RAE’S READS

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This year (2025) finds me with 53 years of teaching “under my belt.” I have taught all levels from pre-K “(library lady” or “book lady”–volunteer) to juniors, seniors, and graduate students enrolled in my Advanced Writing class at the university where I have just completed 34 years. My first paying teaching job was junior high, and I spent 13 years with ages 12-13, the “difficult years.” I had some of the “funnest” experiences with this age group. When I was no longer the “young, fun teacher,” I taught in an elementary school setting before sixth graders went on to junior high, teaching language arts blocs, an assignment that was a “dream-fit” for me. After completing graduate school in my 40s, I went on to community college, then university teaching. This past fall I accepted a part-time teaching job at Apogee Gulf Coast Schools in its first year at the Alvin campus. After my Better Half died n 2022, I achieved a lifelong dream: opening a bookstore of my own, Rae’s Reads. A year later, I sold the house we had lived in for 47 years and moved into the bookstore. My goal is to circulate and repurpose books. Just as teaching is “in my blood,” so is a passion for reading, writing, libraries, and everything bookish. This blog will be open to anyone who loves books, promotes literacy and wants to “come out and play.”

THE MASTERPIECE by Fiona Davis: A Review

I believe Davis’s third novel, The Masterpiece, published last year, is her best yet. It deals with the “glamorous” Art School, built above Grand Central Terminal (not Grand Central Station; this is not a station where the trains pass by, but an end-of-the-line, stopping point from which trains begin their next “run.” ) The descriptions of the glamorous high-end NYC society types kept this “New York-o-phile” turning pages.

As is her norm, thus far, Davis juggles two stories at once. One is the 1928 struggles and successes of Clara Darden, the first female instructor at the art school, teaching Illustration Techniques as featured in catalogs, newspaper and magazine ads of the day. Considered “not REAL art” by Clara’s colleagues, her illustrations lead to popularity, a whirlwind courtship, acceptance into high society, and eventually to her unexplained disappearance in 1931. Many theories have surfaced over the years, but the author’s imagined solution to the “mystery” of Darden’s disappearance is awesomely creative.  I could never have come up with such an imaginative scenario. My kudos to the author.

Virginia Clay, employed by the Terminal in 1974 discovers a sketch with a painting on the back and becomes Darden’s fascinated fan. She also discovers that the dangerous and dilapidated structure has a lawsuit pending to save the historic structure from destruction. Recently divorced and hiding her shameful “secret” mastectomy, Virginia and Ruby, her college-age daughter, face struggle after struggle with no help from anyone. However, they have their own determination to overcome. Here, Ruby is her mother’s daughter. While carrying out an errand, Virginia stumbles upon the deserted art school, setting off her curiosity and an urge to research the terminal’s rich history.  Here is where Davis shines–her meticulous research, her detailed (but never boring) descriptions which often yield a clue or further the plot, keep the reader enthralled as they envision the faded glory and splendor of the old landmark.

I enjoyed reading this novel more than any other novel I’ve read so far in 2019. I can hardly wait to read Fiona Davis’ Chelsea Girls, due out this summer.

 

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