The Masterpiece by Francine Rivers is indeed a masterpiece. I loved this novel. I can't even explain how much at this time, but I'm going to try to give you the gist of it in this review.
Artist Roman Velasco answers the front door of his magnificent, secluded Topanga Canyon mansion with barked orders to get lost addressed to Grace Moore, his personal assistant applicant sent by the temp agency, who arrives at the precise time of their scheduled appointment. In spite of the rocky beginning, the multiple cuss words, his temperamental anger flares, Grace agrees to a two week commitment because she needs the job. As it turns out, he's impressed with her in more ways than he cares to acknowledge to himself. After all, "She's not my type." This excuse worked for him because she was accomplishing more than the previous short-lasting applicants - including she made great coffee.
Roman Velasco uses a pseudonym for his paintings and only his real initials for his famous graffiti art which adorned buildings and bridges around San Francisco. A "former" gang-tagger raised in the Tenderloin district, his only friends died young, and losing his mother the hard way marred his life. Signing his graffiti with his real initials, he became infamously known as "the Bird", no one knowing the famous and wealthy Roman Velasco were one and the same.
After a sad childhood, Grace Moore sacrificed her scholarship to UCLA while she tutored and made possible a graduation certificate for her ex-husband before he became her ex. She became a single mother who lived with the family who intended to adopt her son Samuel before she changed her mind at his birth to keep him.
He's the unapologetic bad boy artist, amazingly talented but not using his true abilities. She's the good girl, regretful for every horrible mistake she's made and determined not to make any more, renewing her faith in the Lord and scrambling to somehow gain her independence with her infant son while trying desperately not to fall for the artist who looks like a work of art himself.
Francine Rivers captures these characters with a beautiful precision, but let me say this: if you've grown up surrounded by a loving family devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ, you might not understand these two. If you've never experienced the pull, persuasion, and power of the world, it might be hard for you to truly grasp the struggles these two face or identify with their conflicts. Their backgrounds are shockingly harsh, their reactions to them different, their anguish real and deep-seated. The one's intense anger drives him while the other suffers with her magnified guilt driving her. (And I mean no harm or insult for those fortunate enough to have the Lord's people and meaning surrounding their youth into adulthood. God has His purpose in all things.)
Their verbal exchanges reflect their positions. Roman doesn't answer to anyone but himself. Grace will not be dominated or compromised. She speaks of Jesus and God-things. He mocks her or makes cynical comments. She sees the magnificence and joy in beauty while he chooses to ignore it after observing the colors and tones. And yet she fascinates him. And he confuses and attracts her like a magnet - adding to her guilt.
There is exquisite characterization of the main and peripheral characters, uncommonly good dialogue both verbal and internal. I loved Roman and Grace. Deeply. The story lingers while reading it and now that it's done, I can't let it go. I went back to read the first few pages again just to feel the beginning of this masterpiece once more. I think I want to read it again - and I rarely ever do that. (I believe Kristen Heitzmann's Secrets and Unforgotten were the only two I read over and over again about three times in a row.)
For me at times there were intermittent tears at the sorrows in the hearts of these characters and how getting past so much hurt can seem insurmountable. But there were also laugh out loud moments observing their consternations. The frustrations of being unable or unwilling to communicate the truth for fear of rejection or abandonment contributed to the heartbreak and losses in the lives of these two. The utter exertion it took for them to share their lives, to speak their honest feelings, was often excruciating for them because of their guarded and carefully constructed walls of self-preservation. As a reader, I wanted to hurry them forward, but it was not to be.
A near tragedy changes everything in a way but not in another, and the things they both fear the most become the impetus for a radical reversal.
Francine alternated from present day to their past traumas as the story moved along giving the reader each of their histories in small doses filling in the colors of their lives. How the characters intertwined proved interesting and sometimes surprising with an incredible possible twist revealed near the end. With a fulfilling conclusion, The Masterpiece proves its impressive title. I'll say it again. I loved this story. Cannot recommend it highly enough. It's not a story you will soon forget.
Kudos to Tyndale Publishing for allowing a great writer and storyteller to produce a full length novel without cutting it short.
(Be sure to read the author's note and explanation of the cover with its unique multi-meaning.)
Father, I ask that you would continue to provide your abundance and anointing in Francine, that you would keep the inspiration coming, and give her the energy and everything else she needs to keep producing the beautiful, touching stories you have just for her to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.