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I Always Loved You
A novel of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas’s great romance from the New York Times bestselling author of My Name Is Mary Sutter
The young Mary Cassatt never thought moving to Paris after the Civil War to be an artist was going to be easy, but when, after a decade of work, her submission to the Paris Salon is rejected, Mary’s fierce determination wavers. Her father is begging her to return to Philadelphia to find a husband before it is too late, her sister Lydia is falling mysteriously ill, and worse, Mary is beginning to doubt herself. Then one evening a friend introduces her to Edgar Degas and her life changes forever. Years later she will learn that he had begged for the introduction, but in that moment their meeting seems a miracle. So begins the defining period of her life and the most tempestuous of relationships.
In I Always Loved You, Robin Oliveira brilliantly re-creates the irresistible world of Belle Époque Paris, writing with grace and uncommon insight into the passion and foibles of the human heart.
The young Mary Cassatt never thought moving to Paris after the Civil War to be an artist was going to be easy, but when, after a decade of work, her submission to the Paris Salon is rejected, Mary’s fierce determination wavers. Her father is begging her to return to Philadelphia to find a husband before it is too late, her sister Lydia is falling mysteriously ill, and worse, Mary is beginning to doubt herself. Then one evening a friend introduces her to Edgar Degas and her life changes forever. Years later she will learn that he had begged for the introduction, but in that moment their meeting seems a miracle. So begins the defining period of her life and the most tempestuous of relationships.
In I Always Loved You, Robin Oliveira brilliantly re-creates the irresistible world of Belle Époque Paris, writing with grace and uncommon insight into the passion and foibles of the human heart.
343 pages, Hardcover
First published February 4, 2014
509 people are currently reading
11940 people want to read
About the author
Robin Oliveira
5 books449 followersRobin Oliveira grew up just outside Albany, New York in Loudonville. She holds a B.A. in Russian, and studied at the Pushkin Language Institute in Moscow, Russia. She is also a Registered Nurse, specializing in Critical Care and Bone Marrow Transplant. She received an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is the fiction editor for the literary magazine upstreet and a former assistant editor at Narrative Magazine. She was awarded the James Jones First Novel Fellowship in 2007 for her then novel-in-progress, THE LAST BEAUTIFUL DAY, an excerpt of which appeared in the 2008 issue of Provincetown Arts. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her family."
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February 9, 2014
It's a testament to the power of this story and the conviction of Robin Oliveira's writing that I'm able to look back and review this book almost six months after reading it. Oliveira's first novel - My Name is Mary Sutter - is on my list of all-time favorite historical novels so when I saw that her follow-up book looked at one of my favorite times and places in history (the Belle Epoque Paris of the Impressionists), I was beyond excited.
I've been disappointed by a lot of historical novels lately - they either seemed to lack ambition or would have been better served by a focused editor's eye. I Always Loved You is the exact opposite - a considered work of art in its own right that looks at the twisted demands of art, family and love and that brings late 19th century Paris to life.
The novel is beautiful in its simplicity - a short opening chapter that introduces the reader to an older Mary Cassatt then moves seamlessly into two stories based on the real lives of the small, interwoven group of men and women who would become known as the Impressionists. The main story focuses on the artistic and emotional development of Mary Cassatt, one of the few female painters in the group. In a richly detailed third-person narrative, we're brought close in to the daily frustrations of an artist at a critical juncture in her working life, that time when a painter or a writer or a musician knows enough to know that they have so much more to learn. At this moment, she meets Edgar Degas and begins an acquaintance that shifts and grows and fractures with time, defying categorization but always influencing her artistic development in unexpected ways. A secondary plot, exploring the love triangle between Manet and his sister-in-law Berthe Moirsot throws Mary and Edgar's relationship into relief, providing perspective and a deep thread of melancholy through the story.
Some historical fiction readers may find the gradual development of personalities and relationships too slow and lacking in the more dramatic narrative twists and turns that mark the genre - I found the difference refreshing. Despite my excitement, I found myself reading this one slowly and that it took time for me to develop an appreciation for the unusual rhythms of the story generated by the short (4-6 page) chapters.
I rarely buy books after checking them out of the library or receiving e-galley copies. But there are some cases when I want to support the author and in some small way thank them for working for years to craft a story that has brought me so much joy. I'm looking forward to returning to I Always Loved You again and again as the years go by.
Source: Advance e-galley from the publisher for review
I've been disappointed by a lot of historical novels lately - they either seemed to lack ambition or would have been better served by a focused editor's eye. I Always Loved You is the exact opposite - a considered work of art in its own right that looks at the twisted demands of art, family and love and that brings late 19th century Paris to life.
The novel is beautiful in its simplicity - a short opening chapter that introduces the reader to an older Mary Cassatt then moves seamlessly into two stories based on the real lives of the small, interwoven group of men and women who would become known as the Impressionists. The main story focuses on the artistic and emotional development of Mary Cassatt, one of the few female painters in the group. In a richly detailed third-person narrative, we're brought close in to the daily frustrations of an artist at a critical juncture in her working life, that time when a painter or a writer or a musician knows enough to know that they have so much more to learn. At this moment, she meets Edgar Degas and begins an acquaintance that shifts and grows and fractures with time, defying categorization but always influencing her artistic development in unexpected ways. A secondary plot, exploring the love triangle between Manet and his sister-in-law Berthe Moirsot throws Mary and Edgar's relationship into relief, providing perspective and a deep thread of melancholy through the story.
Some historical fiction readers may find the gradual development of personalities and relationships too slow and lacking in the more dramatic narrative twists and turns that mark the genre - I found the difference refreshing. Despite my excitement, I found myself reading this one slowly and that it took time for me to develop an appreciation for the unusual rhythms of the story generated by the short (4-6 page) chapters.
I rarely buy books after checking them out of the library or receiving e-galley copies. But there are some cases when I want to support the author and in some small way thank them for working for years to craft a story that has brought me so much joy. I'm looking forward to returning to I Always Loved You again and again as the years go by.
Source: Advance e-galley from the publisher for review
February 4, 2014
While I understand some of the very harsh reviews here on Goodreads so far, I believe that these reviewers have missed the heart of the book they are reviewing. Yes, I ALWAYS LOVED YOU begins slowly and the story develops quietly, but the novel as a whole is more like an Impressionist painting, which begins as a blurry image and subtly, through many layers, becomes something significant, beautiful, resonant. At least, that is my experience with reading I ALWAYS LOVED YOU by Robin Oliveira.
The relationship between Degas and Cassatt begins tenuously, and builds and falls throughout, but it is in the moments shared between the pair, in the pull and tug of conversation and gesture, that the genius of this novel develops. By the final page, the tenderness between Cassatt and Degas is palpable and moving. It is in the pages between the first and last that the reader comes to know and understand the complex relationship between two of history's most important artists.
I personally love the way the author worked each layer of their story, the subtlety of their relationship and the way Cassatt and Degas spurred one another on. It is an intimate story so beautiful I read it with a pen in hand, to note the passages which struck me.
I ALWAYS LOVED YOU is about art and the struggle of the artist to balance their passion with life, love, and friendship, and to serve the work which already lives inside their hearts and heads. It is a tribute to those who have overcome the attacks of critics, of those who do not understand art or beauty, and is a testimonial to the brilliance of love in helping us to become who and what we are meant to be. I ALWAYS LOVED YOU is a book I recommend to all artists, to those who enjoy a delicate, masterful novel. It is a story which will linger in memory for its truth. I ALWAYS LOVED YOU by Robin Oliveira is now one of my favorite books of all time.
The relationship between Degas and Cassatt begins tenuously, and builds and falls throughout, but it is in the moments shared between the pair, in the pull and tug of conversation and gesture, that the genius of this novel develops. By the final page, the tenderness between Cassatt and Degas is palpable and moving. It is in the pages between the first and last that the reader comes to know and understand the complex relationship between two of history's most important artists.
I personally love the way the author worked each layer of their story, the subtlety of their relationship and the way Cassatt and Degas spurred one another on. It is an intimate story so beautiful I read it with a pen in hand, to note the passages which struck me.
I ALWAYS LOVED YOU is about art and the struggle of the artist to balance their passion with life, love, and friendship, and to serve the work which already lives inside their hearts and heads. It is a tribute to those who have overcome the attacks of critics, of those who do not understand art or beauty, and is a testimonial to the brilliance of love in helping us to become who and what we are meant to be. I ALWAYS LOVED YOU is a book I recommend to all artists, to those who enjoy a delicate, masterful novel. It is a story which will linger in memory for its truth. I ALWAYS LOVED YOU by Robin Oliveira is now one of my favorite books of all time.
