The Marriage of Opposites (utgåvan 2015)

Enjoyed the prose. The story of Camille Pissaro's family and his journey to and from and back to Paris was fairly interesting. Loved the way Camille's point of view talked about his paintings and the way he sees the world. Love learning about St. Thomas (modern day U.S. Virgin Islands). ( )

The best book by Alice Hoffman so far! Art, history, romance, secrets... a very enjoyable book. What is even better is that it inspired me to learn more about the painter Pissaro, as well as the history of St. Thomas. ( )

This is a multi-generational story of a Jewish family in the 1800s, set in St. Thomas (island) and in Paris. For art aficionados, it likely has significance because it is about the mother of the impressionist painter Camille Pissarro, but I know next to nothing about painting so that was lost on me. I enjoyed the book overall, but it seemed to move r-e-a-lly slowly, and several sections early on seemed to be included only for completeness of biography and not due to any movement forward of the story.

*** I received my copy of this book for free through Goodreads First Reads, but I promise that did not affect my thoughts on this book. ( )

Rachel is the daughter of a Jewish mercantile family living on Saint Thomas. When her father's business is failing, she is married to an older man to combine the families and the businesses. After his death, a young relative of his comes to St. Thomas, and Rachel learns about love. She has a total of 10 children, one of who grows into the artist Camille Pissarro. ( )

I found this book interesting to read based on its fictional account of the family and origin of Camille Pissarro, but it was difficult to follow in places and and seemed disconnected. Still it is a worthwhile read. ( )