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The Masterpiece: A Novel
by Fiona Davis

Published: 2018-08-07
Hardcover : 368 pages
5 members reading this now
19 clubs reading this now
3 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 2 of 2 members
In her latest captivating novel, nationally bestselling author Fiona Davis takes readers into the glamorous lost art school within Grand Central Terminal, where two very different women, fifty years apart, strive to make their mark on a world set against them.

For most New Yorkers, Grand ...
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Introduction

In her latest captivating novel, nationally bestselling author Fiona Davis takes readers into the glamorous lost art school within Grand Central Terminal, where two very different women, fifty years apart, strive to make their mark on a world set against them.

For most New Yorkers, Grand Central Terminal is a crown jewel, a masterpiece of design. But for Clara Darden and Virginia Clay, it represents something quite different.

For Clara, the terminal is the stepping stone to her future. It is 1928, and Clara is teaching at the lauded Grand Central School of Art. Though not even the prestige of the school can override the public's disdain for a "woman artist," fiery Clara is single-minded in her quest to achieve every creative success – even while juggling the affections of two very different men. But she and her bohemian friends have no idea that they'll soon be blindsided by the looming Great Depression… and that even poverty and hunger will do little to prepare Clara for the greater tragedy yet to come.

By 1974, the terminal has declined almost as sharply as Virginia Clay's life. Dilapidated and dangerous, Grand Central is at the center of a fierce lawsuit: Is the once-grand building a landmark to be preserved, or a cancer to be demolished? For Virginia, it is simply her last resort. Recently divorced, she has just accepted a job in the information booth in order to support herself and her college-age daughter, Ruby. But when Virginia stumbles upon an abandoned art school within the terminal and discovers a striking watercolor, her eyes are opened to the elegance beneath the decay. She embarks on a quest to find the artist of the unsigned masterpiece--an impassioned chase that draws Virginia not only into the battle to save Grand Central but deep into the mystery of Clara Darden, the famed 1920s illustrator who disappeared from history in 1931.

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Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
by Erin U. (see profile) 11/20/19

 
by Connie K. (see profile) 09/23/19

 
by Deb K. (see profile) 04/26/19

 
by Beth K. (see profile) 12/18/18

 
  "the masterpiece"by Carolyn R. (see profile) 09/09/18

3.5...maybe a four
you can read the book summary for yourself.
I did enjoy this book. I thought Clara's story was better than Virginias and while clara was a character that grated more on

... (read more)

 
  "The Masterpiece"by Elizabeth P. (see profile) 08/08/18


What would an art school teacher and an information booth attendee have in common besides Grand Central since the women lived 50 years apart? You would be surprised.

Clara taught illus


... (read more)

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