November 4, 2020
4.5 stars. What a wonderful read this was. I saw it recommended on another website and was lucky enough to be able to get it from my library. An author I'd never heard of, and despite the romantic title, apparently not a romance.
But wow! Robin Oliveira is a beautiful writer. I was transported to bohemian Paris in the 1870s, to the fascinating world of the impressionist painters and their complicated relationships, with their art, and with each other.
The book focuses on (the real historical person) Mary Cassatt, an American who moved to Paris to paint. After some years of her paintings being scorned and rejected by the establishment, she eventually became a popular and successful artist. Mary also had a long-term friendship/relationship with the (real historical) painter/ sculptor Edgar Degas, and the book follows this relationship through to the end of their lives.
There is a secondary focus on the (real) painter Edouard Manet and his tempestuous relationship with the (real) painter Berthe Morisot, who married Manet's brother.
There is a lot of emphasis on art and painting in this book, and the struggles of these driven artists to make their way in an often cruel and unsympathetic world. With Mary and Edgar, even though they fell in love, for both of them art came first. But as is obvious from the title, there was also a great (and complicated) love between them.
So, if you want a "romance" novel, this isn't that. If you want a fascinating glimpse into the Paris art world during a period of extraordinary change, and the lives of the artists who struggled to paint in a new and original way, then this could be the book for you. The characters feel very real and believable, and the setting is credible with no noticeable anachronisms. The writer seems to have researched the period and her characters thoroughly. She also clearly knows a lot about art and painting.
It's an immersive read. And yes, I cried.
I took off half a star because the final third of the book felt a little rushed and not as detailed as the first two thirds. A number of years were telescoped into a shorter number of pages, whereas the earlier part of the book takes place over a smaller period of time, with events explored more deeply.
Still, I enjoyed the whole book and I'm really glad I read it.
But wow! Robin Oliveira is a beautiful writer. I was transported to bohemian Paris in the 1870s, to the fascinating world of the impressionist painters and their complicated relationships, with their art, and with each other.
The book focuses on (the real historical person) Mary Cassatt, an American who moved to Paris to paint. After some years of her paintings being scorned and rejected by the establishment, she eventually became a popular and successful artist. Mary also had a long-term friendship/relationship with the (real historical) painter/ sculptor Edgar Degas, and the book follows this relationship through to the end of their lives.
There is a secondary focus on the (real) painter Edouard Manet and his tempestuous relationship with the (real) painter Berthe Morisot, who married Manet's brother.
There is a lot of emphasis on art and painting in this book, and the struggles of these driven artists to make their way in an often cruel and unsympathetic world. With Mary and Edgar, even though they fell in love, for both of them art came first. But as is obvious from the title, there was also a great (and complicated) love between them.
So, if you want a "romance" novel, this isn't that. If you want a fascinating glimpse into the Paris art world during a period of extraordinary change, and the lives of the artists who struggled to paint in a new and original way, then this could be the book for you. The characters feel very real and believable, and the setting is credible with no noticeable anachronisms. The writer seems to have researched the period and her characters thoroughly. She also clearly knows a lot about art and painting.
It's an immersive read. And yes, I cried.
I took off half a star because the final third of the book felt a little rushed and not as detailed as the first two thirds. A number of years were telescoped into a shorter number of pages, whereas the earlier part of the book takes place over a smaller period of time, with events explored more deeply.
Still, I enjoyed the whole book and I'm really glad I read it.
June 14, 2016
I Always Loved You transports us to La Belle Epoque when the American artist Mary Cassatt was painting in Paris. While the story also involves the other Impressionists, it centers on the interactions between Cassatt and her mentor, Edgar Degas. Although Degas helped her realize her potential as an artist, he could also be thoughtless and stubborn, so their relationship was very complicated and stormy. Cassatt burned their letters before she died so this story is an imaginative look at their relationship.
Cassatt's family also moved to Paris, and she was very close to her ailing sister. Her father was very concerned with finances, but her cheerful mother held the family together. The Impressionists were often criticized as being too modern and different, so they often had to supplement their more creative work by painting fans or commissioned portraits. Cassatt was most famous for her tender paintings of mothers and children.
Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet, two artists who passionately loved each other but were married to other people, also played a prominent spot in this book. The title, I Always Loved You , seems appropriate for these artists as well.
There were several Impressionist art colonies in my home state of Connecticut in the late 19th Century. So museums in this area often have exhibits of European Impressionists as well as New England Impressionists. It was fun to read about Cassatt or Degas creating their art, and then remembering viewing that particular work at an exhibition. Although the book started a little slowly, the artists soon "came alive" for me in this enjoyable book.
Cassatt's family also moved to Paris, and she was very close to her ailing sister. Her father was very concerned with finances, but her cheerful mother held the family together. The Impressionists were often criticized as being too modern and different, so they often had to supplement their more creative work by painting fans or commissioned portraits. Cassatt was most famous for her tender paintings of mothers and children.
Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet, two artists who passionately loved each other but were married to other people, also played a prominent spot in this book. The title, I Always Loved You , seems appropriate for these artists as well.
There were several Impressionist art colonies in my home state of Connecticut in the late 19th Century. So museums in this area often have exhibits of European Impressionists as well as New England Impressionists. It was fun to read about Cassatt or Degas creating their art, and then remembering viewing that particular work at an exhibition. Although the book started a little slowly, the artists soon "came alive" for me in this enjoyable book.
April 28, 2025
Mary Cassatt has long been one of my favorite artists. I've visited her works at Paris' Musée d'Orsay, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art and been charmed by the warmth, tenderness, and liveliness of her vivid oils and pastels. I wondered how, despite her prolific presence in the halls of Impressionism, Cassatt fared in the exclusive club of painters of the Belle Époque dominated by Manet, Pissaro, Monet, Dégas, Renoir, among others: all men, all working to upend the art world with their new style. How did this American woman come to be accepted and even invited into their circle?
Robin Oliveira's gorgeous and poignant I Have Always Loved You breathes life into these artists who once breathed life onto canvas. I'm somewhat stunned this novel has fared so poorly among Goodreaders. Any true fan of historical fiction will recognize the graceful pas de deux Oliveira dances between meticulous research and imagination as she imbues these factual relationships and events with fallible human emotion.
Mary is a young woman from an upper-middle-class Philadelphia family returning to Paris in 1874—her first stay interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. It's not without surprise that a woman would take up residence in Paris alone, but not entirely unheard of; Mary was surrounded by other American expat. She was an early feminist, determined to make her way on her own, supporting herself as an artist. Her family—mother, father and beloved elder sister Lydia—did eventually join her, hampering her freedom, but Mary's artistic star was already on the rise.
The turning point in her career was an invitation by Edgar Dégas in 1877 to eschew the official Paris Salon and show in the renegade and highly controversial Impressionist exhibit. Dégas became mentor, critic, rival, peer, antagonist and beloved—often all at the same time—during their 40-year relationship. They were never married, not even officially a couple, but Oliveira imagines an unrequited passion that tethered the artists together from collaboration through estrangements, at a time when France was the convergence zone of revolutions in art, literature, and science.
There is room in this generous story for the scandalous entanglements of doomed Edouard Manet and his love Berthe Morisot, another accomplished woman Impressionist, who happened to be married to Manet's brother, Eugène. And for Mary's beloved sister, Lydia, her muse and confidante.
Robin Oliveira brings such color and life to Paris' streets, recently transformed from medieval alleyways to broad urban boulevards by the vision of Baron Haussmann, and to its salons, with their mannered exigencies and shocking intrigues. The relationship between Cassatt and Dégas is often fraught and frustrating—Dégas could be cruel and dismissive—but the story is more about Mary coming into her own as an artist independent of approval or patronage by any man and so in that way the ending is a happy one, laced with the bitters of loss.
Highly recommended.
Robin Oliveira's gorgeous and poignant I Have Always Loved You breathes life into these artists who once breathed life onto canvas. I'm somewhat stunned this novel has fared so poorly among Goodreaders. Any true fan of historical fiction will recognize the graceful pas de deux Oliveira dances between meticulous research and imagination as she imbues these factual relationships and events with fallible human emotion.
Mary is a young woman from an upper-middle-class Philadelphia family returning to Paris in 1874—her first stay interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. It's not without surprise that a woman would take up residence in Paris alone, but not entirely unheard of; Mary was surrounded by other American expat. She was an early feminist, determined to make her way on her own, supporting herself as an artist. Her family—mother, father and beloved elder sister Lydia—did eventually join her, hampering her freedom, but Mary's artistic star was already on the rise.
The turning point in her career was an invitation by Edgar Dégas in 1877 to eschew the official Paris Salon and show in the renegade and highly controversial Impressionist exhibit. Dégas became mentor, critic, rival, peer, antagonist and beloved—often all at the same time—during their 40-year relationship. They were never married, not even officially a couple, but Oliveira imagines an unrequited passion that tethered the artists together from collaboration through estrangements, at a time when France was the convergence zone of revolutions in art, literature, and science.
