You will find yourself flipping to the book jacket as you follow the story of the characters in this famous Renoir painting. You are able to get a visual dimension as well as a literary one and the combination is enthralling and very entertaining. There is a great sense of time and place in this novel as well as detailed character studies of the artist and his circle of friends in the 1880's.

A vivid exploration of one of the most beloved Renoir paintings in the world, “done with a flourish worthy of Renoir himself” (USA Today)

With her richly textured novels, Susan Vreeland has offered pioneering portraits of artists’ lives. Now, as she did in Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Vreeland once again focuses on a single painting—Auguste Renoir’s instantly recognizable masterpiece, which depicts a gathering of Renoir’s real friends enjoying a summer Sunday on a café terrace along the Seine. Narrated by Renoir and seven of the models, the novel illuminates the gusto, hedonism, and art of the era. With a gorgeous palette of vibrant, captivating characters, Vreeland paints their lives, loves, losses, and triumphs so vividly that “the painting literally comes alive” (The Boston Globe).

“Vreeland’s most ambitious book yet.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“If a trip to Paris is a bit outside of your price range, Vreeland’s new novel is the next best thing.”
—Parade

“A masterwork.”
—The San Diego Union-Tribune

“Exquisitely wrought . . . this summer’s most satisfying historical novel.”
—The Seattle Times

“Vreeland takes the big bold brush strokes of Renoir’s personal and artistic oeuvre and displays them with her usual vividness in this eponymous novel. . . . Sensual and provocative.”
—The Baltimore Sun

Susan Vreeland is the internationally renowned author of five books, including Girl in Hyacinth Blue.

Imprint: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Distributor: Penguin Group USA, Inc
Publication Date: 02-26-2008
Pages: 448
Measurements: 8.44in X 5.58in X 0.95in X 0.95lb