The release date for the English version of 'Portrait of a Thief' by
Grace D. Li is Apr 2022. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
Portrait of a Thief is a beautiful, poetic heist book about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexities of the Chinese American identity. It is inspired by the actual tale of Chinese art disappearing from Western institutions and combines elements of Ocean's Eleven and The Farewell.
The conquerors tell the tale of history. The spoils of battle, invasion, and colonialism are on display in museums around the West: valuable artwork that was stolen from other nations and preserved to this day.
Will Chen intends to return them via theft.
As a senior at Harvard, Will feels at ease in the roles that have been meticulously chosen for him: the oldest son who has always represented his parents' American Dream, a model student, an art history major, and sometimes an artist. But Will also finds himself the head of a heist to recover five precious Chinese statues that were stolen from Beijing years ago when a mystery Chinese benefactor approaches him with an impossible—and illegal—job offer.
His team embodies every possible robbery stereotype, or as near to one as he can get. Irene Chen, a Duke student majoring in public policy, is a con artist who can talk her way out of any situation. Daniel Liang, a premed student with calm hands as adept at lockpicking as he is at suturing, was a thief. Lily Wu, an engineering student who enjoys vehicle racing in her spare time, was a getaway driver. Alex Huang, a software engineer in Silicon Valley and former MIT dropout, is a hacker. Despite the fact that each member of his crew has a unique and complex connection with China and the identity they have developed as Chinese Americans, none of them can refuse Will when he asks.
Since if they are successful? They win $50 million in addition to the opportunity to create history. However, failure would mean not only losing what they have imagined for themselves but also having yet another attempt to reclaim what colonization has taken from them foiled.
In addition to being a cultural robbery and an analysis of Chinese American identity, Portrait of a Thief is also an essential critique of the legacy of colonialism. It is in equal measure beautiful, profound, and exciting.