Artifacts

“Lemle pens voluptuous prose about unearthing, theft, and change: the stolen glances that permanently shift your perspective, the fragile friendships that trigger tectonic shifts in a personality. The novel is a shapeshifter too, at once a high-octane crime thriller, a bildungsroman, and a dispatch from the rarified world of antiquities dealers. By illuminating the broken economic systems that motor criminal artifact looting, Lemle also reveals the fractured, oppressive systems that organize our romantic lives, feeling for the slivers of space where we can still move freely, towards each other.” —CULTURED Magazine
“For any reader interested in the study of the past, Lemle’s story about a quest for self-knowledge explored through the world of cultural heritage will make for a thrilling read.” —Science Magazine
“Here is a rare novel that tells the truth about art theft… there really should be more fiction on this subject.” —Art in America

“World history, the pursuit of beauty, and the seedy underbelly of the art world all collide to make for a charming, compelling, and thrilling story.” —Town & Country

“It’s a poignant exploration of the murkiness that often complicates our understanding of the people that came before us and how we came to be who we are… The intricacies of archeology and its intersection with history and property ownership makes for a lush backdrop to the novel’s interpersonal dramas, the two weaving seamlessly together without ever feeling heavy-handed. The novel’s prose is fresh and engaging and Lemle creates a world for readers that is as visual as it is emotive.” —Forbes
“Suspenseful… armchair travelers will enjoy themselves.” —Publishers Weekly

“Lemle offers a complex story of political power, organized crime, and the underworld of antiquities pirating… readers will enjoy connecting the dots as the novel unfolds.” —Library Journal
“Natalie Lemle is a spectacular new voice in American fiction. Her magnificent debut is the story of Lena Connolly, a hotshot Manhattan attorney assigned to a case regarding looted artifacts in Italy, a case that dredges up her romantic past and youthful dreams of becoming an archaeologist. Artifacts is a novel of lost dreams and the power of love in a practical world where only facts seem to matter, as Lena learns to lead with her heart to finally find her bliss.” —Adriana Trigiani, author of The View from Lake Como
“With Artifacts, Natalie Lemle delivers a novel of rare density and grace, where each layer of the story rises like a stratum of archaeology—the very field that lies at the heart of the book—an accumulation of beauty, vice, hope, life, and the shadow of murder, all held together by a sensibility as precise as it is incandescent.” —Thomas Schlesser, New York Times bestselling author of Mona’s Eyes
“Not a lot of books can whisk you from an extravagant museum opening in New York to a dusty archaeological dig in Italy, but Natalie Lemle’s rich story of intrigue and guilt will have readers swept up into a world of enigmatic power players in the black market of stolen antiquities. Artifacts explores the complications of what we inherit—not just from our parents, but from our history and heritage, too. Teasing out thorny unanswerable questions, Lemle works comfortably in the gray areas, as the best novelists do. I couldn’t put it down, and I couldn’t believe it was a debut.”
—Emily Everett, author of Reese’s Book Club pick All That Life Can Afford
“Natalie Lemle’s Artifacts is a sprawling trip through time, weaving together a web of fine art, history, and long-held secrets. Finely written with a master’s attention to detail, Lemle guides us deftly through the world of the ancient past, unearthing pockets of deep beauty. This book is twisty, delicious fun.”
—Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things, With Teeth, and Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One

Natalie Lemle studied classics and art history at Tufts University and earned an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. She is the founder of art_works, an art advisory connecting contemporary artists with global companies, and previously worked in corporate relations at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She serves on the boards of the ICA/Boston and the Associates of the Boston Public Library. She lives outside of Boston with her two kids. Artifacts is her first novel.

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