Two girls, born in the shadow of the siege of Metz in 1870 and the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by the Germans, are swept up in the changing cultural, industrial, medical, scientific and geo-political tides of the late 19th century in France; they act without hesitation on the new empowerment of women, in business and in love. Against this background and the art nouveau of the Ecole de Nancy, a solitary sculptor is drawn into the girls’ lives.
My novel is illustrated with original pencil sketches by Robert Butcher (April 2020) and with late 19th century paintings in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, including several by Émile Friant (Dieuze 1863 – Nancy 1932). The book contains descriptions of a sexual nature, art images of nude women and some violence. Not suitable for children.
I wrote the first version of this book in eight straight weeks in March and April 2020 during the Covid-19 virus pandemic, a version complete enough for selected friends and two serious writers to read for errors and other comments.
Is this a new genre… “Lock-down Lit.“?
