the United States Naval Academy, and Special to the Jewish News of Sarasota-Manatee

Fugitive Colors became a fascinating and frightening history lesson for me...It is rare that I read a book twice. However, Fugitive Colors is one of those rare finds that is worthy of a second read.

Sandy De Lisle

Author of Pure Enough

Sinister one moment and uplifting the next. All the twists and turns and sex and violence; I was totally hooked ... like Sarah’s Key but so much better.

Bonnie Rochman

Contributor to the Wall Street Journal

The book is fabulous. It is full of excitement plus so much information about art and World War II. It is a must-read for all.

Samuel R. Harris

President emeritus of the Holocaust Museum and Education Center, and author of Sammy: Child Survivor of the Holocaust

Powerful pacing, well-developed characters, expert twists of the plot, and the capacity to effectively convey genuine human and artistic sensibilities informed by in-depth period research result in a book that is hard to put down.

Rabbi Goldie Milgram

Philadelphia Jewish Voice

Barr’s book reads like a sweeping epic film, a nail-biting, on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller, a cinematic tour-de-force in brilliant literary form . . . a story that mixes the deep sadness and isolation of a van Gogh painting with the uplifting love and joy of a Monet.

Malina Saval

Author of The Secret Lives of Boys and Jewish Summer Camp Mafia

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