The story – beautifully-written and acutely observed – of the painter Pierre Bonnard and his relationship with his model Marthe – later his wife. Stepping from the pavement onto the Boulevard Hausmann on that December morning in 1893, she was Marie, a farmer’s daughter from the Midi. Rescued from the tumult and the commotion of horses and carriages, she was escorted to the far side of the avenue by a diffident young artist named Pierre Bonnard. When at last they spoke, she introduced herself as Marthe de Máligny, aristocratic daughter of Italian parents. It was as Marthe that she would, for fifty years, be Bonnard’s lover and his muse, she could come to define his very palette. “This book is fervent homage, subtle and light.” – Le Figaro "This diverting novelette proves a nostalgia-filled introduction to the work of French artist, Pierre Bonnard. Related in brief, impressionistic chapters, Guy Goffette, a Belgian poet, re-imagines the life of a painter now best known for his dreamy depictions of women at their toilette." - Independent, London.