The new novel Claude & Camille- A novel of Monet, by Stephanie Cowell is my favorite type of historical fiction. Cowell has taken us on a journey with Claude Monet during his early years as a struggling artist in Paris. Here he meets the lovely Camille Doncieux who comes from an upper class family, but decides to go against her family’s wishes to live a poor, bohemian lifestyle with Monet and his friends.

This is such a creatively rich time in Paris during the 1860’s and 70’s with artists like Renior, Manet, Pissarro, Cezanne, Bazille, Degas and more struggling to make a living painting in a new style which would come to be known as Impressionism.

This novel is so beautifully written, I was transported-I could almost see the paintings being created, feel the cold rooms they were living in and taste the wine they drank in the cafes of Paris at the time. Although there is much that is tragic in this story, it is at heart a love story between a great artisit and his muse.

Stephanie Cowell is a wonderful writer. I highly recommend this novel. I am also looking forward to reading an earlier novel of hers called Marrying Mozart.