Friday, January 17, 2020

Big Lies in a Small Town

Morgan Christopher finds her life in ruins. She is prison for a crime she did not commit, then suddenly she is released and asked to restore a Depression-era mural. In Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain, the story is told through a dual storyline. (Big Lies in a Small Town was released by St. Martin's Press this week.)

In the 1930s a young artist from New Jersey is selected to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina.  Anna Dale would much rather be painting a mural in her own state, but as she has been selected by a national search, she has to paint in North Carolina. Relieved in a way to be leaving New Jersey where her mother just died, Anna travels to Edenton with the hopes of getting the flavor of the town and then returning to paint her sketch in New Jersey.

Once in Edenton she is coerced to stay by the "movers and shakers" of the town so she can really understand the history.  She settles in with a spinster woman as had landlady and finds a deserted warehouse barn as a studio. She soon learns that she has been awarded the mural over a local portrait painter and there are people in town who are not too happy with her,

In the parallel storyline Morgan Christopher is the artist tapped to restore the mural for the opening of a gallery in Edenton. The impetus behind the gallery is the late painter Jesse Jameson Williams, a famous artist who had the mural rolled up and stored somewhere for over 50 years.  In his will he instructed his daughter Lisa to open the gallery and find someone to repair the mural. 

The mural is filthy with grime, has many abraded spots and is in dire need of restoration. The only problem Morgan has no idea how to restore a painting. She seeks help from one of the men working at the gallery and she is on her way in no time. But as she cleans the mural some disturbing images are revealed. No one in town seems to know what happened to the original artist and Morgan is determined to find out where she is or what has happened to her. 

Big Lies in a Small Town is the story of the mural’s creation and the talented artist who painted it and Morgan’s determination to restore it and find out what happened to the artist. A wonderful story.

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