The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan ✔✔✔✔

Set in Paris in the late 1800s, this historical novel tells the story of two sisters, Antoinette and Marie, whose father has just died and left their mother, themselves, and their younger sister Charlotte with no money and three months due in rent. Marie is sent to the Paris Opera where she begins studies to become a ballet dancer, and later a model for Edgar Degas, while Antoinette falls in love with a disreputable criminal, a relationship which ends up with her in prison.

I didn't realize that these two sisters actually existed until I had finished the novel, and Marie is the girl in the painting "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen".  The book was recommended to me by the rug-hooker who shared my table at Trent, and I found it in our library.

It's a vivd portrayal of poverty, of class distinction, of prison life, convent life, brothels, bars etc. in Paris at this time.  Well - written and highly recommended.

Be sure to check www.CathyMarieBuchanan.com/art for a complete showing of the art works mentioned in this book, along with the quote describing each one.  Marie was so self-conscious about her appearance, while Degas may well have chosen her for that very reason!