There is room in this generous story for the scandalous entanglements of doomed Edouard Manet and his love Berthe Morisot, another accomplished woman Impressionist, who happened to be married to Manet's brother, Eugène. And for Mary's beloved sister, Lydia, her muse and confidante.
Robin Oliveira brings such color and life to Paris' streets, recently transformed from medieval alleyways to broad urban boulevards by the vision of Baron Haussmann, and to its salons, with their mannered exigencies and shocking intrigues. The relationship between Cassatt and Dégas is often fraught and frustrating—Dégas could be cruel and dismissive—but the story is more about Mary coming into her own as an artist independent of approval or patronage by any man and so in that way the ending is a happy one, laced with the bitters of loss.
Highly recommended.
October 10, 2018
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was an American painter and printmaker, who lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists.
This story begins with Mary at the age of 33. She has been back in Paris for the last two years. As her paintings continue to be rejected for exhibitions, she has been contemplating if she should listen to her father and move back to the States.
As she is contemplating, an acquaintance of hers introduces her to Edgar Degas, of whom she’s been a huge admirer. What she doesn’t know is that four years earlier he saw a painting of hers, which showed talent. And he wanted to meet her as well.
Degas introduces her to his circle of friends, which include Manet, Monet, Pissaro, Renior and Caillebotte. He also invites her to join their next exhibition. An Exhibition, which they started in order to break away from the traditional Salon.
The long awaited exhibition comes and as Degas’ reviews are flattering, reviews of Mary’s work are brutal.
This isn’t the only dilemma she is facing. She is questioning if Degas is capable of love. One moment he can be generous, the other he is crude.
Degas doesn’t know how to talk about love or how to express it. What he is good about is sketching naked women. He has those sketches hidden in a drawer. What would world think of him if he exposed them?
This moving story is of love, friendship, struggle, and understanding; beautifully crafted through the art and its exhibitions; touching upon human emotions and making a lasting impression as Impressionists did with their paintings.
@FB/BestHistoricalFiction
This story begins with Mary at the age of 33. She has been back in Paris for the last two years. As her paintings continue to be rejected for exhibitions, she has been contemplating if she should listen to her father and move back to the States.
As she is contemplating, an acquaintance of hers introduces her to Edgar Degas, of whom she’s been a huge admirer. What she doesn’t know is that four years earlier he saw a painting of hers, which showed talent. And he wanted to meet her as well.
Degas introduces her to his circle of friends, which include Manet, Monet, Pissaro, Renior and Caillebotte. He also invites her to join their next exhibition. An Exhibition, which they started in order to break away from the traditional Salon.
The long awaited exhibition comes and as Degas’ reviews are flattering, reviews of Mary’s work are brutal.
This isn’t the only dilemma she is facing. She is questioning if Degas is capable of love. One moment he can be generous, the other he is crude.
Degas doesn’t know how to talk about love or how to express it. What he is good about is sketching naked women. He has those sketches hidden in a drawer. What would world think of him if he exposed them?
This moving story is of love, friendship, struggle, and understanding; beautifully crafted through the art and its exhibitions; touching upon human emotions and making a lasting impression as Impressionists did with their paintings.
@FB/BestHistoricalFiction
February 27, 2014
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These are the reviews that are the hardest to write. If I had felt strongly about this book - on either end of the spectrum - I would have no problem putting my thoughts down. As it were, however, I Always Loved You was a novel that more often than not dragged, with the good parts being simply satisfactory. I follow GoodReads's rating system, and according to them, a two star rating means a book was merely okay. And, when it comes down to it, that's all this novel was. Okay. Passable. Decent. Ultimately forgettable. It was an effort on my part to finish (I spent nearly two weeks reading it!) and while there were intriguing chapters, at no point did I feel that calling to rush home from work/grocery shopping/what have you to jump back into the story.
I Always Loved You follows Mary Cassatt from her early days as a young American painter in Paris to old age. Along the way we're introduced to numerous artists - Renoir, Monet, both Manet brothers - nearly all of whom have banded together to hold their own exhibitions after having paintings rejected by the famed Paris Salon. After an introduction to Degas (she had long admired his work and he had admired hers), she finds herself tangled in this misfit group. Reading about these painters was like watching a soap opera. Though many were married, their affections lay elsewhere and even the paternity of a child was called into question (though never in public of course!). With Mary spending more and more time with Degas rumors run rampant throughout Paris and neither really does anything to stop it.
Mary spends her days painting or caring for her ailing sister once her family makes the move from Philadelphia to Paris. On occasion Degas stops by the have dinner or present Mrs. Cassatt and Mary's sister Lydia with gifts. Out of the blue, however, he'll disappear and Mary won't hear a word from him for a month or longer. Despite his gusto when it comes to taking on new projects, Degas always manages to leave the others hanging - multiple exhibitions are held only for the other artists to discover at the last minute, that Degas hadn't painted a single piece. Years of productivity went down the drain after he abandoned a journal start up that many people - including Mary - had devoted time and money to.
While the book was largely devoted to Mary and Degas, there were multiple chapters that followed other artists and, honestly, I wound up getting many of them confused. Was it Édouard who was married to Suzanne yet in love with Berthe or was it his brother Eugène? Who was it again that had been rejected by the Salon this year? The year before? I got lost in the small details that made up I Always Loved You and the confusion made it difficult to become fully invested in the story.
I also had a hard time coming to care to Edgar and Mary's relationship - if you choose to call it that. For decades these two were friends one day, had epically heated arguments the next, ignored one another for months, then rekindled their friendship. Rinse, repeat. They were in love with one another yet never admitted to their feelings. They were stubborn and bitter to the end and each died alone. The passionate romance I had been promised just wasn't there. At one point Edgar carelessly blurted out a marriage proposal, to which Mary slammed the door in his face. I'm convinced there's no way these two would have been able to tolerate a life together.
It's such a shame that this novel was so disappointing. Despite my utter ignorance when it comes to the art world, I do love a good novel exploring it and have read many fantastic books on the subject. Add in the historical aspect plus Parisian setting and I Always Loved You was shaping up to be a book handcrafted for me. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. Slow chapters (entire chapters comprised of only a single multi-page paragraph!), a large jumble of characters, and a frustrating romance led to me having a rather hard time getting through this book. Although I wasn't the biggest fan of this one, I've heard wonderful things about Oliveira's debut, My Name is Mary Sutter, and look forward to giving that novel a try.
She would adore her child and tend her husband, but love, that elusive prize, had left her now. What a horror it was to be mortal, she thought, subject to such appalling weaknesses and needs. What a horror it was to be alive.
These are the reviews that are the hardest to write. If I had felt strongly about this book - on either end of the spectrum - I would have no problem putting my thoughts down. As it were, however, I Always Loved You was a novel that more often than not dragged, with the good parts being simply satisfactory. I follow GoodReads's rating system, and according to them, a two star rating means a book was merely okay. And, when it comes down to it, that's all this novel was. Okay. Passable. Decent. Ultimately forgettable. It was an effort on my part to finish (I spent nearly two weeks reading it!) and while there were intriguing chapters, at no point did I feel that calling to rush home from work/grocery shopping/what have you to jump back into the story.
I Always Loved You follows Mary Cassatt from her early days as a young American painter in Paris to old age. Along the way we're introduced to numerous artists - Renoir, Monet, both Manet brothers - nearly all of whom have banded together to hold their own exhibitions after having paintings rejected by the famed Paris Salon. After an introduction to Degas (she had long admired his work and he had admired hers), she finds herself tangled in this misfit group. Reading about these painters was like watching a soap opera. Though many were married, their affections lay elsewhere and even the paternity of a child was called into question (though never in public of course!). With Mary spending more and more time with Degas rumors run rampant throughout Paris and neither really does anything to stop it.
Mary spends her days painting or caring for her ailing sister once her family makes the move from Philadelphia to Paris. On occasion Degas stops by the have dinner or present Mrs. Cassatt and Mary's sister Lydia with gifts. Out of the blue, however, he'll disappear and Mary won't hear a word from him for a month or longer. Despite his gusto when it comes to taking on new projects, Degas always manages to leave the others hanging - multiple exhibitions are held only for the other artists to discover at the last minute, that Degas hadn't painted a single piece. Years of productivity went down the drain after he abandoned a journal start up that many people - including Mary - had devoted time and money to.
While the book was largely devoted to Mary and Degas, there were multiple chapters that followed other artists and, honestly, I wound up getting many of them confused. Was it Édouard who was married to Suzanne yet in love with Berthe or was it his brother Eugène? Who was it again that had been rejected by the Salon this year? The year before? I got lost in the small details that made up I Always Loved You and the confusion made it difficult to become fully invested in the story.
