Sculpted Love

Sculpted Love
Two girls, born in the shadow of the siege of Metz in 1870 and the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by the Germans, are swept up in the changing cultural, industrial, medical, scientific and geo-political  tides of the late 19th century in France; they act without hesitation on the new empowerment of women, in business and in love. Against this background and the art nouveau of the Ecole de Nancy, a solitary sculptor is drawn into the girls' lives.

Illustrated with original pencil sketches by Robert Butcher (April 2020) and with late 19th century paintings in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, including several by Émile Friant (Dieuze 1863 – Nancy 1932).

Genre: Historical romance and drama

Fiction, coming of age, historical fiction, period drama, fine arts fiction, suspense, crime. Background: The School of Nancy, Art Nouveau, nude sculpture, Paris in 1891-2, women's liberation, early psychotherapy, the Franco-Prussian war 1870-1871. The plot draws on real-life people from north-east of France and contains scenes of sex, seduction and violence.