The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis

Publisher: Dutton
Expected On Sale Date:August 7th 2018
Pages: 368

1928; Twenty-five Clara Darden is an art teacher in the Grand Central school of art located just inside the terminal of Grand Central station in New York.
She is also an illustrator, and her dream and goal is that one of her illustrations will be on the cover of Vogue magazine. But in that era, it is difficult for a woman to enter this world, where there is quite some disdain for ''woman artists''. But Clara is not someone to be just send away with nothing.Clara is determined to achieve every creative success,while juggling the affections of two men, a wealthy would-be poet and a brilliant experimental painter.
Clara Darden has some succes, but soon the Great Depression begins, and the whole art scene collapses.

In 1974, Virginia Clay starts her new job at the terminal after a turbulent time in her live. After a failed attempt to start as a temp in one of the offices, the agency places her to work in the information booth in the heart of Grand Central terminal, where she soon stumbles upon an abandoned art school. She learns from her friendly but firm coworkers that the station is in decline, and possibly has to make way soon for a new skyscraper in it's place. Virginia wants to know more though about the abandoned art school, and more specifically about the artist that worked there: the famed 1920s illustrator Clara Darden who disappeared from history in 1931. 

This is just an outstanding new book by Fiona Davis. Just like in her previous book, The Adress, Fiona Davis has written a book with two main characters living/working in the same place, but in a different time period. And the storyline is just as beautiful.  Especially the search by Virginia for Clara's whereabouts was good and exciting, as quite some mysterious things happen in this case. The wrap up of the search was really good and just very surprising. Alltogether this is very good book from an author who knows a lot of historical facts about significant buildings in New York. I am very curious where the next book will take the reader!