I also had a hard time coming to care to Edgar and Mary's relationship - if you choose to call it that. For decades these two were friends one day, had epically heated arguments the next, ignored one another for months, then rekindled their friendship. Rinse, repeat. They were in love with one another yet never admitted to their feelings. They were stubborn and bitter to the end and each died alone. The passionate romance I had been promised just wasn't there. At one point Edgar carelessly blurted out a marriage proposal, to which Mary slammed the door in his face. I'm convinced there's no way these two would have been able to tolerate a life together.
It's such a shame that this novel was so disappointing. Despite my utter ignorance when it comes to the art world, I do love a good novel exploring it and have read many fantastic books on the subject. Add in the historical aspect plus Parisian setting and I Always Loved You was shaping up to be a book handcrafted for me. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. Slow chapters (entire chapters comprised of only a single multi-page paragraph!), a large jumble of characters, and a frustrating romance led to me having a rather hard time getting through this book. Although I wasn't the biggest fan of this one, I've heard wonderful things about Oliveira's debut, My Name is Mary Sutter, and look forward to giving that novel a try.
February 5, 2014
What a joy it is to be back in Belle Epoque Paris with my old artist friends, guided by the masterful pen of Robin Oliveira whose finely crafted language brings to light the complicated relationships of four of the principals of the Impressionist movement--Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot and Eduard Manet, two tortured love affairs. Only an omniscient narrator has the latitude to disclose the private yearnings and fears of these four as they grapple with issues of art execution, scathing reviews, self-doubt, elusive fame, tempestuous love, and creeping mortality. The confusion Degas keeps hidden behind his ego, the fantasy and regrets of a dying Manet, the natural goodness and yearnings of Mary Cassatt--all are presented convincingly, inviting our empathy, one exquisitely rendered moment after another. Be prepared to read Degas's confessions breathlessly. Be prepared to weep at the inevitable end. Here, in beautiful prose, juicy with nuance and depth, is the intimate, heart-wrenching story behind Impressionist art history, with Mary Cassatt at its center. A glorious achievement.
January 7, 2014
After reading the author's first book, "My Name is Mary Sutter", which I loved, I was looking forward to her next book. I love novels about the art world, and I am especially interested in the period covered in this book. The new era of the impressionists, their breaking away from the established art critics of the Salon, and especially their relationship with each other is fascinating. If you are interested in artists circles like the circles around Dorothy Parker, or around F. Scott Fitzgerald, or around Camus and Sartre, this would be an interesting book for you. Also, if you are fascinated by the story of the dancers of the Paris Opera, who play some part in this book in the storyline around Edgar Degas.
This book has so many different story lines, I sometimes had a hard time remembering who the main character is. Is this book about Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas? Or is is Manet and Berthe Morisot? It wasn't always clear and I had a hard time caring for one of the characters because there are so many and their stories are often told as connected stories (they all meet and work together), but then at other times the story followed just one of the characters. The book is well written and the writing is fluently, but it seems a little bit like a collection of ideas and story lines that are still missing the main story line. The character of Mary Cassatt acts like the main story line that connects all of the other stories, but it does not seem enough to hold it all together. The characters are so interesting each on his or her own that their story would be enough for a whole book. I have read "Dancing for Degas" which is a story about Degas and his relationship with the dancers from the Paris ballet, and also "The Painted Girls" which is mostly about the ballet dancers and some about Degas. In this book Degas just features as part of the story. If the book is about Mary Cassatt, then she does not feature enough to be the main character, but I wish she would have, because there were so many interesting things about her that could have been explored in more details and been more of the main story line. I have also wondered about the title of the book as it never really became clear to me who it refers to. Was Mary in love with Degas? Or did the title refer to Manet and Berthe? I did not really get the impression that there was much of a romance going on between Mary and Degas, more like a relationship between fellow artists that sometimes hinted at more. They were passionate about their art and friendship, but nothing like the affair going on between Manet and Berthe.
I did enjoy this book, but not as much as her last one, and not as much as I hoped I would.
Copy provided through NetGalley
This book has so many different story lines, I sometimes had a hard time remembering who the main character is. Is this book about Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas? Or is is Manet and Berthe Morisot? It wasn't always clear and I had a hard time caring for one of the characters because there are so many and their stories are often told as connected stories (they all meet and work together), but then at other times the story followed just one of the characters. The book is well written and the writing is fluently, but it seems a little bit like a collection of ideas and story lines that are still missing the main story line. The character of Mary Cassatt acts like the main story line that connects all of the other stories, but it does not seem enough to hold it all together. The characters are so interesting each on his or her own that their story would be enough for a whole book. I have read "Dancing for Degas" which is a story about Degas and his relationship with the dancers from the Paris ballet, and also "The Painted Girls" which is mostly about the ballet dancers and some about Degas. In this book Degas just features as part of the story. If the book is about Mary Cassatt, then she does not feature enough to be the main character, but I wish she would have, because there were so many interesting things about her that could have been explored in more details and been more of the main story line. I have also wondered about the title of the book as it never really became clear to me who it refers to. Was Mary in love with Degas? Or did the title refer to Manet and Berthe? I did not really get the impression that there was much of a romance going on between Mary and Degas, more like a relationship between fellow artists that sometimes hinted at more. They were passionate about their art and friendship, but nothing like the affair going on between Manet and Berthe.
I did enjoy this book, but not as much as her last one, and not as much as I hoped I would.
Copy provided through NetGalley
September 23, 2019
Book on CD narrated by Mozhan Marnò
The subtitle – A Story of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas – is all the synopsis anyone needs. This immediately drew my attention as I love art, the Impressionists in particular, and I love reading historical fiction about artists. Also, I loved Oliveira’s debut work: My Name is Mary Sutter . So, I had high hopes.
I liked learning more about the journey these artists took to become the icons we know today. No story focusing on these two artists could possibly be told without also touching on the other Impressionists: Manet, Morisot, Pissarro, Monet, Renoir, and they are all here as well. I appreciated all the period detail and the exploration of the various tangled relationships. I was unaware of some of the medical issues that plagued Degas and Manet, having previously been content merely to study the product of their years of work. Similarly, I didn’t know about Cassatt’s family situation, or Morisot’s complicated love life. I had previously been content to merely gaze with astonishment and admiration at the works of art they created. But while I appreciate now having learned all these details, and while these elements added color to the story, they failed to really move me.
I grew as frustrated by the relationship between Mary and Edgar as Oliveira indicates Mary was. Despite what the title may imply, I didn’t find much love here. I absolutely hated Degas; what a selfish, arrogant, inconsiderate worm! And I was somewhat puzzled by Mary, so strong and determined one moment and so self-pitying in another. I found the relationship between Morisot and the Manet brothers a much more compelling story.
Final verdict: interesting historical fiction that held my attention and shed some light on the background of these artists, but it failed to fully engage me.
Mozhan Marnò does a stellar job performing the audio version. She sets a good pace and her facility with French names and phrases helped me feel I was in Paris.
The subtitle – A Story of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas – is all the synopsis anyone needs. This immediately drew my attention as I love art, the Impressionists in particular, and I love reading historical fiction about artists. Also, I loved Oliveira’s debut work: My Name is Mary Sutter . So, I had high hopes.
I liked learning more about the journey these artists took to become the icons we know today. No story focusing on these two artists could possibly be told without also touching on the other Impressionists: Manet, Morisot, Pissarro, Monet, Renoir, and they are all here as well. I appreciated all the period detail and the exploration of the various tangled relationships. I was unaware of some of the medical issues that plagued Degas and Manet, having previously been content merely to study the product of their years of work. Similarly, I didn’t know about Cassatt’s family situation, or Morisot’s complicated love life. I had previously been content to merely gaze with astonishment and admiration at the works of art they created. But while I appreciate now having learned all these details, and while these elements added color to the story, they failed to really move me.
I grew as frustrated by the relationship between Mary and Edgar as Oliveira indicates Mary was. Despite what the title may imply, I didn’t find much love here. I absolutely hated Degas; what a selfish, arrogant, inconsiderate worm! And I was somewhat puzzled by Mary, so strong and determined one moment and so self-pitying in another. I found the relationship between Morisot and the Manet brothers a much more compelling story.
Final verdict: interesting historical fiction that held my attention and shed some light on the background of these artists, but it failed to fully engage me.
Mozhan Marnò does a stellar job performing the audio version. She sets a good pace and her facility with French names and phrases helped me feel I was in Paris.
January 16, 2014
I won a copy of this through Goodreads First Reads.
