#1 National Bestseller and New York Times Bestseller
Paris, 1878. Following her father's sudden death, Marie van Goethem is dispatched to the Paris Opéra, where for a scant wage she is trained to enter the famous Ballet. Her older sister, Antoinette, finds work—and the love of a dangerous young man—as an extra on the stage. Marie is soon modeling in the studio of renowned artist Edgar Degas, who will immortalize her image forever, while Antoinette must make the choice between a life of honest labor and the more profitable avenues open to a willing young woman—that is, unless her perilous love derails her completely.
Set at a moment of profound artistic, cultural, and societal change, The Painted Girls is a tale of two remarkable sisters rendered uniquely vulnerable to the darker impulses of civilized society.
Praise for THE PAINTED GIRLS