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A review by gmh711
The Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman
4.0
Wonderfully evocative
"There are those who can look at something and only see the outer beauty, but it's always the story behind it that renders it priceless." This novel is a beautiful attempt to render the story behind Boldini's 1889 portrait of Madame de Florian.
It portrays the imagined lives of Solange Beaugiron and her grandmother, Marthe de Florian, a little known courtesan of the demimonde in the Belle Époque. Inspired by the rediscovery of Marthe's Paris apartment in 2010, it is a beautiful book inspired by a beautiful woman and the mystery of a time capsule apartment. Reading the description of a rose-colored gown, the reader can easily imagine Boldini's portrait.
The narrative switches easily between Marthe's recounting of her life at the turn of the century, and her granddaughter Solange's life in pre-war Paris. Through her grandmother's stories and the history of an ancient Talmudic text left to her by her mother, Solange discovers her family's past and what in life means the most to her.
"There are those who can look at something and only see the outer beauty, but it's always the story behind it that renders it priceless." This novel is a beautiful attempt to render the story behind Boldini's 1889 portrait of Madame de Florian.
It portrays the imagined lives of Solange Beaugiron and her grandmother, Marthe de Florian, a little known courtesan of the demimonde in the Belle Époque. Inspired by the rediscovery of Marthe's Paris apartment in 2010, it is a beautiful book inspired by a beautiful woman and the mystery of a time capsule apartment. Reading the description of a rose-colored gown, the reader can easily imagine Boldini's portrait.
The narrative switches easily between Marthe's recounting of her life at the turn of the century, and her granddaughter Solange's life in pre-war Paris. Through her grandmother's stories and the history of an ancient Talmudic text left to her by her mother, Solange discovers her family's past and what in life means the most to her.