Staff Picks: The Masterpiece by Francine Rivers (Adult Fiction)

The Masterpiece by Francine Rivers

A successful L.A. artist, Roman Velasco appears to have everything he could possibly want—money, women, fame. Only Grace Moore, his reluctant, newly hired personal assistant, knows how little he truly has. The demons of Roman’s past seem to echo through the halls of his empty mansion and out across his breathtaking Topanga Canyon view. But Grace doesn’t know how her boss secretly wrestles with those demons: by tagging buildings as the Bird, a notorious but unidentified graffiti artist—an alter ego that could destroy his career and land him in prison.

Like Roman, Grace is wrestling with ghosts and secrets of her own. After a disastrous marriage threw her life completely off-course, she vowed never to let love steal her dreams again. But as she gets to know the enigmatic man behind the reputation, the jagged pieces of both of their pasts slowly begin to fit together . . . until something so unexpected happens that it changes the course of their relationship—and both their lives—forever.

There is so much in this novel, that I don’t know where to begin to describe it. It's a wonderful character-driven adventure. In the authors’ note to readers she says, “…I wanted to explore two individuals and how traumatic childhood experiences impact their adult thinking and behavior. Can they have a normal life?”…With Christ, all things are possible, but what if faith is lacking?”

This is a powerful topic with rich characterization where the reader is allowed to walk in the character's shoes as they struggle in their spiritual journey, they feel the traumatic pain from childhood and the joys of being set free. This is a masterpiece on so many levels. I’ll be reading this novel again and highly recommend it for your next book club pick. The author includes fifteen discussion questions.

Nora St. Laurent
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