Robin Oliveira, author of the celebrated Civil War novel My Name Is Mary Sutter, offers another provocative look at the past in I Always Loved You. The novel explores the unusual relationship between the Impressionist painters Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas, set against the glittering backdrop of Belle Époque Paris. As the novel opens, Cassatt is floundering amid financial troubles and rejections from the Paris Salon. Plagued by doubt, she is on the verge of giving up and returning to Philadelphia in disgrace, when a fateful meeting with Degas changes the way she looks at life and art. The two embark on a turbulent and deeply creative relationship that spans decades and defies categorization.
The absence of their personal correspondence, which was burnt by Cassatt before her death, has left lingering questions among art historians as to the true nature of her relationship with Degas. Oliveira breathes life into the historical gaps, imagining a creative and emotional intimacy that alternately challenges and fortifies them as both people and artists. As Cassatt and Degas struggle for and against each other, they face the bittersweet truth, in life and art, that reality is never quite as vibrant as our imagining. Backed by evocative prose and thoughtful characterization, Oliveira has created a quiet gem of a novel. Particularly noteworthy is her beautiful translation of visual imagery and meaning to a written medium. I Always Loved You is a must read for fans of historical fiction. --Judie Evans, librarian