{"product_id":"richard-temple-a-novel-9780393061871","title":"Richard Temple: A Novel","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRichard Temple: A Novel\u003c\/strong\u003e by O'Brian, Patrick. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780393061871.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAvailable for the first time in the United States—a tale of art and espionage during World War II by the best-selling author of the Aubrey-Maturin series.\n\nThe eponymous protagonist of this novel is a prisoner of the German army in France; but as we soon discover, he is nobodys idea of a hero. In order to keep himself sane while denying the charges and absorbing the beatings of his captors, Richard Temple conducts a minute examination—one might almost call it a prosecution—of his own life.\n\nTemple escapes from a blighted childhood and his widowed, alcoholic mother thanks to an artistic gift, which is the one thing of value he has to his name. His life as a painter in London of the 1930s is cruelly deprived. In order to eat, he squanders his one asset by becoming a forger of art, specializing in minor works by Utrillo. He is rescued by the love of a beautiful and wealthy woman, and it is the failure of this relationship, coupled with the outbreak of war, that propels him into the world of espionage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44947747668021,"sku":"ByrdShop_0393061876","price":60.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780393061871_6336b11b-7178-4f94-b454-4c64807264e7.jpg?v=1778938735","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/richard-temple-a-novel-9780393061871","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}