"The Muralist" by B.A. Shapiro

It’s 1939, and Europe is on the verge of war. Alizée Benoit, a young woman born in France but now a naturalized American, is an artist working in New York City and eking out an existence because of the artists program with the Work Projects Administration. She works with a group of artists in a warehouse, unknowns all but who will eventually remake American art: Mark Rothko, Lee Krasner, and Jackson Pollock.

They’re all painting murals for the WPA and struggling with their own art. It is Alizée who provides the creative spark that will eventually transform these artists into international celebrities. And she is increasingly driven by what is happening in Europe to her fellow Jews, including members of her immediate family – her brother, her aunts, uncles, and cousins. She’s spending increasing amounts of time trying to find visas but, like so many others, discovering the immigration roadblocks being erected by Breckenridge Long, once of Franklin Roosevelt’s top State Department officials. 

 

When the war starts, Alizée’s desperation becomes almost manic, leading to her involvement in an attempted assassination.

 

It’s also 2015. Alizée’s story is told in parallel with that of her great-niece Danielle, the granddaughter of her brother Henri. Seventy-five years after the start of World War II, Danielle works in the art department of the auction house Christie’s in New York. And she’s always wondered what happened to her great-aunt, who disappeared in 1940. The mystery deepens when Danielle is handed a square cut from a larger work, one she believes was painted by her great-aunt. Fellow workers think it might be an early Rothko or Krasner. Danielle thinks otherwise, and she’s determined to prove that the mural fragment was painted by her great-aunt – and to find out what happened to her.

 

B.A. Shapiro

The story of Alizée and Danielle are told in The Muralist, a 2016 novel by B.A. Shapiro. It’s a story peopled by both historical characters and fictional ones, describing the birth of and inspirations for Abstract Expressionism, how the war in Europe increasingly encroached upon America, and how prevalent anti-Semitism was in the America of the 1930s and 1940s.

 

The Muralist includes well-known political figures of the pre-war and war eras, including Brecjkenridge Long, Eleanor Roosevelt, and even a cameo appearance by Franklin Roosevelt. It’s generally a satisfying novel and an engaging read, even if you’re not a fan of Abstract Expressionism. For some reason I couldn’t identify, the scenes involving Eleanor Roosevelt seemed less satisfying, possibly because she comes across as more two-dimensional. 

 

Shapiro has published several bestselling literary thrillers, including Metropolis (2022), The Collector’s Apprentice, and The Art Forger. A sociologist y training and career, she has also worked as a systems analyst / statistician and headed the Boston office of a software development firm. She also worked as an adjunct professor in sociology at Tufts University and creative writing at Northeastern University. She lives in Boston and Naples, Florida. 

Some Monday Readings

 

Critical Editorial Decisions – Terry Whalin at The Writing Life. 

 

Salvaging Our World – Brian Miller at A South Roane Agrarian.

 

Albert Jay Nock: A Return to the Liberal Arts? – Bradley Birzer at The Imaginative Conservative.