Goldberg's Angel: An Adventure in the Antiquities Trade

Peg Goldberg, a fledgling Indiana antiques dealer, paid $1.2 million in borrowed cash for what she believed to be four authentic early Christian mosaics, without thoroughly checking their provenance or the reputations of the sellers. In 1989, she was accused of knowingly buying stolen property by the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus which, claiming the mosaics were taken illegally from the island, successfully sued for their return. Unsolved mysteries about the deal intrigued Hofstadter, a freelance writer who calls himself ``a person without a fixed address or steady job...who happened to love beautiful things.'' He attempts to disentangle the story's threads of Greek, Turkish and Cyprian politics, legal battles, treacherous dealers and middlemen, as well as a leading lady who may not have been as innocent as she seemed. But the byzantine dealings, large cast of shady characters and author's frequent asides on his own involvement result in a jumble of colorful elements that is often difficult to follow. (Sept.)