There was so much to enjoy in Jessie Burton's second novel The Muse. I liked the alternating stories, one in 1967 and the other in 1936 and having to guess how they are linked. Some are obvious from early on, but for others, you have to wait until later and much later. It is only at the very end (the last few words) that I realised why one story was written in the first person and the other in the third.
Some of the less crucial set pieces are brilliant. Odelle meeting Lawrie outside the Skelton in 1967 and Don Alfonso's visit to the Schloss family in 1936 are unforgettable. The construction of the plot is very well done. There are flaws, but who cares. I cannot remember the author using the word "muse" so, like me, you have to guess who that is. If it's just one?
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