I received some fabulous news earlier this week! Polish Publisher, Proszynski Media, has purchased the Polish language rights to my historical Women’s Fiction novel, WITH VIOLETS (written as Elizabeth Robards – that’s my historical nom de plume).

In the early stages of my career, I thought once you sold the book – you’d sold the book. End of story (pardon the pun). Not so. Each language and format (hardcover, mass-media paperback, trade paperback, film, e-book, audio, etc) is considered an individual “right” and potential sale – depending on which rights you sell and the contracted agreement the writer and agent draws up with the publisher. So far WITH VIOLETS has been translated from English into Korean and Italian. Now it’s making its way into the Polish market.

Hearing the news, also reminded me that I haven’t told you the story of how I came to write WITH VIOLETS, which is a story based on historical facts, with the missing pieces “painted in.”

Here is the story behind the story:

When my husband and I set off for Paris in May 1999, little did I know the trip would change my life. I’d lived in France and longed to return to Paris; it was my husband’s first trip to this magnificent country. Our main focus (besides food) was art. From the Louvre to the Musée d’Orsay, to the Musée National de l’Orangerie, we immersed ourselves in the works of the great masters.

I was particularly interested in the French Impressionists. I’d always loved their work and was anticipating a daytrip to Giverny, Claude Monet’s home and famous gardens. Before we boarded a train at the Gare Saint-Lazare, to make our way to Giverny, we stopped at Paris’s Musée Marmottan to gaze upon Monet’s infamous ‘Impression, Sunrise’ (Impression: Soleil Levant), the image that launched the French Impressionist movement.

On the second floor of the Musée Marmottan, I “met” Berthe Morisot for the first time. Not literally, of course, since she died in 1895. Still, her essence permeated her luminous paintings on display on the second floor of that old mansion. Even though I’d been a fan of the Impressionists, I wasn’t familiar with her work. I was immediately captivated by her style and drawn to a photograph of Berthe and her family. Something about the photo haunted me and urged me to research her life. In doing so, I discovered the tale of a deeply complex, richly talented woman who bucked nineteenth century convention to become one of the world’s greatest artists. It also became exceedingly clear she was likely very much in love with the great painter Édouard Manet, the brother of the man who would become her husband.

Very little is documented about the depth of Édouard and Berthe’s affinity for each other. Biographers recognize their intense friendship and acknowledge hints of romantic fancy in her correspondence. Also telling are reports of Berthe’s extreme jealousy of Manet’s wife, Suzanne, and his pupil, Eva Gonzalés. Most revealing, though, are the portraits Édouard painted of Berthe between 1872 -74. In the span of his career, Manet did not paint anyone as often, nor as passionately as he portrayed her.

It’s well documented that the Manet brothers doted on Berthe. Some biographers have implied a bit of sibling rivalry ensued over her attention. Alas, Édouard was a married man. Eugène was not. For all intents and purposes, Eugène won when Berthe became his bride on December 22, 1874.

Upon the announcement of her engagement to his brother, Édouard painted Berthe one last time. The portrait prominently showed off her engagement/wedding ring. Once she married Eugène, Édouard never painted her again. According to documentation, Berthe took her marriage vows seriously, had a daughter with Eugène and settled into a close platonic relationship with Édouard, but it’s unclear to whom Berthe’s heart really belonged.

In WITH VIOLETS, I have attempted to portray the documented facts of Berthe Morisot and Édouard Manet’s lives as accurately as possible. However, the book is most definitely a work of fiction. I drew on her correspondence and attempted to “paint in” the missing peaces of Berthe and Édouard’s relationship, exploring what might have happened between them during the years prior to Berthe’s marriage to Eugène. It is with great awe and respect for Berthe and Édouard and their nonconforming, artistic spirits that I have asked the question “what if” and sketched a love story about what might have been….