VBT The Girl from the Lighthouse by Willard Thompson

The Girl from the Lighthouse

by Willard Thompson

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GENRE: Historical Literary Romance

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BLURB:

The Girl From the Lighthouse tells the compelling story of Emma Dobbins.

Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she was raised by her father, a lighthouse keeper at Point Conception in California, where early on she discovers her artistic talent. At the age of 17, Emma travels to Paris with a chaperone, to attend art school but is separated from the chaperone when the woman becomes ill. Emma arrives alone in Paris with no money, no language skills, and no friends. A chance meeting with a young working girl in the train station becomes her first Parisian friend.

The setting is Paris in the 1860s-70s, the start of the Belle Èpoque. France soon is involved in the Franco/Prussian War and the Commune Uprising; difficult times for Emma and all Frenchmen. Initially rejected by art schools, her determination keeps her moving toward her goal in the art world, where the Impressionists are starting to change the world. Frenchmen fall in love with her beautiful face and lustrous dark hair. Some wanted to paint her, others to court her, but either way, she does not abide by the rules they try to impose on her because she never learned them. She grows into an accomplished artist but never gives up her own principles... even when someone steals something precious to her and she fights to get it back.

The story is told in the first person, present tense, allowing the reader to enter the story and feel a part of it as it unfolds, sharing with Emma her highs and lows, loves and rejections, all focused in the art world of Paris. The novel is filled with vivid characters, both fictional and real people, and the story unfolds gracefully from the 1870s until 1912, just prior to the start of WWI.

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Excerpt Two:

Paris lays prostrate in front of me, like a mortally wounded warrior, as I walk down ave de Saint-Ouen from the city gate into Montmartre. Pulling my mantle tighter around me to fight the chill in the air, I look out at the cemetery, bare and bleak. The streets of the city far below seem lifeless, stone buildings in the distance stand like tombstones. The frozen river is a thread woven in a death shroud. Closer by, the few men and women on the avenue move along like zombies. Putting one reluctant foot in front of the other, they drag their emaciated bodies over the cobblestones. Heads down, eyes glazed, ribs protruding beneath tattered clothes. I pass a chiffonnier in front of an apartment building sifting through the garbage searching for anything salvageable, anything that might fetch a sou or a morsel of food. The stench of starvation is in the air. At the corner of ave de Clichy I come upon a middle age-looking woman sitting on the curb with a baby pressed against her sagging breast. Her long skirt is hiked up above her knees as she stares down at the cobblestones, her upturned palm extended. I stop for a moment and look down on her, shuddering in disbelief at her hopelessness. Hopelessness that seems to have infected the city in the time I've been away. Dropping a single centime in the woman's hand without looking at her, I continue on toward the Durands' apartment.


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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Willard Thompson is an award-winning historical fiction and romance writer living in Montecito, California with his wife Jo. His newest historical romance, THE GIRL FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE was published in early 2019. His previously published three novels of historical fiction DREAM HELPER DELFINA'S GOLD, and THEIR GOLDEN DREAMS are part of his CHRONICLES OF CALIFORNIA trilogy. The Independent Publishers 2009 Book Awards selected DREAM HELPER for a gold medal as the best fiction in the Western/Pacific Region.

Thompson is a past president of the board of directors of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. He is a native of Manhasset, New York and a graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Willard-Thompson/e/B00UCFSMDU

Blog: http://chroniclesofcalifornia.blogspot.com/

Website: http://www.rinconpublishing.com/

Interview with Willard Thompson

What is your favorite part of this book and why?

My new novel, The Girl from the Lighthouse, is set in Paris in the 1870s, the Belle Èpoque, or beautiful time. And it was always my intention that the city of Paris would be a character in the novel. So my favorite part(s) depict the ever-changing role Paris plays in the story. When my protagonist, Emma Dobbins, first arrives Paris is a dirty, noisy, threatening monster she thinks will devour her. As she adjusts to living in Paris, it becomes a more welcoming place, but challenges her at every turn. Then it turns dark during the Franco-Prussian War when Parisians come close to starving, and the Paris Commune Uprising, when Frenchmen fight Frenchmen. Finally, as she begins to find love and some artistic success, it becomes her home.

If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during the day?

The Girl from the Lighthouse is written in the first person, present tense, so I became very close to my protagonist, Emma Dobbins. Now, I would like to take Emma to a café for a plat de jour lunch. Over a glass of wine and a steaming bowl of French onion soup I would ask her questions about the artists she posed for, and her thoughts about the men who courted her. She posed for Frederic Bazille, Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas, so I would ask her to tell me what they were really like, and did I represent them well in the book. I’d also ask her how it felt to be wearing high fashion gowns designed by Charles Frederick Worth, the leading fashion designer of the time. Since she attended L’Opera, and the races at Long Champ, and traveled to the resort town of Trouville, I’d ask her what those experiences were like, too. Finally I'd ask her about her life after the novel ends. We would sip our glasses of wine and talk well into the late afternoon, and I would still not get enough of this wonderful young woman.

If you could have been the author of any book ever written, which book would you choose?

My favorite book is John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. For me, it is very close to the perfect novel. It combines historically real settings, honest and carefully drawn characters, and a timeless theme—the battle between good and evil as played out over several generations. Those who only saw the James Dean movie saw a great one, but missed an even better novel. At the conclusion of the book, the reader feels a strong sense of fulfillment as all the questions are answered.

Are your characters based on real people or did they come entirely from your imagination?

The characters in The Girl from the Lighthouse are both real and fictitious people. That is the way I write historical fiction, bringing together my fictional characters with famous people from the historical time in which the story is set. Emma Dobbins, my protagonist, is a character of my own creation, as are many of the other characters, but she meets and has experiences with real historical figures. They include the Impressionist artists, Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Corot, and Berthe Morisot. In addition, she is befriended by Sarah Bernhardt, and models fashionable gowns designed by Charles Frederick Worth, the leading designer of women’s gowns of the period.

By combining real and fictional characters, which I have also done in my Chronicles of California trilogy of Dream Helper, Delfina’s Gold, and Their Golden Dreams, I can bring the reader closer to the historical setting I have created and my characters' lives.

What made you want to become a writer?

Honestly, I can’t remember ever wanting to be anything other than a writer. My first novel was started in the seven grade when I wrote about being a midshipman on Old Ironsides, the USS Frigate Constitution. The business successes I achieved in the advertising agency world of New York were all based on my writing, and when I decided the business world was not for me, I became a freelance journalist to help support my family. From there I became the editor and publisher to two magazines. I didn’t think my writing was anything especially special at first—I thought anyone could do it. Then I realized that’s just not true. It’s a monstrous gift that was given me.

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Willard Thompson will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2019/02/vbt-girl-from-lighthouse-by-willard.html