num_pages: 384
description: From the international bestselling author of The Lost Wife and The Garden of Letters  comes a storyinspired by true eventsof two women pursuing freedom and independence in Paris during WWII.As Paris teeters on the edge of the German occupation a young French woman closes the door to her late grandmothers treasure-filled apartment unsure if shell ever return. An elusive courtesan Marthe de Florian cultivated a life of art and beauty casting out all recollections of her impoverished childhood in the dark alleys of Montmartre. With Europe on the brink of war she shares her story with her granddaughter Solange Beaugiron using her prized possessions to reveal her innermost secrets. Most striking of all are a beautiful string of pearls and a magnificent portrait of Marthe painted by the Italian artist Giovanni Boldini. As Marthes tale unfolds like velvet itself stitched with its own shadow and light it helps to guide Solange on her own path. Inspired by the true account of an abandoned Parisian apartment Alyson Richman brings to life Solange the young woman forced to leave her fabled grandmothers legacy behind to save all that she loved.
language: English
title: The Velvet Hours
publisher: Berkley