When the opportunity of a lifetime takes Jack Tomlinson to Paris, he is transformed beyond imagining, and experiences the heights of joy and the depths of despair
Jack dreads joining his father in the wool brokerage business. Thankfully, the gift for his eighteenth birthday, a trip to London, provides a reprieve from his uninspiring future and promises exciting opportunities for painting the extraordinary city's exquisite landmarks. On the ocean crossing, a meeting with a fellow artist develops into an extraordinary friendship and Jack's mind is expanded as he is captivated by her tales of the modern art movement taking Europe by storm.
Jack's conservative values are challenged when he is introduced to the Bloomsbury Set, people committed to authentic lives that are inspired by writing, art and relationships, rather than by social conventions. When Jack is offered the opportunity to study in Paris, he gladly defers the responsibilities that await him at home. Immersed in the joyful bohemia Paris offers, Jack finds a love he'd never imagined, and is spurred to artistic success following introductions to Picasso and Gertrude Stein. Nonetheless, a lifetime of conservative conditioning is not easily discarded, and Jack grapples with his options — to view his European experiences as a temporary aberration, sacrificing his dreams of a life dedicated to art with the woman he loves, or to pursue a life offering only uncertainty, far from his home and family.
The Sun Rose in Paris is the first book in the breathtaking Portraits in Blue historical fiction series. If you like well-drawn characters, rich details of the past, and being transported to another place and time, then you'll love Penny Fields-Schneider's alluring journey.
