The Painted Girls - Discussion Highlights

We had the opportunity to skype with Cathy Marie Buchanan for about half an hour at the start of our meeting.  She provided us with information on how the idea for the book came about, and the  detailed research that she did to prepare for the writing of this book. This was the second time this book club had the opportunity to skype with Cathy, and it was neat to hear from an author on  what it takes for a book to be published

Overall the book was liked by us, there are some parts of it that are somewhat graphic and perhaps too detailed/explicit (which lead  most of us to conclude that this is a book we would  recommend with reservation).   The author does a good job of honestly depicting what really happened during the 1800's  to these three young sisters who had no real protection, no one to  stand up for them, guide them or provide for them. Most of the men in the story took advantage of the girls in some way, with the exception of the baker, a favorite of those reading.

These sisters sometimes made mistakes, but support each other the best they can under the difficult circumstances in which they live; it was felt that neither Marie or Antoinette would have been able to survive if they did not have each other.

We had an assortment of french cheese with crackers and pastry (Boursin is our new favorite cheese :), with Madeline's and eclairs for dessert!