BradyBooks

The name of this book should actually read Paint Love.  I say this because those two words are the essence of this novel and because the title now, I Always Loved You is difficult for a search engine when someone is trying to remember the title. I kept typing: I Will Always Love You, I Have Always Loved You, so forth and so on. Just kind of a side note to the publishers/editors (whoever makes the decision). Plus, I'm not sure the title gives the book justice. It makes it seem fluffy and it has more meat to it than the title suggests.

It tries to sell itself on the premise that it about the love story of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas. But it's really about the impressionists, and though mainly about Mary and Edgar it is also about the love story of Berthe Morisout and Eduaord. There is no evidence that I've found that Mary and Edgar were lovers ----so it's fiction. Anyway, with all that off my chest, all other elements, I loved.

For one, it definitely painted a picture ( probably a bad pun) of what it would be like to live as an artist in France during this time. The writer breathes much life into the characters and scene. I almost felt literally a part of it.

There were many elements that were of interest to me. For one, Mary feels something is missing in her work, and though I always admired Cassatt's paintings, I'd often feel the same way when admiring them. Somehow, I think maybe it is the colors used? Though, I can't trace my own hand so take what I say with a grain of salt. I'm only admitting my opinion because I found it interesting that the book revealed that the main character had the same opinion of her own work as I had had about it. I could relate to Mary in many ways so I felt incredibly bonded to her.

 I liked how brave they were as they pursued their passions. It is a book that made me want to rebel against every sort of monotony that society has thrown at me.

My best friend gave me this book for my birthday. She's incredibly insightful because it is just the book I needed at the time and I savored every minute reading it.

I guess for fun, name a book you've read that came into your life the exact time you needed to read it?