Lovers of history, lighthouses, and the struggles of making it in this big world will enjoy this gorgeous novel of a young girl's rises and falls in Paris. I loved the setting and the characters.

Enjoyed the book but the ending seemed a little abrupt. Overall, a good read.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

The Girl From The Lighthouse – Willard Thompson – 5 Stars

Loved the book – didn’t like the ending. It seemed abrupt and not well thought out like the rest of the book. I guess it had to end somewhere. Emma Dobbins is raised in a lighthouse by her Father, her Mother left when she was 5. She never learned all the rules of living with others that most women just know….what they get from their Mothers. She only attended one year of schooling and she wouldn’t do her studies there. All she wanted to do was her drawing and her art. When her Father died she had to leave the lighthouse. She was headed to Paris with a companion to an Art School, her companion took ill. She had to leave her in a hospital and go into Paris alone without being able to speak the language. She was befriended by a young woman working at the railroad when it came in. She was only 17 then. Although she couldn’t get into an Art School, she lost the paper her companion and written down who she was supposed to contact, so she didn’t know where to go. The schools she tried all said only men make it into our schools. Somehow, she learns the language and lives for a long time at the home of the gal she met at the railroad. She has to leave them as during the outbreak of war no one has enough food or work. She does eventually meet many of the painters who are a part of the impressionist movement. Many want to paint her, many want her body, she just wants to paint but she does what she can to make enough money to practice her craft. The story is well written and well researched. Much of what happened really happened, Emma was really the only part of the story not based on fact. The story sucks you in and you really want to finish it. You learn a lot while following Emma through her story. It was a really great book and I did enjoy it immensely, except for the last few paragraphs at the end. It all though has to end somewhere.

I received this book through NetGalley.com in the ereader format. The hope is that I’ll be willing to give the book a review which I have above and it deserved a very favorable review the book was a really good one!! #NetGalley #TheGirlFromTheLighthouse

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 chaperone 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 �poque. 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. Emma grows into an accomplished artist but never gives up her own principles... even when someone steals something precious to her. 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

Deserted by their wife and mother Emma Dobbins is raised by her father the lighthouse keeper at Point Conception in California. There are three other lighthouse keepers there and after her father's death she must leave her only home she has ever known and make it on her own.
Fascinated with art since an early age when she would sketch everything she saw around her she is thrilled when she receives an invitation to study art in Paris. A lost invitation makes for a sad and lost girl once she arrives in Paris especially since she has no where to live.
Feeling adrift in a sea of business in Paris she can't get into art schools there, men are the only artist they are interested in.
As luck would have it she finds a working class girl that convinces her family to take Emma into their family. She must learn French as coming from America she has no knowledge of the language.
She becomes and accomplished artist.Emma experiences great joys and devastating lows, loves lost and found. You feel as if you are experiencing this right along with Emma, the descriptions are fabulous. From the French baguettes to the fancy French gowns to the magnificent landscape it's all here at your fingertips when you read this.

Published March 20th 2019 by RINCON PUBLISHING.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

The cover of this book is lovely. I enjoyed the story of the main character searching to become an established artist and learn her craft by traveling to Paris. I did however feel there was not enough development or depth to the main character in the beginning of the book. The characters seemed to jump from situation to situation in bursts of conversation without me creating a relationship with them in order to pull for them.

The Girl From The Lighthouse
At the age of 5 Emma Dobbins arrives at a lighthouse with her mother and father, where her father will work as a lighthouse keeper. Her mother dissatisfied with the turn of events that brought her to this place at the edge of California, abandons both her husband and child. At the age of 13 Emma's father dies and she is left on her own. Her passion is art, sketching and water color scenes are her forte, however, she really wants to learn to become an artist, one who paints with oils. At 17 years of age, we find Emma en route to Paris with a chaperone, one who she will model for, with hopes of going to art school. Unfortunately, her chaperone becomes ill, has to be quarantined and is forced to go to a hospital in Rouen, leaving Emma on her own. Arriving in Paris with no place to go, with no understanding of the language, she befriends a young woman who works at the train station and comes to her aid.

We are now in the heart of the Belle Époque the years between the 1860's and 1870's. For Emma, who has hopes of learning to become an artist, she is now disillusioned as the conventions of the time do not allow women into these institutes. Yet Emma is undeterred in her pursuit to become an artist, learning her skills through other artists of the times, modeling when she is able, to earn enough money to survive. She is definitely forthright, perhaps even outspoken in her beliefs, finding it difficult to understand the French way of life. For her, growing up mostly on her own, there are no rules.

The history here is written brilliantly...the Franco-Prussian War, the Commune Uprising and the distinction between the working class citizens and the elite. There is much to learn here about the impressionist artists during that time...Renoir, Degas to name a few...their efforts to be noticed, to sell their art. Stepping into the past, with the history of France at that time just before WWI, you feel as if you are actually there as a witness. For fans of historical fiction, this is one of the best...the character development and how Emma evolves is not just interesting, but absorbing as well. For art lovers, this will be a treat!

My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.