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Yesterday, I finished The Muse by Jessie Burton. It's a split timeline story, tracing the history of a painting both when it was first created in the 1930s in Spain and when it comes to light in the 1960s in London. The choice of protagonists and time periods is very interesting and I liked and was invested in both storylines, which is always good with this kind of novel.
It's a great exploration of female creativity and the complex desire to be seen and recognised, but not to invite scrutinty or censure. Olive, as a painter in the 1930s storyline, struggles against the idea that women cannot be artists, but does not want to be a torch-bearer for the universal female cause. Odelle, as a writer in the 1960s storyline, struggles with her sense of her own worth in the face of casual racism.
Odelle's thoughts about her writing are very recognisable to me, and well drawn.
I thought I knew what the reveal was going to be, but the story didn't go in the direction I expected, which was good. In a similar way to the author's previous book, The Miniaturist, it was pretty brutal in places. And it felt like it fizzled out a bit at the end.
Still, I really enjoyed it overall - immersive writing and involving characters.
It's a great exploration of female creativity and the complex desire to be seen and recognised, but not to invite scrutinty or censure. Olive, as a painter in the 1930s storyline, struggles against the idea that women cannot be artists, but does not want to be a torch-bearer for the universal female cause. Odelle, as a writer in the 1960s storyline, struggles with her sense of her own worth in the face of casual racism.
Odelle's thoughts about her writing are very recognisable to me, and well drawn.
I thought I knew what the reveal was going to be, but the story didn't go in the direction I expected, which was good. In a similar way to the author's previous book, The Miniaturist, it was pretty brutal in places. And it felt like it fizzled out a bit at the end.
Still, I really enjoyed it overall - immersive writing and involving characters.