I Always Loved You is (in a simplified nutshell), a fictional account of the relationship between Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas, artists who were a part of the Impressionist movement in Paris.
I was initially interested in this book because I have a fine arts background. I'm familiar with the Impressionists and their work, but by name and reputation only. I was curious to see what Robin Oliveira would do with the story, how the characters would grow, how she would fill in the gaps between fact and the unknown.
I was not disappointed. Her writing is beautiful, poetic, and fluid. Descriptions of Paris, the people and the art flow with a natural rhythm, creating enough interest to hold my attention all the way through. The banter between Mary, Edgar and the other artists is fast and witty, and discussions about art and life, deep. I had to stop and reread the occasional paragraph to make sure I was fully absorbing her ideas, and giving them the amount of thought and consideration that was due.
The turbulent relationship between Mary and Edgar progresses well and is believable. I don't know what, if any of it, is based on reality, but it works and I never found myself questioning things. I applaud Oliveira for making them feel so real.
I Always Loved You is a wonderful historic read that is rich in detail and dialogue. It may be based on real people and events, but it's written in a way that no former knowledge of them is necessary in order to enjoy it. An interest in art and history is a plus, and perhaps an understanding of artistic temperament, but nothing else, so I encourage you to give it a try!
I Always Loved You is (in a simplified nutshell), a fictional account of the relationship between Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas, artists who were a part of the Impressionist movement in Paris.
I was initially interested in this book because I have a fine arts background. I'm familiar with the Impressionists and their work, but by name and reputation only. I was curious to see what Robin Oliveira would do with the story, how the characters would grow, how she would fill in the gaps between fact and the unknown.
I was not disappointed. Her writing is beautiful, poetic, and fluid. Descriptions of Paris, the people and the art flow with a natural rhythm, creating enough interest to hold my attention all the way through. The banter between Mary, Edgar and the other artists is fast and witty, and discussions about art and life, deep. I had to stop and reread the occasional paragraph to make sure I was fully absorbing her ideas, and giving them the amount of thought and consideration that was due.
The turbulent relationship between Mary and Edgar progresses well and is believable. I don't know what, if any of it, is based on reality, but it works and I never found myself questioning things. I applaud Oliveira for making them feel so real.
I Always Loved You is a wonderful historic read that is rich in detail and dialogue. It may be based on real people and events, but it's written in a way that no former knowledge of them is necessary in order to enjoy it. An interest in art and history is a plus, and perhaps an understanding of artistic temperament, but nothing else, so I encourage you to give it a try!
March 31, 2014
The complicated relationship between Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt (long my favorite painter) forms the basis for this well-researched novel’s vivid illumination of Impressionist-era Paris.
The main section spans the years 1877-1883, beginning with Mary as a 33-year-old trainee painter in Paris. She impresses many of the city’s up-and-coming artists, including Degas, and earns an invitation to her first Parisian soirée. The author brilliantly recreates the opinionated banter of this group of intellectuals. Meanwhile, Degas and Mary’s mercurial relationship mirrors the shifting fortunes of Impressionism. (It is also, on a personal level, reassuring to explore the doubts and insecurities of some of history’s most celebrated creators.)
Last week I was at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., where I saw many of the Impressionist works featured in the novel. I had never noticed the museum’s sole Berthe Morisot painting before, nor paid much heed to Degas’s wax sculpture of a ballet dancer, a piece which receives much attention in the novel (it was modeled after a 14-year-old opera house dancer – with whom Degas might also have slept). I felt that Oliveira had brought these works to life for me – that even if I still have some uncertainty about the details of Cassatt’s private life, “Her work, like [Degas’s], was all the legacy she cared to bequeath to the world.”
(See my full review at The Bookbag.)
The main section spans the years 1877-1883, beginning with Mary as a 33-year-old trainee painter in Paris. She impresses many of the city’s up-and-coming artists, including Degas, and earns an invitation to her first Parisian soirée. The author brilliantly recreates the opinionated banter of this group of intellectuals. Meanwhile, Degas and Mary’s mercurial relationship mirrors the shifting fortunes of Impressionism. (It is also, on a personal level, reassuring to explore the doubts and insecurities of some of history’s most celebrated creators.)
Last week I was at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., where I saw many of the Impressionist works featured in the novel. I had never noticed the museum’s sole Berthe Morisot painting before, nor paid much heed to Degas’s wax sculpture of a ballet dancer, a piece which receives much attention in the novel (it was modeled after a 14-year-old opera house dancer – with whom Degas might also have slept). I felt that Oliveira had brought these works to life for me – that even if I still have some uncertainty about the details of Cassatt’s private life, “Her work, like [Degas’s], was all the legacy she cared to bequeath to the world.”
(See my full review at The Bookbag.)
February 16, 2018
Personally, I think a better title would have been “I Sometimes Liked You”. I just did not buy that Mary Cassatt and Edward Degas loved each other. They liked and respected each other, admired each other’s work and collaborated well together, but the only thing they truly loved was their work.
The book has a great deal of information about the Impressionist painters and their art. It has a lot of period detail of Paris and oddly enough the medical maladies of Mary, Edward and their friends and family. Even though I didn’t think the relationship between Mary Cassatt and Edward Degas was a romantic one, I still enjoyed reading about their work together.
The book has a great deal of information about the Impressionist painters and their art. It has a lot of period detail of Paris and oddly enough the medical maladies of Mary, Edward and their friends and family. Even though I didn’t think the relationship between Mary Cassatt and Edward Degas was a romantic one, I still enjoyed reading about their work together.
February 7, 2014
I got this book via First Reads for my honest review.
I Always Loved You is based off of the perplexing relationship between Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas.
Robin Oliveira grabs real life people and turns them into a fictionalized whirl-wind story; she has an incredible way with words as it is extremely well written.
She takes you back to 19th century Paris, where things were much different, to where artists thrived and struggled.
Mary Cassatt is suggested that she was a great painter, but we never fully discover if it is true or not. Mary surely holds herself back with all of her self doubt, she probably didn't even know all of her full potential.
I discovered that you can see the works of Mary Cassett on the website of the author, you can find it here: http://www.robinoliveira.com/i-always... to gather your own opinions on her works and if she was great or not.
Edgar Degas is an arrogant man with a gargantuan ego. He seems to flutter through women like he changes his socks in the mornings.
That pretty much sums him up in my eyes.
It did start off slow and I felt like it wasn't really headed anywhere at first, but it when it did pick up it was nice and smooth and held
my interest.
Mary and Edgar while not complete opposites but rather... too messy I would say to actually make it work out. They were never made for each other but to perhaps challenge one another.
For those of you with no knowledge of the real people who actually lived, this book really makes you want to read into the lives of them who you feel as if you already know, but not know at the exact same time.
It's a real beautiful story, and Oliveira really wraps it up in a nice little package by the end, which is completely satisfying.
If you love art, Paris history, or just the 19th century, this is the book for you!
Bravo, Ms. Oliveira, you too are an artist and created an amazing masterpiece!
I Always Loved You is based off of the perplexing relationship between Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas.
Robin Oliveira grabs real life people and turns them into a fictionalized whirl-wind story; she has an incredible way with words as it is extremely well written.
She takes you back to 19th century Paris, where things were much different, to where artists thrived and struggled.
Mary Cassatt is suggested that she was a great painter, but we never fully discover if it is true or not. Mary surely holds herself back with all of her self doubt, she probably didn't even know all of her full potential.
I discovered that you can see the works of Mary Cassett on the website of the author, you can find it here: http://www.robinoliveira.com/i-always... to gather your own opinions on her works and if she was great or not.
Edgar Degas is an arrogant man with a gargantuan ego. He seems to flutter through women like he changes his socks in the mornings.
That pretty much sums him up in my eyes.
It did start off slow and I felt like it wasn't really headed anywhere at first, but it when it did pick up it was nice and smooth and held
my interest.
Mary and Edgar while not complete opposites but rather... too messy I would say to actually make it work out. They were never made for each other but to perhaps challenge one another.
For those of you with no knowledge of the real people who actually lived, this book really makes you want to read into the lives of them who you feel as if you already know, but not know at the exact same time.
It's a real beautiful story, and Oliveira really wraps it up in a nice little package by the end, which is completely satisfying.
If you love art, Paris history, or just the 19th century, this is the book for you!
Bravo, Ms. Oliveira, you too are an artist and created an amazing masterpiece!
August 26, 2016
Up front, I'd like to say that I adored Robin Oliveira's debut novel, My Name is Mary Sutter.
I Always Loved You didn't quite pack the same punch. Aspects of this book are brilliant. Meticulously researched, it is a fountain of information about Impressionistic artists of the Belle Epoque era in Paris.
