{"product_id":"a-right-royal-face-off","title":"A Right Royal Face-Off","description":"\u003cp data-w-id=\"49fcc05d-3a54-09c2-fedc-e4533fa8bd44\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e ‘A glorious comedy of painting and pretension’ Ryan O’Neill\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-palette=\"Paragraph\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-short-review-input\" data-wf-id='[\"3763c4c7-971a-ac04-8f5f-8128e071523a\"]' data-w-id=\"3763c4c7-971a-ac04-8f5f-8128e071523a\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"49fcc05d-3a54-09c2-fedc-e4533fa8bd44\"\u003eIt is 1777, and England’s second-greatest portrait artist, Thomas Gainsborough, has a thriving practice a stone’s thrown from London’s royal palaces, while the press talks up his rivalry with Sir Joshua Reynolds, the pedantic theoretician who is the top dog of British portraiture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"ee65af66-844a-4bb9-4e08-119b7b6bea2a\"\u003eFonder of the low life than high society, Gainsborough loathes pandering to the grandees who sit for him. However, he changes his tune when he is commissioned to paint King George III, his German queen and their vast family. He discovers a taste for royal company – but who will be chosen as court painter, Tom or Sir Joshua?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"44c98731-37f6-324e-4c5c-84d2e92ead95\"\u003eMeanwhile, two and a half centuries later, a badly damaged painting turns up on a downmarket antiques TV show being filmed in Suffolk. Could the monstrosity really be, as its eccentric owner claims, a Gainsborough? If so, who is the sitter? And why does he have donkey’s ears?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"45108789-8ef4-c33e-7aab-8486b4e6c526\"\u003eMixing ancient and modern as he did in his acclaimed debut \u003cem data-w-id=\"ac377c3f-bf66-e8e9-1035-2e548d3c6221\"\u003eThe Hopkins Conundrum\u003c\/em\u003e, Simon Edge takes aim at fakery and pretension in this highly original celebration of one of our greatest artists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"45108789-8ef4-c33e-7aab-8486b4e6c526\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-palette=\"Paragraph\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-wf-id='[\"09fdd841-b5f3-9bf2-3980-74165b1c753a\"]' data-w-id=\"09fdd841-b5f3-9bf2-3980-74165b1c753a\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e‘The rivalry between Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds is at the heart of this larky novel’ \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSaga Magazine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"2903090e-daa1-cb91-4634-6318a8c4d8cb\" data-wf-id='[\"2903090e-daa1-cb91-4634-6318a8c4d8cb\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e‘One part mystery, one part history, one part satire, and wholly entertaining. A hilarious portrait of the artist as a frustrated man’ \u003cstrong data-w-id=\"8aaa8998-7c19-0b87-7305-05c324c06bd0\" data-wf-id='[\"8aaa8998-7c19-0b87-7305-05c324c06bd0\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-palette=\"Strong\"\u003eRyan O’Neill, author of \u003cem\u003eTheir Brilliant Careers\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-palette=\"Paragraph\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-wf-id='[\"09fdd841-b5f3-9bf2-3980-74165b1c753a\"]' data-w-id=\"09fdd841-b5f3-9bf2-3980-74165b1c753a\"\u003e‘I enjoyed this beguiling book very much. The interwoven strands between 1780s and the 2010s are beautifully managed and brilliantly resolved’ \u003cstrong data-palette=\"Strong\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-wf-id='[\"493034d6-a06b-0c95-4280-145f925b0160\"]' data-w-id=\"493034d6-a06b-0c95-4280-145f925b0160\"\u003eHugh Belsey, world expert on Gainsborough\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-palette=\"Paragraph\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-reviews-input\" data-wf-id='[\"4b83da6a-e659-afdf-6d73-372acfa5c5bd\"]' data-w-id=\"4b83da6a-e659-afdf-6d73-372acfa5c5bd\"\u003e‘Witty, observant and joyously gossipy. The characterisations are sharp and Simon Edge has the painter’s eye for detail. It is paced beautifully and nothing is wasted’ \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNB Magazine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"35bd7325-dd5b-35cb-c228-97939b10436d\" data-wf-id='[\"35bd7325-dd5b-35cb-c228-97939b10436d\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e‘A laugh-out-loud contemporary satire skewering today’s tired reality TV formats married with a tale of vicious rivalry in the world of 18th century royal portraiture’ \u003cstrong data-w-id=\"a361ad0e-cbb1-be57-9f5c-8b3dd0ddc258\" data-wf-id='[\"a361ad0e-cbb1-be57-9f5c-8b3dd0ddc258\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-palette=\"Strong\"\u003eLiz Trenow\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-palette=\"Paragraph\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-reviews-input\" data-wf-id='[\"21df12a2-7dd6-fe82-20c3-e3d6ec0e7c84\"]' data-w-id=\"21df12a2-7dd6-fe82-20c3-e3d6ec0e7c84\"\u003e‘The more of Simon Edge you read, the more you realise that every element of his stories is hand-selected and glued to the bigger picture – it’s whimsical, farce-like… \u003cem data-palette=\"Emphasized\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-reviews-input\" data-wf-id='[\"5f610bac-718c-4bf2-b266-1cbb63825bfd\"]' data-w-id=\"5f610bac-718c-4bf2-b266-1cbb63825bfd\"\u003escrapbooky\u003c\/em\u003e, in the best possible way’ \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBuzz Magazine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-palette=\"Paragraph\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-reviews-input\" data-wf-id='[\"7d7383d3-30a5-95b9-0448-9c4881258bd1\"]' data-w-id=\"7d7383d3-30a5-95b9-0448-9c4881258bd1\"\u003e‘It hooked me straight in from the beginning. It’s brilliant’ \u003cstrong\u003eLesley Dolphin, BBC Radio Suffolk\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"45108789-8ef4-c33e-7aab-8486b4e6c526\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch6 data-palette=\"Paragraph\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-product-description-input\" data-wf-id='[\"b7e0d569-ac58-2f7f-6552-fdd85defdf6c\"]' data-w-id=\"b7e0d569-ac58-2f7f-6552-fdd85defdf6c\"\u003ePaperback: 288pp\u003c\/h6\u003e\n\u003ch6 data-palette=\"Paragraph\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-product-description-input\" data-wf-id='[\"b5fb6e54-d60f-5ea5-55dd-36822af9fce9\"]' data-w-id=\"b5fb6e54-d60f-5ea5-55dd-36822af9fce9\"\u003ePublished: Lightning (July 2019)\u003c\/h6\u003e\n\u003ch6 data-palette=\"Paragraph\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-product-description-input\" data-wf-id='[\"c861bfae-9a37-e514-e9d7-82127eee309c\"]' data-w-id=\"c861bfae-9a37-e514-e9d7-82127eee309c\"\u003eISBN: 9781785631306\u003c\/h6\u003e\n\u003ch6 data-palette=\"Paragraph\" data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-product-description-input\" data-wf-id='[\"afb5e2c2-202c-b761-0fb7-580991d4877c\"]' data-w-id=\"afb5e2c2-202c-b761-0fb7-580991d4877c\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h6\u003e","brand":"Eye Books Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":13551639789630,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1271\/4023\/files\/Screenshot2025-12-10at10.05.29.png?v=1765361216","url":"https:\/\/www.eyebooksgroup.com\/products\/a-right-royal-face-off","provider":"Eye Books Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}