Girl Braiding Her Hair

Inspired by the True Story of a Revolutionary Female Artist History Forgot

By: Marta Molnar, Dana Marton

Narrated by: Leah Daniels

Her friends included Van Gogh, Degas, and Renoir. Paris celebrated her as a sought-after model, until she picked up the brush herself, at a time when art schools refused to accept female students. By the time Suzanne Valadon was 15 years old, shed been a horse walker, a milliner, a funeral wreath maker, and a circus acrobat, but that was just the beginning of her adventures. Here is her story, along with Ellie's, a modern woman a century later at a crossroads of her life, who pulls Suzanne from the shadows of the past into the light.

A brand-new novel from the author of the bestselling novel of THE SECRET LIFE OF SUNFLOWERS.

The perfect Book Club listen!

©2023 Marta Dana (P)2024 Marta Dana

Narrator and Book Review

The narration of the book was phenomenal and it was a great book as well. Loved the story!

So fascinating!

I loved learning about an artist I hadn’t heard of before! I also loved the idea of Ellie’s museum.

I really,really liked this book

I am picky about the books I listen to. I thought this book was well written and the stories intertwined beautifully. I loved the narrator. If I could picture myself floating down a lazy river being very contented, that’s exactly how I felt listening to this book. I also learned something new as I previously knew nothing about this artist. Well done!!

Stark difference in stories

I loved the story of the artist, every word of it. The modern day story had its charm but also seemed written by a lesser artist. The onomatopoeia scratch scratch etc was annoying, and the plot predictable. Well worth reading the book for the deep, plot rich and masterful story of Susan Valladone. I look forward to your next historical novel. Peerhaps the story of Maurice. Maybe told from his perspective interspersed with his family’s thought about him. A rich narrative about grandmother would be fantastic. One final thought, maybe use only one voice be it man woman or child speaking. I loved when Valladone expressed regarding prejudice against people of color, What? In 1894? I feel that way about 2024!

Unseen art!

Learning about Suzanne, who I had not heard of, and how it was to be a model and how she used it to learn how to paint from the masters! Smart girl! The other story was okay, but I knew of all the unseen art in basements of art galleries! I love the concept of unseen art! Thank you!