Mary Cassatt, American painter of women and children’s scenes travels to Paris. She meets Edgar Degas, known for capturing motion on canvas and depicting dancers. We know from the outset they have exchanged letters, but we don’t know the contents. The book explores the nature of their relationship. It asks, “Is there room for love in two lives already consumed by passion of another sort?” (p. 7)
To fully appreciate the book, log on to the author’s website and follow the links to view the artwork described. The artists of that age and their lives are well-depicted, but I found the book a bit too fact-not-plot driven and the interwoven plot lines confusing.
I thank Goodreads First Reads for my free copy.
I Always Loved You didn't quite pack the same punch. Aspects of this book are brilliant. Meticulously researched, it is a fountain of information about Impressionistic artists of the Belle Epoque era in Paris.
Mary Cassatt, American painter of women and children’s scenes travels to Paris. She meets Edgar Degas, known for capturing motion on canvas and depicting dancers. We know from the outset they have exchanged letters, but we don’t know the contents. The book explores the nature of their relationship. It asks, “Is there room for love in two lives already consumed by passion of another sort?” (p. 7)
To fully appreciate the book, log on to the author’s website and follow the links to view the artwork described. The artists of that age and their lives are well-depicted, but I found the book a bit too fact-not-plot driven and the interwoven plot lines confusing.
I thank Goodreads First Reads for my free copy.
February 9, 2020
3.5 rounded down. You'll get a heavy dose of Edgar Degas with your Mary Cassatt in this book.
Cassatt is the impressionist painting who portrayed all those mother with fat infants.
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images...
Degas was the one who painted all the dancers.
Were they a couple? Maybe, maybe not.
But I'll tell you one thing...I sure wouldn't have lasted half a day with that guy. I certainly wouldn't have talked to him about love, if he were capable of love, if he even could love. The last fourth was a bit wordy with all that "love" talk.
Poor Mary. Everyone took advantage of her. Her parents (in their late 60s) and sister decide to move to Paris and live with her. Now *that* was something I would have liked to know more about. Did the parents move, away from two married sons with grandchildren, to be with the healthy unwed daughter so they would have someone to take care of them in their old age? And help with the ill sister? I just didn't understand that move at all.
You'll also get a bit of "Amy March", the real May Alcott who does realize some art dreams.
As usual, I wish photos of the art work would be included in these historical fiction books.
Cassatt is the impressionist painting who portrayed all those mother with fat infants.
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images...
Degas was the one who painted all the dancers.
Were they a couple? Maybe, maybe not.
But I'll tell you one thing...I sure wouldn't have lasted half a day with that guy. I certainly wouldn't have talked to him about love, if he were capable of love, if he even could love. The last fourth was a bit wordy with all that "love" talk.
Poor Mary. Everyone took advantage of her. Her parents (in their late 60s) and sister decide to move to Paris and live with her. Now *that* was something I would have liked to know more about. Did the parents move, away from two married sons with grandchildren, to be with the healthy unwed daughter so they would have someone to take care of them in their old age? And help with the ill sister? I just didn't understand that move at all.
You'll also get a bit of "Amy March", the real May Alcott who does realize some art dreams.
As usual, I wish photos of the art work would be included in these historical fiction books.
May 16, 2014
This is a somewhat tedious read trying to sort characters and relations. Overall a good read but it does take time to establish where the story is going. I was not satisfied with ending just because I like happy endings and this one doesn't make you feel good by the time you finish. If you haven't read Oliveira's My Name is Mary Sutter I suggest reading that one over I Always Loved You because it is fabulous! Like I said I liked this book overall but there are some challenges with the names and the details. At times the relationships are agonizing.
October 15, 2021
Carrie says:
Mary Cassatt was a struggling painter in Paris when she meets Edgar Degas. Their meeting is a turning point for Mary, and their subsequent relationship both fulfills and devastates her. Based on the true story of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas in the late-19th century, Robin Oliveira tells the story of impressionism in Paris. I'd recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical fiction based on fact, and stories with strong female characters. I started reading this in print but switched to the audiobook, and I highly recommend it in audio. The reader does an excellent job with accents and the French language.
Mary Cassatt was a struggling painter in Paris when she meets Edgar Degas. Their meeting is a turning point for Mary, and their subsequent relationship both fulfills and devastates her. Based on the true story of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas in the late-19th century, Robin Oliveira tells the story of impressionism in Paris. I'd recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical fiction based on fact, and stories with strong female characters. I started reading this in print but switched to the audiobook, and I highly recommend it in audio. The reader does an excellent job with accents and the French language.
May 2, 2022
Interesting book, though I might have found it harder to follow if I weren’t already familiar with the names of the Impressionists. Edgar, Edouard and Eugene - Degas, Manet, and Delacroix, are just three of the ones mentioned, and their names all begin with E…
Don’t read this book for the plot, which is not particularly dramatic. But read it for the way it evokes the time and place of Belle Époque Paris. The men in the book are not admirable, the women have to fight for every inch of respect, and Degas is hardly a romantic figure. Yet somehow I kept reading…
Don’t read this book for the plot, which is not particularly dramatic. But read it for the way it evokes the time and place of Belle Époque Paris. The men in the book are not admirable, the women have to fight for every inch of respect, and Degas is hardly a romantic figure. Yet somehow I kept reading…
March 9, 2014
In a literary culture where explorations of romance are often relegated to lightweight, Hollywood–ready love stories with contrived happy endings, Robin Oliveira distinguishes herself. Her latest novel, I Always Loved You, is romantic in the truest, most intellectually compelling sense of the word. The narrative travels elegantly across the topography of love while simultaneously exploring the agony and exultation of the human experience as it manifests in life and art. The relationship between artists Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas sits at the center of this novel set amongst the salons and exhibition halls of Belle Époque Paris, which means Oliveira has given herself a challenge unique to writers of historical fiction: faithfully representing a time and cast of characters readers know well while also telling a story that is fresh and contemporary. Oliveira meets this challenge masterfully while also creating an air of romance too often missing in modern fiction…(check out the rest of my review at http://bit.ly/1k6SnRF)
April 20, 2014
Beautifully written and full of period details, this novel features American artist Mary Cassatt and her complex relationship with the talented, sometimes infuriating Edgar Degas, but the viewpoint also switches to Berthe Morisot and her brother-in-law/maybe-lover Edouard Manet, creating a broad intimate portrait of Belle Epoque Paris and the loves, doubts, struggles, triumphs, yearnings, fears, and ambitions of four painters hoping to change the direction of art. I’ve read several books on the era, but nothing that focuses so much on the personal lives of the Impressionists. I usually prefer biography to fiction in books about actual people, but Robin Oliveiera did her research and breathes life into the characters, intriguing me enough that I have biographies of Cassatt and Morisot on hold at my library. One fun fact I didn’t know: Cassatt was a dear friend of Abigail May Alcott--Louisa’s artistic younger sister and the basis for the Amy character in Little Women.
June 25, 2023
This is an entertaining, moving historical fiction novel. It is well written The romantic storyline between Degas and Cassatt is very appealing but I was a little disappointed to read elsewhere that in real life they were only known to be friends.
February 4, 2014
In her new novel, I Always Loved You, Robin Oliveira takes the reader to Paris in the Belle Époque and tells the story of the tumultuous relationships between the radical impressionists, centering on Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas. She’s a sensible American with an untapped talent; he’s the master she’s always admired, whose work is more than paint. When Degas, uncharacteristically bewitched, begs an introduction, their lives are catapulted into a swell of emotional upheaval, of joy and loss and the bewildering elusiveness of love. With his genius Degas will guide her to her own profound talent, helping her to see beyond the meager veil of commercialism to redefine her experience of art; but with his maddening unpredictability, his impossible conceit, and his infuriating severity, Mary may find herself at the brink of breaking, whether by spirit or heart. Central in the lives of Mary and Degas are the host of independently-minded artists who brought the impressionist movement to life: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte, Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, and Camille Pissaro. Also among their set are Berthe Morisot and Édouard Manet, whose incorrigible love, barely muted by Berthe’s marriage to Édouard’s brother, mirrors the overwhelming and ultimately tragic trajectory of Mary and Degas’s relationship.
Oliveira’s rendering of Paris in the late 1800s is a gorgeous, bittersweet love letter to an iconic and wildly romantic time in history, but nothing of I Always Loved You rings of a fairy tale. Instead, the author pursues the sadness and tumult of her characters’ relationships, unearthing the ugliness of love and the miserable beauty of what can be lost. For all this heaviness, though, Oliveira has brought to readers a surprisingly life-affirming novel, one that will test our allegiance to our way of thinking and open our minds, as her Degas would, to a different perspective. To a degree, one knows early on that this story won’t end with “Happily Ever After”, but in many ways I felt that Oliveira redefined the construct of a romantic story and greatly splintered the confines of a novel of relationships. The result of her efforts was, I thought, a collective masterpiece of engaging prose, larger-than-life characters, and profound emotional insight. And, of course, there was just so much breathtaking art. Oliveira has a special talent, I think, for describing art and the artistic process. One of the things I love about this slightly newer wave of biographical fiction, as it were, is how the historical element works so greatly in favor of the fictional element, literally bringing the world of the novel into the world of the reader. There was an extra excitement in recognizing some of the pieces as Degas, Cassatt and company were creating them, and additionally Oliveira has dedicated a page of her website to providing links to all of the works featured in the book.
