The Girl from the Lighthouse by Willard Thompson - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hi lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Willard Thompson and his new book, “The Girl from the Lighthouse”!  For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Willard and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!

The Girl from the Lighthouse

by Willard Thompson

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GENRE: Historical Literary Romance

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BLURB:

The Girl From the Lighthouse tells the compelling story of Emma Dobbins.

Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she was raised by her father, a lighthouse keeper at Point Conception in California, where early on she discovers her artistic talent.  At the age of 17, Emma travels to Paris with a chaperone, to attend art school but is separated from the chaperone when the woman becomes ill. Emma arrives alone in Paris with no money, no language skills, and no friends. A chance meeting with a young working girl in the train station becomes her first Parisian friend.

The setting is Paris in the 1860s-70s, the start of the Belle Èpoque. France soon is involved in the Franco/Prussian War and the Commune Uprising; difficult times for Emma and all Frenchmen. Initially rejected by art schools, her determination keeps her moving toward her goal in the art world, where the Impressionists are starting to change the world. Frenchmen fall in love with her beautiful face and lustrous dark hair. Some wanted to paint her, others to court her, but either way, she does not abide by the rules they try to impose on her because she never learned them. She grows into an accomplished artist but never gives up her own principles... even when someone steals something precious to her and she fights to get it back.

The story is told in the first person, present tense, allowing the reader to enter the story and feel a part of it as it unfolds, sharing with Emma her highs and lows, loves and rejections, all focused in the art world of Paris.  The novel is filled with vivid characters, both fictional and real people, and the story unfolds gracefully from the 1870s until 1912, just prior to the start of WWI.

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EXCERPT THREE:

The next morning, I go to the orchard with my easel and a canvas to capture the early light and the dew on the leaves of the apple trees. I set up the easel midway between two rows and concentrate on getting the perspective just right, as the trees appear to merge in the distance. It is delicate, tedious work, but the charcoal pencil I sketch with comes alive in my fingers, eagerly welcoming the challenge. In my mind's eye, I see myself in solitude on the bluff looking out at the headlands of the rugged California coastline merging into the mist.

"That is a very brilliant thing you have done to capture the complexity of the apple orchard fading into the distance," the voice over my shoulder says around mid-day.

When I look up, I see Lamar scrutinizing my morning's work. "The flowers are so delicate," I tell him, "So hard to get right. Tomorrow my challenge will be to reproduce in oil what I've sketched." I pause then ask, "How has your morning been, mon cher?" I wait for his reaction.

"Well enough, I suppose. I've read my mail and a couple of newspapers that came with it. What do you say we drive into the village for lunch? I'm ready."

"Can you wait just a few more minutes?"

"Ah, but Emma, I am hungry now."

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GUEST POST:

My Favorite Scene in the Book

Emma Dobbin is a young American girl studying art in Paris, France in 1870, and trying to find her way in the Victorian era society. She regularly goes to the Lourve Museum to study and copy the masterpieces there and is befriended by Impressionist artist Berthe Morisot. They go to lunch together. Here are the scene and the picture Emma is studying:

Sitting on a bench in the Louvre Museum a month later, hunched over my sketching pad, I’m focusing on the masterpiece in front of me, oblivious to people walking up and down the marble-walled Grand Gallery. A Jacque-Louis David portrait of a reclining woman is in front of me, so elegant in its simplicity, yet so beguiling and mysterious, I can only stare at her, trying to imagine the thoughts going through her mind. I can’t help wonder if Madame Récamier had any of the same feelings I do while she was being painted.

I set pencil and pad down, after adding a final few strokes and turn to a friend who has just come by. “Ah, Bonjour, Mademoiselle Morisot. Pardonne-moi. I was lost and didn’t notice your approach.”

“Bonjour Emma. I would be pleased to have you call me Berthe. I saw you and wanted to ask if you would join me for lunch.”

“Yes,” I tell her. “Yes, I would like that. I have done enough for today. Some days—like today—the work seems hard, and I get distracted. I haven’t seen you for some time, Berthe. It will be pleasant to catch up.”

“Oui I have been with my family. If you are finished...”

