The Masterpiece: A Novel

For most New Yorkers, Grand Central Terminal is an architectural masterpiece, but for Clara Darden and Virginia Clay, it means something quite different. In 1928, Grand Central Terminal is the stepping stone to Clara’s artistic future as she teaches at the Grand Central School of the Arts. Though most of the public may not approve of having a “women artist,” Clara strives for creative success, unknowing of the Great Depression looming over the future. By 1974, Grand Central Terminal has declined as much as Virginia Clay’s life, and she takes a job at Grand Central Terminal as a last resort. After taking up the job, she finds a masterpiece dating back to 1927 and vows to find whoever created the masterpiece. In The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis, two women are connected, 50 years apart, but surrounded by Grand Central Terminal.

I enjoyed how The Masterpiece connected both the past and the future and alternated between each, with one that shows Grand Central Terminal as a hopeful and bright place, and the other that shows how Grand Central Terminal decayed over time, losing all of the hopes and dreams that surrounded it. The past and present are interconnected throughout the whole book, and that makes the story stand out.