Those who loved The Miniaturist will find here all the cliffhangers, twists and heart-stopping revelations they expected, and in two evocative settings' – Daily Telegraph Olive is a gifted painter but her pompous father believes women can never be artists. Thus begins the Spanish section of the book set in the turbulent Spanish civil war. It’s beautifully crafted – I loved it, and so will you. but not to worry - although it's another historical novel in which art and gender feature prominently, this is no 'horrible replica' - it has merits all its own.

Overall I really enjoyed the atmosphere, both the settings and I found the characters to be well written and engaging.Seductive, exhilarating and suspenseful, The Muse is an addictive novel about aspiration and identity, love and obsession, authenticity and deception – a magnificent creation and a story you will never forget. “ Whether it takes the form of music or a painting or a sculpture or the written word, nothing speaks to our souls like art. This gives artists a power over their fellow men and women. But no one doubts art so much as its creator, and so an artist’s audience holds within themselves the approval and praise that said artist craves, and thus artists rely on their audiences for the affirmation and reassurance needed to create their next work of art. However, if an artist isn’t careful they begin producing cheap imitations of the art that first garnered them attention, and so artists must be careful regarding how heavily they rely upon and value the opinions of others. They need something else to feed that need and fuel their creativity. I remember…a feller saying to me in the shoe shop, 'your English is very good.' My English! I told him, "English is a West Indian language, sir."' ...

Is there ever such a thing as a whole story, or an artist's triumph, a right way to look through the glass? It all depends on where the light falls.” At first, I wasn’t planning to read this book. The Miniaturist didn’t impress me, and I wondered if I should give Jessie Burton another try when there are so many new authors to discover. Then, I realized the reason why The Miniaturist didn’t work for me is that a certain plot turned out random and pointless at the end, but I loved the characters and the writing itself. So I thought, if The Muse avoids this problem, it has the potential to be very good. And it is! In fact, it’s beautiful! Part of the novel is set in Spain, in the 30s, where Olive Schloss, the daughter of an art dealer, works in secret. Her paintings are fraudulently sold in London as the creation of a handsome young Spaniard named Isaac with whom Olive is in love. A parallel narrative belongs to Odelle, a West Indian writer in 60s London whose stories are submitted anonymously for publication. “I became interested in how ego, personality and identity are tied into not only the creation of a work but its commodification – the cult of the artist – and how people will attach extra value to a work because a particular person has painted it when, had they no idea who had created it, they would not pay as much.” Despite being the winning cards and points of strength in this book, the able use of vocabulary was distracting being aligned with a flat story. It seemed as if the author was trying too hard which doesn't look good.She had never had a friend like this, in her private room, combing her hair, listening to her, talking about silly nonsense and the uselessness of one's parents; how the future was perfect, because they hadn't lived it yet.” Elise is the novel’s most enigmatic character: a neurotic drifter who both feeds off and resents Constance’s growing celebrity. She becomes increasingly depressed and detached when Constance moves to the US to pursue her ambitions of becoming a player in the movie industry. Then Elise simply disappears, absconding from a filthy Brooklyn apartment leaving a newborn baby behind. The only certain fact is that, immediately prior to her disappearance, Elise received a final visit from Constance. Burton is a writer fully in control of her craft, as she employs the fundamental co-ordinates of a fairytale Rose/Laura seems to have inherited most of her mother’s insecurities; she works shifts in a coffee shop and is tethered to a hopeless partner whose burrito van business has stalled. Helping Constance not only brings her closer to her mother, it enables the elaborate fabrication of a more fascinating, less flawed version of herself The book leaves some questions unanswered, such as how does Teresa, who comes to England with no resources and education, become wealthy and established and can afford a large cottage (the book tells us it’s not that big, but it’s described and the place is HUGE)? It’s hinted she succeeded because she could speak Spanish and German, which... is the case for millions of people in the UK. It’s not like these are the most unique qualifications with high demand and no supply. Yes, I believe she’s smart and resourceful, and there are way she could have made it, but it would have been nice to see hints pointing at a more reasonable explanation. Still, in terms of unresolved plots, this book is a huge improvement over The Miniaturist. Everything has a purpose and every plot fits nicely in the full picture.