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The Art Student's War by Brad Leithauser
The Art Student's War begins in Detroit in 1943, where Bianca Paradiso, known as Bea to her family, is coming of age in a city running at full throttle to crank out weapons of war. Bianca is studying art, dealing with family crises, and dating a boy who is the heir to a family business, when one of her teachers encourages her to take a volunteer position drawing portraits of wounded soldiers at the hospital. This exposes her to a new world and brings her to the attention of a different breed of men who have seen the horrors of the world. Over the next ten years, Bianca, as well as Detroit, must come to grips with the world that has come on the heels of war. Brad Leithauser's novel has received mostly positive reviews with the Dallas Morning News saying, "But the book is not just artful, it's complete in scope and veracity. Detroit is Leithauser's hometown, and he knows it well. He weaves in the race riots and the flu epidemic of 1943. He is true to his characters, authenticating them with traits and foibles that are part of our fabric as Americans and as humans."