Together we leave the museum, cross rue de Rivoli, and walk along the stone-canopied sidewalk to a café on the corner of rue Royale, across from the Place de la Concorde. We take an outdoor table. Berthe orders a meat and cheese plate, with a glass of wine, and a mushroom omelet for me.

“How is your work progressing?” She asks as we settle in.

“It’s been several months, and I still copy with pad and pencil, sometimes I try watercolors—I think I have learned a great deal, but I’m still not ready to try oils.”

“You should,” she encourages me. “David is a good artist for you to copy. His portraits are beautifully executed, especially the one of Madame Recamier you are working on. Portraits like that are the kind of commissions you are likely to get when you are ready.”

“How so?”

        “There is always demand for portraits of wives and children, and other women that are best done by women artists. You should also study some of Vigee Le Brun’s portraits.”

I study the wine in my glass, using the pause to consider Berthe’s recommendation. “I hope to paint landscapes one day,” I tell her.

“Difficult for a woman,” she replies. “Traveling alone to paint a landscape is often...” She pauses, “how do I say, looked down upon. There are not many buyers for the work of a woman landscape artist.”

“I want to be free to paint whatever I want.”

Berthe cuts a slice of cheese from the wedge on her plate and adds it to a piece of baguette before taking a sip from her glass. She looks at me with her doleful dark eyes the whole time. “That can be difficult,” she says at last. “Consider your decision carefully. It is easier for us to paint in a boudoir than side-by-side in a world with men.” She pauses again and picks at a piece of ham.

Feeling frustrated, and looking for a response that won’t offend my friend, I stab my fork at a mushroom. “It seems to me women in Paris have only limited freedom. Do you find it that way, Berthe?”

“I have never thought much about it, but yes, I do. It’s just the way life is for women. Both of my older sisters are married. I think they have more freedom than I do, but they still obey their husbands.” Setting her glass down, she adds quietly, “I hope to marry one day. Do you? But for now, marriage can wait.”

“I don’t know. I find some men quite charming, but others seem brutish and demanding. I want my freedom.” As I set my fork down, thinking about Leo and Frederic, my gaze wanders off to the Place de la Concorde, where there is a bustle of activity. “What is going on there, Berthe?”

“Tents. For the National Guard. Did you know the Emperor has declared war on Prussia?”

I’m stunned. “No, I did not. You say the National Guard has been called up?” I strain to see the activity across the boulevard.

“Louis Napoleon has mobilized the army and the National Guard. The Guard is camping over there for now. My father says they will all march off to the Rhine in the next day or two.”

“All of them?”

“Oui. My father says Louis Napoleon has made a big mistake starting a war.”

“I have a friend in the Guard. Perhaps he is over there. Will you walk with me to look for him?”

“Oh no, Emma! It would not be proper for two young women to go walking alone among all those men.”

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AUTHOR BIO:

Willard Thompson is an award-winning historical fiction and romance writer living in Montecito, California with his wife Jo. His newest historical romance, THE GIRL FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE was published in early 2019. His previously published three novels of historical fiction DREAM HELPER DELFINA'S GOLD, and THEIR GOLDEN DREAMS are part of his CHRONICLES OF CALIFORNIA trilogy. The Independent Publishers 2009 Book Awards selected DREAM HELPER for a gold medal as the best fiction in the Western/Pacific Region.

Thompson is a past president of the board of directors of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. He is a native of Manhasset, New York and a graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

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CONNECT WITH WILLARD:

Website:

http://www.rinconpublishing.com

Blog:

http://chroniclesofcalifornia.blogspot.com

  

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/RinconPublish

BookBub Author Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/willard-thompson

BookBub Book Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-girl-from-the-lighthouse-a-novel-by-willard-thompson

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1878522.Willard_Thompson

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43810871-the-girl-from-the-lighthouse

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/2Cp5YEE

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle:

https://amzn.to/2YcsQAm

Amazon Paperback:

https://amzn.to/2Y9SgPa

Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130583838?ean=2940161343975

Barnes and Noble Paperback:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130583838?ean=9780979755293

Kobo eBook:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-girl-from-the-lighthouse

The Book Depository Paperback:

https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Girl-from-the-Lighthouse-Willard-Thompson/9780979755293

BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:

https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Girl-from-Lighthouse/Willard-Thompson/9780979755293

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Willard will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.