Stephanie Cowell is author of Nicholas Cooke: Actor, Soldier, Physician, Priest, 1996 American Book Award winner, The Physician of London, The Players: A Novel of Young Shakespeare, Marrying Mozart, and the most recent, Claude & Camille: A Novel.  Her books blend facts with fiction to tell the fascinating stories of what could have happened in the lives of historical figures.

Claude & Camille: A Novel has gotten rave reviews from critics and readers, and is out in paperback now, just in time to tuck in your beach bag or take along on your summer vacation.

In her bio, Stephanie says:

“Looking back on my novels so far, I have found I return often to the passions and struggles as well as the intimate daily world of artists, writers and musicians of the past: Claude Monet half a century before he painted the water lilies, the unmarried Mozart choosing between four musical sisters (talk about sibling rivalry!), Shakespeare leaving his resentful family in Stratford to try make it as a playwright in London 1590 where he had never been in his life, and my latest intense love story about a much-loved writer from the nineteenth century…but more to come on that!”

Here’s a description of Claude & Camille:

Journey back to the Bohemian streets of Paris 1865, a time of young love and the early beginnings of Impressionism. We are climbing five steep flights of dark steps to a small painters’ studio cluttered with art to meet the handsome young Claude Monet and his friends, his passion for painting, and the young woman who will haunt him all his life — the beautiful and mysterious Camille.

Here’s what people are saying about Claude & Camille:

“Stephanie Cowell is nothing short of masterful in writing about Claude Monet’s life and love…Claude & Camille is both a historical novel and a romance, but Cowell’s graceful, moving treatment of Claude and Camille’s turbulent love defies categorization. It’s an enthralling story, beautifully told…” – Boston Globe

“…a diverting fictional representation of the Impressionist maverick Claude Monet and his first wife, who died at the age of 32…an account of his rocky ascent as he endures poverty, disappointment and disapproving parents, flanked by fellow artists Renoir, Pissarro, Cézanne, Manet and Degas.” – New York Times

“Cowell presents a vivid portrait of Monet’s remarkable career. She writes with intelligence and reverence for her subject matter, providing a rich exploration of the points at which life and art converged for one of history’s greatest painters.” – Bookpage

“You’ll never look at Monet’s water lilies the same way after reading Stephanie Cowell’s luminous [novel] of the artist and his muse. An ode to the Impressionists and the women…who inspired them.” – Romantic Times

“The historical figures become as real to the reader as any contemporary character…one of the best and brightest writers of historical fiction…” – Washington Times