The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

I received a galley of this novel from Edelweiss for review. This in no way affected my opinions.

I have been sort of skimming books lately, not really engrossed with any of them. So, The Painted Girls came at the right time. I was completely taken with the story and the voices of the two sisters.

Taking place in Paris in from 1878 to the early 1880s, the book is told from the points-of-view of Antoinette and Marie, sisters. Marie is the subject of Edgar Degas famous statue Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. The story is based in fact of the lives of the sisters, and shows how their lives might have been.

I knew I would love this, because stories set in the Paris ballet scene absolutely fascinate me. The nitty gritty behind beautiful production, and the hard and brutal work that ballerinas put their bodies through make for good dramatic stories. And the writing in The Painted Girls perfectly captures the period and the city.

This was a great historical fiction novel, and books like this is why I read historical fiction novels. Highly recommended.