I admit it. I'm an M. J. Rose fan. But this time I believe she has outdone herself.

Set in the United States post World War I, twenty-four-year-old Jenny Bell is a starving art student. Art has given her the strength to rise above the ashes of a decidedly dreadful life, move to New York City and attend the prestigious Art Students League. Living in a hovel and waiting tables in a Greenwich Village tea room in order to afford tuition and paints, she is a conflicted loner torn between needing anonymity and seeking fortune via her paintings. Her dream is to study in Paris.

Another young woman shares Jenny's dream of studying there. Minx Deering, the overprivileged daughter of a ridiculously wealthy industrialist, is a classmate whose work Jenny admires. They become friends. Polar opposites, they support each other in all the right ways. Minx is daring, joyous, extravagant,...