Fake or Fortune

About the Book

AUTHOR’S NOTE Most good stories come easily for authors who understand, fi rst hand, the fragility of values when pastoral holdings are overburdened with debt, or when the provenance of fi ne art is in question. So it is, also, when a farming woman is at her wits end, burdened with debt, abuse and the desperation to be loved.

Born in the Australian outback, Peter Sharp spent his early working years as a talented livestock auctioneer. Some years later, a far cry from the dust and fl ies of country livestock saleyards, he makes a name for himself as an outstanding auctioneer and valuer of fi ne art in London.

In 1965, when Sharp arrives at the prestigious out-back pastoral holding known as Morgan Plains, he is ready to value a small art collection. It’s possible that all the paintings are fakes, but then again, maybe they are worth a fortune.

However, there are some things he is not ready for and Malcolm Morgan is one of them. Quite by accident the background to this arrogant and enigmatic man lies with the young farming woman sitting next to Sharp at Morgan’s dinner table that fi rst night.

Morgan Plains covers an area 13% the size of Sicily, but there are closer ties to Sicily than that, as Sharp will soon fi nd out. His long time friend and mentor, Austin Yates unknowingly becomes the lynch-pin as this intriguing story unfolds.

Quite apart from the intrigue surrounding the Morgan Collection, Fake or Fortune is a powerful love story; one that would never have happened had it not been for this chance assignment out on the vast black-soil plains of New South Wales.

Ten years and several countries later Peter Sharp is more involved than ever with the Morgan Collection, and the love of this truly extraordinary country woman.

About the Author

Peter Maidens The Author of Fake or Fortune This Australian Author was born at Lightning Ridge and spent his childhood on three renowned outback properties that his father managed. He spent twenty years as a country stock and station agent and auctioneer before opening his own business. In time this led him to become a leading auctioneer and valuer of fine art as well. On his retirement he travelled to the UK, France and Italy acquiring an eye for `Old Masters`, especially Rembrandt. While in England he was somewhat fascinated by the formal stuffiness of some English auctioneers. He is of the opinion that a few years amid the dust and flies of Australia’s outback saleyards would be a good finishing school for some of the auctioneers he saw in the UK.