The Muse A Novel
The Muse A Novel by Jessie Burton, published by HarperCollins on May 16, 2017, is a reprint edition comprising 416 pages. This narrative intertwines the lives of two women across different eras, connected by a mysterious painting discovered in 1967 London. The story follows Odelle Bastien, a Caribbean émigré navigating the art world, as she unravels the secrets surrounding the painting attributed to the enigmatic artist Isaac Robles, whose death remains shrouded in mystery.
Readers will find a rich exploration of themes such as desire, ambition, and the impact of historical events on personal lives. The novel shifts between Odelle’s contemporary London and Olive Schloss’s experiences in 1930s Spain, where she encounters María Teresita and Isaac Robles. As the characters navigate their intertwined fates, the narrative delves into the complexities of art, identity, and the consequences of choices made in times of turmoil.
Official synopsis Publisher
“Love, war, desire, and art—it’s all here.” —Elle
Two Women. Two Eras. One painting that ties them together.
July 1967, Mayfair, London–a painting is left propped on the doorstep of the Skeleton Gallery, discovered by Odelle Bastien, a Caribbean émigré trying to make her way in London. The painting is rumored to be the work of Isaac Robles, whose mysterious death has confounded the art world for decades. The excitement over the painting is only matched by the tension around the conflicting stories of its discovery. Odelle is unsure who or what to believe as she is drawn into a complex web of secrets and deceptions.
Thirty years earlier, Olive Schloss, the daughter of a Viennese Jewish art dealer, follows her parents to a village in southern Spain that is rife with unrest. It is here Olive meets María Teresita, the young housekeeper, and María’s half-brother Isaac Robles, an ambitious painter newly returned from the Barcelona salons. The illegitimate offspring of the local landowner, neither sibling has anything to lose when by exploiting these new guests in their poverty-stricken town. As they insinuate themselves into the family, the consequences are devastating and echo into the decades to come.
In vividly rendered detail, acclaimed author Jessie Burton spins a tale of desire, ambition, and the ways in which the tides of history inevitably shape and define our lives.
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