A review by curlykira
The Muse by Jessie Burton

4.0

This book is beautifully well-written. I think Burton has done an incredible job at upholding a pair of storylines. It cannot be easy to tesselate between two different sociopolitical eras with their own individual, well thought out and thoroughly explored characters whilst also maintaining the same strong themes of love, loss, hope, ambition, creativity, talent and meaning. Something I automatically tried to do when I realised that the story is set over two different time periods was to try and find a connection between Olive and Odelle, the two female protagonists, and I did find some parallels in how they both have a talent they do not know how to express because they are women and foreigners in a different land. When I realised that I had got it wrong and that in fact I should have been looking to Teresa for similarities, I was pleasantly surprised to be duped in the same way that Odelle had been on the wrong track too. Teresa and Odelle share so much more- they are both truly immigrants from a foreign land making a name for themselves and trying to be accepted. They both have a more sceptic, cautious approach to love. And they both, although completely guarded, have been drawn inextricably into the lives of those around them. Quick saw this from the very start and that is what drew her to Odelle. This book is so well packaged up that you leave feeling completely contented with the answers you are given. No area of the story was wish-washy or throwaway. The more I think about this book the more I wish I could give it a 4.5, but I reserve 5 stars for books that leave an imprint on me and I could read again and again. Despite how well-written this book is, I feel I have gained everything I needed (and that was by no means a small amount) and it is not a book I feel the need to keep in my collection regardless of how much I enjoyed it