While studying a seventeenth-century diary, the protagonist of History. A Mess. uncovers information about the first documented professional female artist. This discovery promises to change her academic career, and life in general . . . until she realizes that her and "discovery and " was the result of two pages stuck together. But she's already reached the point of no return, and she goes to great lengths to hide her mistake - undermining her sanity in the process. A shifty, satirical novel that's subtly funny and colorful, while also raising essential questions about truth, research, and the very nature of belief.