The Muse by Jessie Burton was a book I obtained via my monthly subscription of second-hand books. It’s an historical novel which are not always my favourite, but I decided to include it as part of this challenge because stretching myself is part of the point of both the challenge and the subscription.
The book is set in two time periods. The first follows Odelle, an immigrant from the West Indies, in 1967. Odelle is tired of working in a shoe shop when she has plenty of qualifications and she applies for a job at an art gallery in London. She is given the job by the enigmatic Marjorie Quick (known as Quick) with whom she develops a friendship. She also gains a boyfriend in Lawrie who has a painting that he wants to sell to the gallery – this painting comes with secrets about its artist and how Lawrie obtained it.
The second time period is 1937 and this part of the story is set in Spain just as the civil war breaks out. Harold, from Vienna, is an art dealer and he comes to the countryside with his bored wife and his talented, but overlooked, daughter Olive. Into their family comes Isaac Robles, a struggling artist and revolutionary, and Teresa his young sister. Harold and their family think that they are immune to what is happening around them because they are foreigners and Teresa thinks that they may be her way out of a dangerous situation.
The book alternates between the two timelines, moving each story forward with every instalment. Eventually the events of the past begin to explain the secrets of 1967, although not always the way that you think that they will. This book is well plotted and every twist makes sense in the context of the story. The ending ties up most of the issues well.
The author uses the story to talk about discrimination against women, discrimination against Black people, socialism, the evils that come with conflict, betrayal of all types and the demands of genius. The story doesn’t, however, labour any of these things and their inclusion gives the characters context and the narrative more texture. This is a story that happens in this way because of the times in which it occurs.
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought that I was going to when I picked it up. It kept my attention and I was engaged with the characters. It was an intelligent and interesting story populated by people that you recognise easily, with all their flaws, impulses and quirks. My paperback copy is off to Oxfam in Holmfirth to find a new reader but I would read other books by this author if I came upon them.
