The Masterpiece

 The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis   368 pages

I’m in love! I have added a new writer to my list of those whom I’ll read everything they write! I have wanted to read Fiona Davis’ first two books, “The Address” and “The Dollhouse,’ but somehow they never quite reached the top of my TBR list before there was a wait list at the library. It was this latest novel that made me determined to read it; something about the cover clicked in my heart, and I couldn’t let it go. Thanks to NetGallery and Penguin Random House I got my hands on a first edition, which I devoured in three evenings.

The story’s structure is one of my favorites, dualing timelines. The story vacillates between 1928/30 and 1974/6. I think I know why Davis chose the mid-1970s to place the second part of the story, but I won’t tell. No spoilers here!

In 1928, Clara Darden is an artist, an illustrator, working as a teacher at the Grand Central School of Art. She is also a freelance illustrator. Her students are dropping out at an alarming rate, and she fears not being asked back next semester. Part of the reason is that she is a woman, the only one among the remaining manly faculty. A number of the faculty becomes prominent artists, but not Clara, well not really

Fast forward to 1974. Virginia Clay is a newly divorced woman, still somewhat stuck in her 1950s role as housewife and mother. She is applying for a job, which takes her to the rundown facility that is an eyesore, Grand Central Station. It’s dirty, infested with drug addicts, and has almost been deserted. The terminal’s owners have their office under the buildings eaves. After blowing her interview, she asks for the restroom key and heads down the hallway. Instead of the facilities, she finds herself in the abandoned art school. Pictures still hang from the walls, and although the place is covered in dust, it looks as if the students had just been yesterday. As luck would have it, Virginia is offered a job in the Information Booth, with a cast of odd characters. This gives her a chance to further explore the old art school, but is stunned to discover that someone else is also haunting the area. Then, Virginia finds a painting that could set the art world on its ear. A painting that someone is willing to kill to own.

I loved the juxtaposition of the art/art school and the architecture of Grand Central as masterpieces. Both Clara and Virginia are well drawn (no pun intended) and fascinating women, both with a stubborn streak that just begins to make itself known. I can’t wait to meet Davis when she comes to St. Louis on her book tour.

 “The Masterpiece,” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.