Search - With Violets

With Violets is by Elizabeth Robards and is a novel of the dawn of impressionism and is historical fiction.

It's set in Paris in the 1860's and the main character is Berthe. Berthe is not like most women of this time and is prone to do things her way. She's very headstrong and refuses to live the quiet life of submission that Society dictates for women of that time. She is a very talented artist and becomes involved with another talented artist, Edouard Manet. Unfortunately Manet is already married. Berthe wants to be recognized as talented as her male counterparts. There are many other now famous artists in this story, Monet, Pissarro, and Dejas.

Once involved in the story line, I couldn't wait to see how it ended. I was a bit surprised at the outcome. If you enjoy historical fiction with a bit of reality involved I think you'll enjoy this book. Also if you are interested in art and artists then that will be an added bonus.

This is a great historical fiction book with romance involved. It was interesting to read in the author insights part of the book, that this book is based on some true facts with liberties being taken by the author to fill in the blanks and turn the story into a romance filled with history.