The Van Gogh Deception

Camille is the 10-year-old daughter of Mary Sullivan, Art’s foster parent. She has red hair that reflects her vibrant energy. When she first appears in the novel, the narrative describes her actions with the verbs “exploded,” “plopped,” and “hollered” (24), and Mary nicknames her “Hurricane Camille” (25). Camille is unrelenting in her running commentary and frequently throws back-to-back questions at Art to learn more about him and encourage him to rediscover himself.

Although she is talkative, Camille is also considerate and inobtrusive when she observes the times that Art needs emotional support. She feels a duty to watch over him and is a thoughtful companion who keeps her promise to her mother to be his friend and help him feel safe.

Like Art, Camille also fulfills the archetype of the kid detective as his scrappy and precocious sidekick. Mary describes her as a 10-year-old “who thinks she’s thirty” (23). Her liveliness contrasts with Art’s reserved demeanor, and she often functions as the comic relief by diffusing stressful moments with her laughter. Despite her levity, Camille’s internal conflict concerns her duty to watch over Art and her guilt at leaving her mother uninformed and worried over her disappearance. She begins to feel the severity of the situation in the second half of the novel, and the narrative takes a more serious tone to depict her as a young girl who is scared and tired and simply wants to go home. She is both round and dynamic, changing over the course of the novel.

Dorchek Palmer is the villain and mastermind behind a scheme to make billions selling forged paintings. He is a young-looking 28-year-old with “a mop of unruly light brown hair” (28). At his height of five feet and five inches, he can, in the novel’s words, pass for a teenager, and “people tended to look past him” (28). Palmer represents deception, and nothing appears as it seems when he is involved. He not only deals in art forgeries but also deals in false impersonations when he uses props to disguise himself and pretend to be Art’s older brother. He even keeps a small, covert apartment that “[n]o one—not even the members of his team—knew about” (74).

Palmer is an update on the archetype of the rich supervillain—the “tech bro.” He is an entrepreneur who made his millions at a young age from developing gaming apps. Bored with his wealth, he searches for excitement through extreme sports and other thrill-seeking adventures. For Palmer, “risking life and limb simply wasn’t enough. He needed something big—something beyond anything he or anyone else had ever attempted” (28). Palmer represents the failures of wealth and an over-reliance on technology. Despite his extravagant lifestyle, he is no happier, and even all his high-tech spy gear fails to capture the children. As a flat character, Palmer remains the same throughout the novel, and his prime motivation is risk-taking for its own sake. The novel makes no mention of his upbringing, his family, or how he assembled his team. When he is apprehended at the end of the novel, he shows no remorse and, as common in children’s mysteries, he resents losing to a bunch of kids. 

Mary Sullivan is a senior book editor and experienced foster parent. Her reliability and competence are reflected in how she wears her “dark brown hair pulled neatly into a bun on the back of her head” (25). Independent and patient, Mary has “a reputation for handling difficult situations” and has provided temporary placement for many children in need, especially on short notice (20). Mary is “used to the late-night calls” from social services (20), and her readiness and aptitude establish her as a figure of trust and an advocate for children’s welfare.

Mary also has a loving and playful relationship with her daughter. Even minor disagreements like Camille’s desire for a cellphone or her assertion that she and Art are “not a couple of little kids provoke nothing more than Mary’s “mock exasperation” (106). She is direct and openly explains to Camille why her father is not in their lives, and when she reunites with Camille at the end of the novel, Mary maintains her good humor through her tears of concern and relief. She encloses Camille in a “smothering embrace” and quips that she is grounded “[f]or the rest of [her] life” (267). As a single parent and a foster parent, Mary represents the diverse forms that families can take and provides a loving and supportive environment.

Mary is also the first and only adult that Art trusts at the beginning of the novel. She earns his confidence by treating him with patience and sensitivity, and Art considers her “great” (52) and “kind” (132). Mary never pressures Art to remember what is most likely a traumatic event that caused his amnesia. Instead, she is supportive and assures Art, “You’re in there somewhere. The memories will come when you’re ready” (105). Although Mary appears only briefly in the sidelines of the main action, her determination and self-control to find the children earns her Detective Evans’s respect. Evans calls her “a tough lady” (143), and this description of Mary mirrors her own daughter’s traits of tenacity and strength. The resemblances between mother and daughter are also mirrored in the identical way they first interact with Art. Mary, “[e]xtending her hand to the boy […] said, ‘I’m Mary Sullivan’” (21), and Camille “extended her hand to the boy over the pile that divided them. ‘I’m Camille,’ she said” (24). The similarities suggest that Mary has raised Camille to be as strong and independent as she is. She is round, although perhaps not completely dynamic.