Boldini's Muse

By Shelley Bradford Bell

After being sealed for seventy-years, a mysterious apartment in Paris grabs the attention of the world. It reveals only one answer - it once belonged to Marthe de Florian, a courtesan during Paris' famous era, the Belle Epoque. However, who was she? Why had it been sealed, yet all the charges paid? Step inside the story with a journey to the past. This story is a fictional account of real events. Look inside the life of a woman who's as mysterious as the apartment that holds her past. A woman who wielded influence in art and politics and entertained the most powerful men of France in her bed. Marthe de Florian is a child of six when the Prussian War of 1870 destroys her life. Her uncle is killed in battle, her father is hanged, and her baby brother dies from starvation. They were members of the Communards, the working class who tried to seize Paris and build an equitable system that benefited all Frenchman. Instead, with her mother and younger sister, she is forced to grow up fast. Living her life between three bloody wars, she learns only the rich and politically powerful survive. Thanks to the teachings of two wonderful mentors she becomes the darling of the theatre, a political confidant and lover to Prime Ministers and Presidents, and the willing student of a financial mogul. When she meets the artist Giovanni Boldini she becomes his lover, his beloved, and his muse. Despite the pain of her past, she finds the will to survive, however the need to seek revenge on those she feels responsible for shattering her childhood will be a high price for her to pay.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 171999644X
• ISBN13: 9781719996440
• Release Date: August 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 171 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.4" x 5.5"