Description:

**A vivid exploration of one of the most beloved Renoir paintings in the world, 'done with a flourish worthy of Renoir himself' (*USA Today*)** With her richly textured novels, Susan Vreeland has offered pioneering portraits of artists' lives. Now, as she did in *Girl in Hyacinth Blue*, Vreeland once again focuses on a single painting-Auguste Renoir's instantly recognizable masterpiece, which depicts a gathering of Renoir's real friends enjoying a summer Sunday on a café terrace along the Seine. Narrated by Renoir and seven of the models, the novel illuminates the gusto, hedonism, and art of the era. With a gorgeous palette of vibrant, captivating characters, Vreeland paints their lives, loves, losses, and triumphs so vividly that fithe painting literally comes alive? (*The Boston Globe*).