Erin Bartels––she just keeps getting better. Her books, I mean. THE LADY WITH THE DARK HAIR is her latest and her best.

For most of the book, two stories are going on, one set in Europe during the late 19th century, the other in present-day East Lansing, Michigan. The stories are connected by the belief that a little known but great artist is the ancestor of the owner of an art museum in East Lansing.

In 1880, Viviana, a servant, becomes a painter, first trained by her employer, an artist. When she has to leave to evade the law, she goes with the tradesman, Francisco Vella.

Nowadays in East Lansing Esther runs a museum that caters in part to the great art of an ancestor, Vella. After her former professor questions whether Vella really did paint The Lady with the Dark Hair, she travels to Europe to speak with another Vella descendent and take ownership of another Vella painting. There Esther learns the true story of Viviana and Vella.

Although I was sad that Viviana didn't love Vella and although I was aggravated with Esther's actions after she learned more about her supposed ancestor, I can honestly say that this is a lovely story and another step up by Erin Bartels.

Her writing style reminds me of that of Ruta Sepetys, who is known as a "crossover" author, i.e., a writer of young adult novels that adults also enjoy. This is especially true in THE LADY WITH THE DARK HAIR. Maybe, because the main characters in this novel are not teenagers, we could say here that the crossover is from adult to YA. It is certainly appropriate subject matter as well as style for both age groups.