Take a deep dive into the history of Monet, women in WWII Paris, and the Mitford Sisters in these three enthralling nonfiction titles:
MAD ENCHANTMENT: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies by Ross King
A BEA 2016 “Shout ‘n Share” pick with THREE starred reviews! “Best-selling King consummately meshes biography with art history as he turns the creation of one resounding masterpiece into a portal onto the artist’s life. Never before has the full drama and significance of Monet’s magnificent Water Lilies been conveyed with such knowledge and perception, empathy and wonder.” — Booklist, starred review
LES PARISIENNES: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation by Anne Sebba
New York Times bestselling author Sebba explores a devastating period in Paris’s history and tells the stories of how women survived—or didn’t—during the Nazi occupation. “Former Reuters correspondent and biographer, most notably of Wallis Simpson (THAT WOMAN, 2012), turns in a fascinating account of how the buildup to WWII, the war itself, and its aftermath marked the lives of Parisian women. A standout social history.” — Booklist, starred review
THE SIX: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters by Laura Thompson
An enthralling biography of the Mitford sisters, daughters of the British aristocracy whose lives took different directions at the onset of WWII, all rife with scandal, controversy, and tragedy. “For readers yearning for another take on the glamorous sisters’ ‘posh past,’ Thompson’s smart, jaunty, and wittily entertaining book will amply fill their desire. Steeped in Mitford lore and mythmaking, the book offers sharply drawn portraits of each woman, teases out the complexities of their fraught, competitive relationships with one another, and sets their lives within the context of a radically changing world. ” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review