Stephanie Cowell
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EVERYDAY LIVES OF THE FRENCH IMPRESSIONISTS
 Camille from my new novel CLAUDE AND CAMILLE, as painted by her young and ardent lover Claude Monet when she was 19 years old (he had to borrow money for paint) Stephanie Cowell is represented by Emma Sweeney Agency
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Passionate historical fiction about the lives and loves of artists, musicians, and writers TWO MONTHS TO PUBLICATION! COMING APRIL 6, 2010 from CROWN: CLAUDE AND CAMILLE is the story of the young, unknown Claude Monet and his great muse, Camille Doncieux. He is known to the world as an old man in his garden at Giverny but what was he like when he was a handsome, obscure twenty-five- year-old painter? Why did he fall so much in love with this difficult, secretive, devoted upper-class girl? "To be swept up by this novel which reveals the man and woman behind--no, in, the waterlily paintings, the seascapes and landscapes, is a heartbreak. The story is lovely, touching, delicately written, and extraordinarily compelling. Read it with a book of Monet's paintings by your side, and be prepared to marvel, and to weep." -- SUSAN VREELAND, author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue and Luncheon of the Boating Party "One winter's day, a young, frustrated Claude Monet waits for a train on his way to boot camp; through the crowd, he spies a lovely young woman in tears. Captivated, he sketches her face before she disappears with her mother and sister into the bustle of the station. A few years later, he has not forgotten the girl's beauty and is stunned to meet her again in a Paris bookshop. Her name is Camille Donceaux, and she is destined to become Monet's first wife and greatest muse. Moving through war, illness, prosperity, and poverty, Cowell writes the couple's love story with an eye for perspective as skilled as any painter's. By novel's end, readers are left with not only the satisfying drama of life among the Impressionists but also a greater appreciation for Monet's art and the driving forces behind it....a rich, artsy read." LIBRARY JOURNAL "Beautiful bourgeoise Camille Doncieux leaves her family for Monet, whom Cowell depicts early on as a rebellious young man trying to capture in his paintings fleeting moments of color and light. A convincing narrative about how masterpieces are created and a detailed portrait of a complex couple, Cowell's novel suggests that a fabulous, if flawed, love is the source of both the beauty and sadness of Monet's art." - PUBLISHERS' WEEKLY "CLAUDE AND CAMILLE is a wonderfully absorbing and romantic novel, the story of Claude Monet's passion for his painting and his equally passionate love for a woman who is as elusive as the water lilies that he strove to capture on canvas. This elegant novel was hard to put down, and once I did, I rushed to view Monet's paintings with a deeper understanding. Stephanie Cowell is a wonderful writer. - SANDRA GULLAND, author of the Josephine B. Trilogy and Mistress of the Sun CLICK ON CLAUDE AND CAMILLE AT RIGHT FOR REVIEWS AND COMMENTS TO DATE AND THE STORY OF THE WRITING OF THE NOVEL. CLICK ON "ABOUT MY MONET NOVEL" ABOVE FOR FURTHER QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE STORY AND CHARACTERS  “Marrying Mozart is a charming novel, so much so that one would enjoy it even if the gentleman involved in these girls' lives were not one of the greatest geniuses in the history of music. It also has the virtue of offering a believable and appealing portrait of Mozart himself.” The Los Angeles Times  Stephanie Cowell--photo by Russell Clay I cannot count the number of readers and reviewers who have said I write like a cinematographer. But to tell the truth, writing a historical novel is much like making a film, except one person chooses the actors and setting, directs, designs the sets, plans camera angles and lighting/shading, sews the costumes, touches up the makeup, edits, decides whether an antique clock or a very old photograph will go on a mantelpiece and…brings all this together so that a whole rich world comes to life before the reader when she/he merely opens the book! I get so involved in my stories that I often date checks the year of the novel. I once addressed a supermarket clerk in Elizabethan English! Looking back on my novels so far, I have found I return often to the passions and struggles as well as the intimate daily world of artists, writers and musicians of the past: Claude Monet half a century before he painted the water lilies, the unmarried Mozart choosing between four musical sisters (talk about sibling rivalry!), Shakespeare leaving his resentful family in Stratford to try make it as a playwright in London 1590 where he had never been in his life, and my latest intense love story about a much-loved writer from the nineteenth century...but more to come on that! Check back! See you again soon! |
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