Muralist - by B a Shapiro (Paperback)

About the Book

When a young Abstract Expressionist painter working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) vanishes in pre-WWII New York City in 1940, neither her Jewish family living in German-occupied France nor her close-knit group of friends and fellow painters, including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner, knows what happened to her.

Book Synopsis

"Vibrant and suspenseful . . . Like The Art Forger, this new story takes us into the heart of what it means to be an artist." --The Washington Post

"B. A. Shapiro captivated us in 2012 with her 'addictive' novel The Art Forger. Now, she's back with another thrilling tale from the art world." --Entertainment Weekly

When Alizée Benoit, an American painter working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), vanishes in New York City in 1940, no one knows what happened to her. Not her Jewish family living in German-occupied France. Not her artistic patron and political compatriot, Eleanor Roosevelt. Not her close-knit group of friends, including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner. And, some seventy years later, not her great-niece, Danielle Abrams, who while working at Christie's auction house uncovers enigmatic paintings hidden behind works by those now-famous Abstract Expressionist artists. Do they hold answers to the questions surrounding her missing aunt?

From the Back Cover

"B. A. Shapiro captivated us in 2012 with her 'addictive' novel The Art Forger. Now, she's back with another thrilling tale from the art world." --Entertainment Weekly

When Alizée Benoit, an American painter working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), vanishes in New York City in 1940, no one knows what happened to her. Not her Jewish family living in German-occupied France. Not her artistic patron and political compatriot, Eleanor Roosevelt. Not her close-knit group of friends, including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner. And, some seventy years later, not her great-niece, Danielle Abrams, who while working at Christie's auction house uncovers enigmatic paintings hidden behind works by those now-famous Abstract Expressionist artists. Do they hold answers to the questions surrounding her missing aunt?

"Reminiscent, in the best way, of Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize winner, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and the way that novel considered artists--both the great power of their grand statements and the often heartbreaking futility of same." --The Boston Globe

"Noirish intrigue and [a] fine-art detective story." --Library Journal, starred review

"Riveting, gracefully romantic, and sharply revelatory." --Booklist, starred review

"The Muralist is, like What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman or Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, a historical novel that brings the 20th century to life." --USA Today

"Barbara Shapiro once again pens the art world into vivid, sensual life. Set during World War II and the dawn of Abstract Expressionism, TheMuralist is an intriguing story masterfully imagined about art, war, family, truth, and freedom. If you liked The Art Forger, you're going to love The Muralist!" --Lisa Genova, New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice

Review Quotes

"B. A. Shapiro makes the radical, varied, and sometimes enigmatic world of abstract expressionism altogether human and accessible in her smart new historical thriller. ...It has more emotional ballast and is more skillfully written than what one customarily finds. The novel evokes the horror and sorrow of the Holocaust in just their tedious administrative tasks of retracing steps, of sifting through wreckage. Shapiro also does a wonderful job of restoring complexity to the historical moment and stripping away the clarity of retrospection." --The Boston Globe

"Shapiro's plotting is deft, and the anonymous paintings and Alizée's disappearance add mystery and intrigue to the tale. Like her well-received 2012 novel, "The Art Forger," this new story takes us into the heart of what it means to be an artist. ...vibrant and suspenseful. As tens of thousands of modern-day asylum-seekers from the Middle East and Africa surge into Europe, and pictures of their mistreatment are broadcast around the world, "The Muralist" is a grim reminder that history continues to repeat itself." --The Washington Post

"B.A. Shapiro captivated us in 2012 with her "addictive" novel The Art Forger. Now, she's back with another thrilling tale from the art world, set right on the brink of World War II." --Entertainment Weekly

"The Muralist is, like What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman or Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, a historical novel that brings the 20th century to life..." --USA Today

"Shapiro follows the enthusiastically received The Art Forger (2012) with an even more polished and resonant tale. [Her] novel of epic moral failings is riveting, gracefully romantic, and sharply revelatory; it is also tragic in its timeliness as the world faces new refugee crises." --Booklist (starred review)
"Shapiro's writing pulses with energy.... The Muralist brings the time period and setting to life. Readers will appreciate Shapiro's seamless integration of fact into the story and will feel immersed in a time when the world tipped into chaos. Art, history, and mystery -- an intriguing and satisfying blend." --Washington Independent Review of Books

"In The Muralist, novelist B.A. Shapiro deftly layers American art history, the facts of World War II and the fictitious stories of Alizee and Dani. ...The Muralist is a compelling mystery. ...The Muralist elevates Shapiro to an even higher plane and is sure to be a crowning touch in an already celebrated career." --BookPage

"In this noirish intrigue and fine-art detective story, Shapiro ably intersects the early years of the abstract expressionist movement, the Roosevelts, institutionalized anti-Semitism that denied American visas to Jewish refugees, the relentless run-up to World War II, and the generational losses of the Shoah. Mystery and historical fiction lovers...will find this a riveting read." --Library Journal (starred review)

"Engaging ... Shapiro convincingly portrays the work of the artist as an agent of expression and hope in a world of despair." -- The New York Jewish Week

"[Shapiro] knows how to craft a page-turner. The Muralist is certainly an engrossing tale. Perhaps it will also send a few readers to the Museum of Modern Art for a fresh look at the craft of Rothko, Pollock, and their contemporaries. That would be a wonderful, and very un-abstract, mingling of art and real life." --New York Journal of Books

About the Author

B. A. Shapiro is the bestselling author of The Collector's Apprentice, The Muralist, and The Art Forger, which won the New England Book Award for Fiction and the Boston Authors Society Award for Fiction, among other honors. Her books have been selected as community reads in numerous cities and translated throughout the world. Before becoming a novelist, she taught sociology at Tufts University and creative writing at Northeastern University. She and her husband, Dan, divide their time between Boston and Florida.