The impressionist movement was my first artistic love at a very young age, and it was something more than charming to see these giants of the style, so long hidden to the viewer behind their paintings, come to life under Oliveira’s guidance. Being a work of historical fiction it’s of course important to remember that these likenesses are presented through the media of creative storytelling, a means of capturing the ups and downs of the emotional story, and in that endeavor not necessarily interested in achieving anything on the biographical end. Still, I fell in love with the world of Oliveira’s novel and I was beguiled by this collection of artists, each character a vibrant definition of the individual and unpredictable essence of the creative soul. Who is likable and who isn’t, who is a hero and who is a villain, none of those stringent margins are adhered to, and that’s one of the novel’s greatest charms. I felt every ounce of the characters’ joys and frustrations: Mary’s fury with Degas when he was impossible and her love for him when he was at his best; Berthe’s impossible fight between her duty to disengage herself from Manet’s love and her fervent desire to cling to it; Degas’s hopeless desperation to achieve perfection with his Little Dancer; Manet’s struggle between a broken heart and a body broken by disease, guarded only by the veneer of his own reputation. For me as a reader, all of this in a novel would’ve been enough; but there’s more to be had, more emotional ground which Oliveira intimately explores. Mary’s relationship with her family is a central and compelling point of the story, most especially her love for her perpetually ill sister, Lydia. The social extremes in the lives of artists are also on display when the creative minds behind neighboring and distant mediums collide amid the parties and cafes of Paris; Émile Zola is brought to life in the pages, as are numerous other luminaries of the age. Their squabbles and disagreements are as fascinating to watch unfold as the creative processes of their art, which says a great deal: observing the torturous ministrations of the artists in their craft make for some of the novels most arresting scenes, whether Mary is toiling over an unfinished canvas or Degas is obsessively lost to the realization of his dancer statue. It’s a testament to the talent of the artist of one medium – the writer – that she can so deeply draw us into the experience of another. With its finely researched detail and beautiful scope, I Always Loved You has the potential to be one of those rarely emotional experiences that readers won’t soon forget.
(Review © Casee Marie, originally published on February 4, 2014 at LiteraryInklings.com. A copy of the book was provided for the purpose of review.)
Oliveira’s rendering of Paris in the late 1800s is a gorgeous, bittersweet love letter to an iconic and wildly romantic time in history, but nothing of I Always Loved You rings of a fairy tale. Instead, the author pursues the sadness and tumult of her characters’ relationships, unearthing the ugliness of love and the miserable beauty of what can be lost. For all this heaviness, though, Oliveira has brought to readers a surprisingly life-affirming novel, one that will test our allegiance to our way of thinking and open our minds, as her Degas would, to a different perspective. To a degree, one knows early on that this story won’t end with “Happily Ever After”, but in many ways I felt that Oliveira redefined the construct of a romantic story and greatly splintered the confines of a novel of relationships. The result of her efforts was, I thought, a collective masterpiece of engaging prose, larger-than-life characters, and profound emotional insight. And, of course, there was just so much breathtaking art. Oliveira has a special talent, I think, for describing art and the artistic process. One of the things I love about this slightly newer wave of biographical fiction, as it were, is how the historical element works so greatly in favor of the fictional element, literally bringing the world of the novel into the world of the reader. There was an extra excitement in recognizing some of the pieces as Degas, Cassatt and company were creating them, and additionally Oliveira has dedicated a page of her website to providing links to all of the works featured in the book.
The impressionist movement was my first artistic love at a very young age, and it was something more than charming to see these giants of the style, so long hidden to the viewer behind their paintings, come to life under Oliveira’s guidance. Being a work of historical fiction it’s of course important to remember that these likenesses are presented through the media of creative storytelling, a means of capturing the ups and downs of the emotional story, and in that endeavor not necessarily interested in achieving anything on the biographical end. Still, I fell in love with the world of Oliveira’s novel and I was beguiled by this collection of artists, each character a vibrant definition of the individual and unpredictable essence of the creative soul. Who is likable and who isn’t, who is a hero and who is a villain, none of those stringent margins are adhered to, and that’s one of the novel’s greatest charms. I felt every ounce of the characters’ joys and frustrations: Mary’s fury with Degas when he was impossible and her love for him when he was at his best; Berthe’s impossible fight between her duty to disengage herself from Manet’s love and her fervent desire to cling to it; Degas’s hopeless desperation to achieve perfection with his Little Dancer; Manet’s struggle between a broken heart and a body broken by disease, guarded only by the veneer of his own reputation. For me as a reader, all of this in a novel would’ve been enough; but there’s more to be had, more emotional ground which Oliveira intimately explores. Mary’s relationship with her family is a central and compelling point of the story, most especially her love for her perpetually ill sister, Lydia. The social extremes in the lives of artists are also on display when the creative minds behind neighboring and distant mediums collide amid the parties and cafes of Paris; Émile Zola is brought to life in the pages, as are numerous other luminaries of the age. Their squabbles and disagreements are as fascinating to watch unfold as the creative processes of their art, which says a great deal: observing the torturous ministrations of the artists in their craft make for some of the novels most arresting scenes, whether Mary is toiling over an unfinished canvas or Degas is obsessively lost to the realization of his dancer statue. It’s a testament to the talent of the artist of one medium – the writer – that she can so deeply draw us into the experience of another. With its finely researched detail and beautiful scope, I Always Loved You has the potential to be one of those rarely emotional experiences that readers won’t soon forget.
(Review © Casee Marie, originally published on February 4, 2014 at LiteraryInklings.com. A copy of the book was provided for the purpose of review.)
June 1, 2024
3.5 stars.
Good submersion into the world of Mary Cassatt for PMOA.
Good submersion into the world of Mary Cassatt for PMOA.
January 23, 2014
I Always Loved You: A Novel (click book for description and product page)
By Robin Oliveira
Publication Date: 02/04/14
Provided free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
My Rating: 4 bones
Finish time: 9 nights. After my last book (here), I was hoping for a bit of an easier read, but somehow I ended up on this one that took me almost as long. And centered around art again too. Hmmm. Not a bad thing, just kind of funny. I had a love, hate relationship with this book, but after thinking about it the last day, I did like it, and it’s prompted me to want to learn more on a topic 10 days ago I had no interest in. So I’d take that as a sign of a good book (see the bottom for some of my “research.”
Having no background in art history, I could recognize some of the names, but I had no idea much more about them. And this is a random comparison, but what kept popping into my head after I finished on how to describe this book is: Real World: Paris, 19th Century Or the Impressionists. And the people all happened to be artists. Renoir, Manet, Monet, Cassatt, Degas, Morisot, Pissaro (and many more). Some names familiar to me, others not, but in my brief Wikipedia research, they all were real (and quite the motley crew), as were the other characters in the book. I guess it was also a “before they were famous” story too. A bunch of starving artists spending their days dreaming, painting, partying, trying to make a buck, and preparing for the next exhibition.
The main character in the book was Mary Cassatt, an American painter, invited to join the group, and her struggle to fit in among the Paris natives, and make a name for herself in the Paris art scene. Her relationship throughout the book with Degas is a fun, yet very frustrating one. Her family comes to join her in Paris too and even in the 1800′s, her struggles with them were so easy to relate to. I especially enjoyed her relationship with her sister Lydia (again who I confirmed was real – see her portrait by Mary below.)
Fun facts were thrown in all over the place, like her friend Abigail Alcott, whose more famous sister is Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women. At some points, I felt a map of Paris would have been helpful as they discussed a lot of landmarks, not a bad thing, and not that I know Paris, but would have been fun to see in the book. But overall the book was just packed with great stories, complex and compelling relationships, and a ton of history.
As you can guess from the title, a love story too, but what’s fun is that it actually could be a few love stories. A lot of plot lines are intertwined, and I was confused at some points, but as I said when I started, the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Look out for it in just a few weeks. This is the perfect historical fiction.
See full review here:
http://mydogearedpurpose.com/2014/01/...
