Overview

An enigmatic painting. The mystery of who painted it. A riveting thriller from the bestselling author of The Art Forger.In a gripping novel full of plot twists, B. A. Shapiro embeds us in a circle of famous painters in late-nineteenth-century Paris, centering on the anguished Impressionist artist Berthe Morisot—the one woman in their midst who never got her due—and the story of Morisot’s great-great-great-great granddaughter, Tamara Rubin, who has inherited Édouard Manet’s Party on the Seine, a painting that completely upends her life. 

When Tamara inherits Party, she discovers a long-hidden family history replete with unanswered questions: How had it been stolen by the Nazis? How had the painting managed to survive three disasters that destroyed every other artwork around it? And most of all, why had she never known about her ancestor, Berthe Morisot? As the painting begins to metamorphose into darker and more terrifying versions of itself, Tamara’s ordinary life is thrown into turmoil. What wounds and resentments plagued Morisot, and to what lengths will her spirit go for revenge?

The Lost Masterpiece is a story of love, adultery, betrayal, family secrets, and the grueling birth of Impressionism, taking the reader on a whirlwind adventure from the streets of Paris in the late 1800s and the studio Berthe Morisot shared with Manet, Degas, and Renoir to the present day. Shapiro brings Berthe’s world to life, tracing her work through generations of descendants and introducing us to a painter as brilliant and original as her male counterparts across 150 years of triumphs, struggles, passions, animosities, and malevolence.

Review

When Tamara inherits Party, she discovers a long-hidden family history replete with unanswered questions: How had it been stolen by the Nazis? How had the painting managed to survive three disasters that destroyed every other artwork around it? And most of all, why had she never known about her ancestor, Berthe Morisot?

This is told in two different time periods, present day and late nineteenth century Paris. I actually liked the present day better than the past. It moved faster and I loved Tamara. Her struggles and her connections to the painting are compelling.

Now, don’t think this is just about the loss and recovery of a painting. There is so much more to this novel. It is a bit of a ghost story as well! And I loved this part of the story. I knew where it was leading but it still kept me fascinated!

I did get this on audible because I can listen faster than I can read. And I really wanted to fit this book into my June reads. The narrators are Lucy Rayner,  Christine Lakin,  Hannah Curtis,  B. A. Shapiro. I was not a big fan of the narrator that did the past section. She just did not sit right with me. But the one that did Tamara’s time period is excellent.

Need a tale with family drama, betrayal and secrets…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel for a honest review.

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