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The Muse - Jessie Burton
The Muse
by: (author)
4.00 10
From the internationally bestselling author of 'The Miniaturist' comes a captivating and brilliantly realized story of two young women — a Caribbean immigrant in 1960s London, and a bohemian woman in 1930s Spain — and the powerful mystery that ties them together. Britain, 1967. Odelle Bastien is... show more
From the internationally bestselling author of 'The Miniaturist' comes a captivating and brilliantly realized story of two young women — a Caribbean immigrant in 1960s London, and a bohemian woman in 1930s Spain — and the powerful mystery that ties them together.

Britain, 1967. Odelle Bastien is a Caribbean émigré trying to make her way in London. When she starts working at the prestigious Skelton Art Gallery, she discovers a painting rumored to be the work of Isaac Robles, a young artist of immense talent and vision whose mysterious death has confounded the art world for decades. The excitement over the painting is matched by the intrigue around the conflicting stories of its discovery. Drawn into a complex web of secrets and deceptions, Odelle does not know what to believe or who she can trust, including her mesmerizing colleague, Marjorie Quick.

Spain, 1937. Olive Schloss, the daughter of a Viennese Jewish art dealer and English heiress, follows her parents to Arazuelo, a poor, restless village on the southern coast. She grows close to Teresa, a young housekeeper, and her half-brother Isaac Robles, an idealistic and ambitious painter newly returned from the Barcelona salons. A dilettante buoyed by the revolutionary fervor that will soon erupt into civil war, Isaac dreams of being a painter as famous as his countryman, Picasso.

Raised in poverty, these illegitimate children of the local landowner revel in exploiting this wealthy Anglo-Austrian family. Insinuating themselves into the Schloss’s lives, Teresa and Isaac help Olive conceal her artistic talents with devastating consequences that will echo into the decades to come.

Rendered in exquisite detail, 'The Muse' is a passionate and enthralling tale of desire, ambition, and the ways in which the tides of history inevitably shape and define our lives.
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Format: paperback
ISBN: 9781447250968
Publisher: Picador
Pages no: 445
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
Words of a Bibliophile
Words of a Bibliophile rated it
2.0 The Muse by Jessie Burton
The idea behind this book is interesting indeed: a mysterious painting is found in 1960s London and its origin takes the reader back to a village in Spain in the 1930s. The dual timelines feature two parallel female characters, gallery employee and fledgling writer Odelle Bastien, and aspiring artis...
DubaiReader
DubaiReader rated it
4.0 Dual time periods and a fabulous painting ...
I enjoyed Jessie Burton's first book, The Miniaturist, and couldn't wait to read her new novel, The Muse. Both were enjoyable reads, but I did miss the magical realism element from The Miniaturist, while The Muse had a more satisfying ending. The Muse is split between two time periods, Spain in 19...
Murder by Death
Murder by Death rated it
4.0 The Muse
This book was initially all about the cover love for me - I could not stop looking at the cover whenever I saw it. I also liked that the story line was about a lost painting, but I wasn't sure it was really my thing. So I checked it out of the library, read the first bit, and bought the book for m...
Girl Well Read
Girl Well Read rated it
3.0 The Muse
A special thank you to Edelweiss and The Reading Society for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.Although I'm new to Burton's writing, I was aware of her successful debut The Miniaturist and was anxious to read her sophomore effort. This book is incredibly well written and I thoroughly enjoyed O...
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