The Southbury Public Library will host author B.A. Shapiro Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m. in the Kingsley room as part of the Lu Burke Literary Series. Shapiro will talk about her new book, “The Muralist,” a captivating story about the birth of Abstract Expressionism set against the backdrop of the Depression and the eve of World War II.
Alternating between the late 1930s and the present day, Shapiro introduces readers to two remarkable women, Alizée Benoit and Danielle Abrams. Alizée is a young, gifted American artist painting murals for the Works Progress Administration in New York City working alongside her close friends and colleagues, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Lee Krasner and William de Kooning.
As she struggles to define herself as an abstract artist, she’s also desperately trying to obtain visas for her Jewish family living in German-occupied France. She is befriended in both these endeavors by Eleanor Roosevelt and becomes enemies of Eleanor’s enemies, the powerful isolationists Charles Lindbergh, Joe Kennedy and Breckinridge Long. As Alizée nears her goals, she mysteriously disappears, never to be seen again.
Enter Danielle Abrams, a cataloger at Christie’s auction house who is also Alizée’s great niece. When Dani uncovers paintings hidden on the backs of possible masterpieces by Pollock, Rothko, and Krasner, she sets out to discover who created these unsigned paintings, hoping they are the work of her missing aunt and that this journey will lead her to an explanation of what happened to Alizée – and who was responsible for it.
Shapiro is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, “The Muralist,” “The Art Forger,” “The Safe Room,” “Blind Spot,” “See No Evil,” “Blameless” and “Shattered Echoes.” She also has written four screenplays and the non-fiction book, “The Big Squeeze.”
In previous careers, she directed research projects for a residential substance abuse facility, worked as a systems analyst/statistician, headed the Boston office of a software development firm, and served as an adjunct professor teaching sociology at Tufts University and creative writing at Northeastern University. She likes being a novelist the best.
Shapiro began her writing career when she quit her high-pressure job after the birth of her second child. After writing seven novels and raising her children, she now lives in Boston with her husband, Dan, and dog, Sagan. She is working on her eighth novel.
The Hickory Stick Book Shop will be selling copies of “The Muralist.” Light refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Southbury Public Library.
Registration is required. Please register at the Reference Desk or call 203-262-0626, ext. 130, to register.
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