Estelle - Linda Stewart Henley

Linda Stewart Henley has just released her debut novel - Estelle. This novel is about Degas' sojourn with family in New Orleans in the late 1800's. It's historical fiction blended with family saga, romance, and mystery--and art!

Here's a bit more from She Writes Press:

"When Edgar Degas visits his French Creole relatives in New Orleans from 1872 to ’73, Estelle, his cousin and sister-in-law, encourages the artist―who has not yet achieved recognition and struggles to find inspiration―to paint portraits of their family members.

In 1970, Anne Gautier, a young artist, finds connections between her ancestors and Degas while renovating the New Orleans house she has inherited. When Anne finds two identical portraits of Estelle, she discovers disturbing truths that change her life as she searches for meaningful artistic expression―just as Degas did one hundred years earlier.

A gripping historical novel told by two women living a century apart, Estelle combines mystery, family saga, art, and romance in its exploration of the man Degas was before he became the artist famous around the world today." Check it out - here's an excerpt of Estelle.

Cr: Mark Gardner

"Linda Stewart Henley is an English-born American who moved to the United States at sixteen. She is a graduate of Newcomb College of Tulane University in New Orleans. She currently lives with her husband in Anacortes, Washington. This is her first novel. You can connect with Linda on her website and like her on FaceBook.

"...a promising debut....Henley brings New Orleans to life as she braids two intriguing stories – Edgar Degas’ art and dalliance with Marguerite, and Anne’s treasure hunt into Degas’s poorly-known early history."—Historical Novels Review

"Interweaving a contemporary story with a rich and detailed glimpse into a little-known segment of famed French painter Edgar Degas’s life, Linda Stewart Henley invites readers into the intriguing art world of New Orleans through interlocking storylines set a century apart. An admirable debut!"
―Ashley E. Sweeney, award-winning author of Eliza Waite and Answer Creek