By Robin Oliveira
Publication Date: 02/04/14
Provided free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
My Rating: 4 bones
Finish time: 9 nights. After my last book (here), I was hoping for a bit of an easier read, but somehow I ended up on this one that took me almost as long. And centered around art again too. Hmmm. Not a bad thing, just kind of funny. I had a love, hate relationship with this book, but after thinking about it the last day, I did like it, and it’s prompted me to want to learn more on a topic 10 days ago I had no interest in. So I’d take that as a sign of a good book (see the bottom for some of my “research.”
Having no background in art history, I could recognize some of the names, but I had no idea much more about them. And this is a random comparison, but what kept popping into my head after I finished on how to describe this book is: Real World: Paris, 19th Century Or the Impressionists. And the people all happened to be artists. Renoir, Manet, Monet, Cassatt, Degas, Morisot, Pissaro (and many more). Some names familiar to me, others not, but in my brief Wikipedia research, they all were real (and quite the motley crew), as were the other characters in the book. I guess it was also a “before they were famous” story too. A bunch of starving artists spending their days dreaming, painting, partying, trying to make a buck, and preparing for the next exhibition.
The main character in the book was Mary Cassatt, an American painter, invited to join the group, and her struggle to fit in among the Paris natives, and make a name for herself in the Paris art scene. Her relationship throughout the book with Degas is a fun, yet very frustrating one. Her family comes to join her in Paris too and even in the 1800′s, her struggles with them were so easy to relate to. I especially enjoyed her relationship with her sister Lydia (again who I confirmed was real – see her portrait by Mary below.)
Fun facts were thrown in all over the place, like her friend Abigail Alcott, whose more famous sister is Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women. At some points, I felt a map of Paris would have been helpful as they discussed a lot of landmarks, not a bad thing, and not that I know Paris, but would have been fun to see in the book. But overall the book was just packed with great stories, complex and compelling relationships, and a ton of history.
As you can guess from the title, a love story too, but what’s fun is that it actually could be a few love stories. A lot of plot lines are intertwined, and I was confused at some points, but as I said when I started, the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Look out for it in just a few weeks. This is the perfect historical fiction.
See full review here:
http://mydogearedpurpose.com/2014/01/...
February 6, 2014
Historical fiction is a great way to live vicariously in another time or place, and to interact in our imaginations with notable people. Recently, there have been lots of opportunities to "meet" artists, writers and architects through novels. The great men and women don't always emerge as great people, maybe just folks who have achieved greatness in some way.
Robin Oliveira's book about Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas left me feeling that way. I admired Mary's ambition, dedication and talent, but was left feeling that there must have been so much more to her than we were able to garner from Oliveira's story. We learned surprisingly little about this gifted, strong woman. Perhaps the source material didn't provide much to work with, but I found the tale of her life very thin. And, details on her Parisian life at the center of the Impressionist's Circle were spare.
But, just when you think that there is little left to learn, or imagine, about the Impressionists, I did feel that I gained some insight into the creative process of these two artists. And, what I took away was that the paintings that I always felt just flowed from their imagination to their canvas were not effortless at all. Cassatt and Degas were slaves to their art. Never satisfied. Rarely happy or joyous in its creation. Creative as they were, if Oliveira's sense of their lives is accurate, they worked with the dedication and obsession to achieve what they did.
I received an advanced readers copy of this book through FirstReads and appreciate the opportunity to comment on my reading experience.
Robin Oliveira's book about Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas left me feeling that way. I admired Mary's ambition, dedication and talent, but was left feeling that there must have been so much more to her than we were able to garner from Oliveira's story. We learned surprisingly little about this gifted, strong woman. Perhaps the source material didn't provide much to work with, but I found the tale of her life very thin. And, details on her Parisian life at the center of the Impressionist's Circle were spare.
But, just when you think that there is little left to learn, or imagine, about the Impressionists, I did feel that I gained some insight into the creative process of these two artists. And, what I took away was that the paintings that I always felt just flowed from their imagination to their canvas were not effortless at all. Cassatt and Degas were slaves to their art. Never satisfied. Rarely happy or joyous in its creation. Creative as they were, if Oliveira's sense of their lives is accurate, they worked with the dedication and obsession to achieve what they did.
I received an advanced readers copy of this book through FirstReads and appreciate the opportunity to comment on my reading experience.
February 1, 2014
Original review found at http://kristineandterri.blogspot.ca/2...
* I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Viking via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.*
Historical fiction has always been one of my favourite genres so I was extremely happy to have been granted access to this book in advance of the publication date. I could not wait to dive into the story. There is no doubt that Oliveira is an amazing writer as she so eloquently describes Paris and the art world of that era. She most definitely did her research, knew her stuff and it showed on each and every page.
For me, it was the story itself that fell a little bit short. I just couldn't connect with Mary and Edgar. I think in part it may have been because it jumped from them to Manet and Berthe Morisot which created a bit of confusion. Who was the story about? I was actually more drawn to the Manet and Berthe story which I think was meant to be a secondary story. Their story was just more interesting and tragic. I found Mary and Edgar to be a little boring if I'm totally honest. It wasn't until I was at about 70% that I found their story all that interesting.
If you are a history and art fan you will probably really enjoy the attention to detail in this book. In fact, I feel that this book was more about the art and less about the people. If it is the love story you are after then it may fall a little short as it did for me.
* I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Viking via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.*
Historical fiction has always been one of my favourite genres so I was extremely happy to have been granted access to this book in advance of the publication date. I could not wait to dive into the story. There is no doubt that Oliveira is an amazing writer as she so eloquently describes Paris and the art world of that era. She most definitely did her research, knew her stuff and it showed on each and every page.
For me, it was the story itself that fell a little bit short. I just couldn't connect with Mary and Edgar. I think in part it may have been because it jumped from them to Manet and Berthe Morisot which created a bit of confusion. Who was the story about? I was actually more drawn to the Manet and Berthe story which I think was meant to be a secondary story. Their story was just more interesting and tragic. I found Mary and Edgar to be a little boring if I'm totally honest. It wasn't until I was at about 70% that I found their story all that interesting.
If you are a history and art fan you will probably really enjoy the attention to detail in this book. In fact, I feel that this book was more about the art and less about the people. If it is the love story you are after then it may fall a little short as it did for me.
October 25, 2020
I enjoyed this book so thoroughly. Such an expressive insight into a time and place that will never come again, but which echoes down the decades of art and culture even now. To be there, beside Degas and Cassat, Manet and Morisot, as the Paris Salon alternatively loves them and hates them was an experience to be sure!
My edition had an old cover, showing 'In the Winter Garden' by Manet. I spent a long time staring at it after I read the book. The themes of love, and art, and sacrifice were powerfully portrayed. The painful creation of art struck a vivid chord with me:
"She waited for him to steal her courage by saying that he did love her. She might do anything then, if he did. She might even disappoint herself."
There were so many moments that made me think 'yes, yes, Oliveira understands the price of art. That is why she can write this book.' It isn't an understanding everyone has, because art can be consuming and takes you away from those who may not comprehend that this is not meant as a rejection of them, by an embracing of Self. That line is so fine, and this book sketches it with both light and darkness.
My edition had an old cover, showing 'In the Winter Garden' by Manet. I spent a long time staring at it after I read the book. The themes of love, and art, and sacrifice were powerfully portrayed. The painful creation of art struck a vivid chord with me:
"She waited for him to steal her courage by saying that he did love her. She might do anything then, if he did. She might even disappoint herself."
There were so many moments that made me think 'yes, yes, Oliveira understands the price of art. That is why she can write this book.' It isn't an understanding everyone has, because art can be consuming and takes you away from those who may not comprehend that this is not meant as a rejection of them, by an embracing of Self. That line is so fine, and this book sketches it with both light and darkness.
February 18, 2025
I have always been fascinated with the impressionists--how they tried to do their art in a new way, always seeking, sometimes failing, then struggling some more to hang onto this method of painting. And doing so in the company of friends, fellow budding impressionists on the same zigzagging path. Their relationships were very much, I think, the way it is with my writing group(s). In this book, Robin Oliveira follows closely the lives of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas, their deep personal as well as artistic connections. I ALWAYS LOVED YOU is a wonder. I found myself enthralled in every chapter.
August 20, 2020
Phenomenal! Enthralling. I don't think I will ever forget this book!
I know this story about Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas is highly fictionalized, which can be a problem. Much of it IS true, but the problem is that we tend to remember the whole story as factual. I will try to resist doing that and make a point to read a nonfiction book about Cassatt (hard to find!). But I must say, I really loved the book and the portraits of so many noted Impressionists.
I know this story about Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas is highly fictionalized, which can be a problem. Much of it IS true, but the problem is that we tend to remember the whole story as factual. I will try to resist doing that and make a point to read a nonfiction book about Cassatt (hard to find!). But I must say, I really loved the book and the portraits of so many noted Impressionists.
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