The Muralist, by B.A. Shapiro is a lovely novel about the powerful influence of art, history of WWII, and people working to impact change in belief systems. Present day, Danielle Abrams, discovers paintings hidden behind other paintings by famous Abstract Expressionist artists while working at Christie’s auction house. Danielle immediately becomes engrossed in solving the mystery of who painted these hidden works of art. Danielle’s great-aunt was Alizee Benoit, an American artist. Alizee disappeared in 1940 during a time with significant political turmoil relating to European refugees being refused entrance into the United States.

The story brings to life famous characters from this time period; Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Lee Krasnor. I wasn’t familiar with the second half of the characters listed, but I enjoyed them in the book. The story was a bit of a slow start for me. As with most historical fiction novels covering two time periods or generations, the story line switched back and forth, which I enjoy. Once events picked up momentum, I found myself enjoying the mystery and was excited to learn what happened to Alizee. I loved the ending. It left with me warm feels and a nice sense of closure for the characters. This novel is also a great history lesson about WWII and Roosevelt’s lack of action to ensure that European refugees were granted safety in the U.S.

The audiobook narration by Xe Sands is incredible. I was excited to hear her voice as I’ve listened to other books narrated by her in the past.

The main reason I was drawn to this book, despite the fact I previously read The Art Forger, is for the artist theme. I have loved art for as long as I can remember and being married to an artist makes these novels a perfect fit for me. Pictured with the audiobook cover is one of my husband’s most recently completed oil paintings, A Girl of a Different Kind. This is his second painting of a girl reading and I love it! He writes poems for each painting and the one he wrote for A Girl of a Different Kind sounds exactly like me! Which I’m sure most avid readers would think the same thing. You are welcome to check out his website PoeSoul Studio and both paintings I mentioned are available and linked for your convenience: A Girl of a Different Kind and Dreaming About A Life to Come.

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