Book Lovers Brunch: The Lost Masterpiece
- All Ages
- October 12 at 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
- $36.00
Book Lovers Brunch: The Lost Masterpiece with author B.A. Shapiro. Join us for a morning of brunch with friends and fellow readers. B.A. Shapiro will be in conversation with local author and community member Deborah Kalb.
In a gripping novel full of plot twists, B. A. Shapiro embeds us in a circle of famous painters in late-nineteenth-century Paris, centering on the anguished Impressionist artist Berthe Morisot and the story of Morisot’s great-great-great-great granddaughter, Tamara Rubin, who has inherited Édouard Manet’s Party on the Seine, a painting that completely upends her life.
About the Book
The Lost Masterpiece is a gripping historical thriller that weaves art, mystery, and the lingering shadows of the Holocaust. When Tamara Rubin inherits Party on the Seine—a powerful painting once stolen by the Nazis and believed lost for nearly a century—she uncovers a legacy of trauma and resistance. Haunted by the spirit of Berthe Morisot, one of the few women in the Impressionist circle, the painting begins to change, revealing buried secrets. As Tamara investigates its past—from wartime looting to family betrayals—she’s drawn into a web of love, vengeance, and the enduring power of art to carry memory across generations. Set between present-day and 19th-century Paris, the novel explores how beauty survives even in the darkest times.
About the Author
B.A. Shapiro is the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of ten novels, including The Lost Masterpiece (June 17, 2025), Metropolis, The Collector’s Apprentice, The Muralist and The Art Forger, which won the New England Book Award for Fiction, among other honors. Her books have been selected as Community Reads throughout the country and have been translated into over a dozen languages. She holds a PhD in sociology and has 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 writing novels the best. Barbara splits her time between Boston and Naples, Florida.
About the Moderator
Deborah Kalb is the author of the novel Off to Join the Circus, her debut novel for adults. She has written fiction for kids and nonfiction for adults, and she’s the host of the blog Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, where she interviews an eclectic range of authors. A former longtime D.C.-based journalist covering Congress and politics, she lives in the Washington, D.C., area. She moderates many of the Bender JCC’s programs and is a dear member of our community.
*Kosher brunch will be served
For more information, contact Marcie Blackman at [email protected].
All Bender JCC programs are open to the public. Email [email protected] to request support and accommodations.
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