The Van Roon

S. Gedge has run his London antique shop with grumpy precision for decades, valuing nothing but profit and peace. Then his niece June arrives, orphaned and undaunted, turning his solitary world inside out. She sees poetry in dusty treasures; he sees inventory. She believes in beauty; he believes in pounds shillings. Their clashes crackle with wit and genuine hurt, two stubborn people learning that family might be the one acquisition worth more than its price. At the shop's heart sits a mysterious painting The Van Roon, its true value waiting to be discovered, as is the value Gedge has overlooked in himself. J. C. Snaith writes with sharp observation and warmth, capturing the particular comedy of two people who refuse to like each other, then cannot imagine life without the other.