Anita De Monte Laughs Last has an intriguing premise: in 1985, a rising artist is murdered, and her existence is all but erased from the art scene until 1998 when an art history student discovers her art. But this novel is about more then a sensationalistic murder; it actually examines the intersection of art, privilege and race. There is, however, an unexpected supernatural element to the story that kind of put me off, but I decided to go with it because I love petty acts of vengeance.

The murdered artist is the titular Anita de Monte, a Cuban woman living in the United States. After spending years putting aside her own desires and nurturing the ego of her husband, a famous white artist named Jack Martin, Anita finally starts to get recognition for her own art, and then she is thrown out the window of a thirtieth-floor apartment.

Anita De Monte Laughs Last is told through three different perspectives, starting with Anita, who begins her story when her life ends. Anita is a flawed protagonist. She is abrasive and enjoys pushing people’s buttons, but she is also strong-willed and passionate. Just before she is murdered, she decides she has had enough of her husband putting his career before hers, of people in their circle of relationships (most of whom are white) thinking she is not good enough to be Jack Martin’s wife, and of people thinking she does not deserve success just because she is a brown person. Anita’s narrative, the only first-person narrative in the novel, breathes passion for art and life, and it is a terrible shame that it is her character who dies.

The next perspective is that of Puerto Rican student Raquel Toro, who is studying art history at an ivy league university and has decided to write her thesis about Jack Martin. It is during her research into Jack that she discovers Anita’s art, and she begins to realize how much art history has been whitewashed when non-white artists like Anita are not even mentioned in school curriculum or celebrated like their white counterparts. I felt sorry for Raquel because she is constantly questioning her right to be at the university or winning a prestigious followship when white people keep throwing DEI in her face, but I did not care much for her relationship with a fellow student, Nick, a rich white artist who makes crappy art but whose familial connections opens doors for him in the art world. I felt her relationship with Nick was too obvious of a parallel to that of Anita and Jack’s relationship. But the purpose of their relationship is to help her overcome the desire to be moulded into the kind of person that can fit into white spaces and the shame she feels about her family and her Latinx background.

The third perspective is that of Jack Martin, who is exactly the toxic, narcissistic white asshole that Anita makes him out to be, and his art is as cold and unfeeling as he is. He thinks cheating on his wife is natural as he has needs to fulfil, and he is incredibly cruel in his opinions about Anita and her art, particularly after her murder. The novel could have done without his perspective as his headspace was not one that I wanted to experience, but unfortunately art history is full of white men like him who enjoy great success despite their abuse of women.

I ended up really enjoying Anita De Monte Laughs Last. There is a lot to unpack in this novel, and I appreciate stories that shape my perspective for the better because, honestly, I took a couple of art history classes at university, but I never put much thought into how white the art world is. Anita is also a fantastic character who will keep you entertained even after she is dead.