The power of paintings & sketches

While writing Paris In Ruins, I came across numerous paintings and sketches that helped me appreciate the times, the city, and the people. I found a number of them while on a research trip to Paris. Others I found in books and through online sources. Each one added to the descriptions I used or to my imagination of the scenes where my characters enacted the story.

I’ll let the paintings and sketches speak for themselves – after all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

The view from place de la Concorde toward l’Arc de Triomphe
Paris Fortifications – looking out at the countryside
Claude Monet – workers on the Seine unloading coal
Degas – Women ironing
Attack by the French Garde Mobile on a chateau outside Paris
Fighting around Place Pigalle
1870s civil marriage ceremony
Pantheon 1870
Securing the cannons in Montmartre – an act the sparked the Paris Commune
I found so many sketches of gowns
Salon gathering – inspiration for Madame Lambert’s salon
Women on the barricades during the Paris Commune
The bridge at Sevres – inspired a scene with Mariele and her mother
Barricades during the Paris Commune
Conciergerie prison – where one of my characters is imprisoned

These and many more inspired my writing and helped me keep my thoughts in 1870/71 Paris.

Paris In Ruins: 1870 Paris – Raised for a life of parties and servants, Camille and Mariele have much in common, but it takes the horrors of war to bring them together to fight for the city they love. War has a way of teaching lessons – if only they can survive to learn them.

Paris In Ruins is available in many countries on Kindle, on Amazon (paperback), on Kobo, and on Barnes & Noble

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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel, PARIS IN RUINS, is available for pre-order on Amazon USAmazon CanadaKobo, and Barnes&Noble. An earlier novel, TIME AND REGRET was published by Lake Union. Mary’s other novels, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from AmazonNookKoboGoogle Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on FacebookTwitter and Goodreads or on her website www.mktod.com.

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Meet M.K.Tod

The historical fiction author behind A Writer of History...

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4 Responses

  1. I never realized how much writing depends on the visual/art. With your photos and sketches, I can see where your descriptions are so accurate and vivid!

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