What do readers think of The Renoir Girls by Catherine Ostler? Write your own review.

An exploration of Renoir’s society portraits of Alice (pink dress) and Elizabeth (blue dress) Cahen d’Anvers, the youngest daughters of one of France’s wealthiest bankers (the year before Renoir had painted their elder sister, Irene) providing a history of the portraits - personal, family, and historical context - that emerges in a captivating book.

The three Cahen d’Anvers sisters lived in that splendid Parisian Belle Époque period - glam, glitter, balls, yachts, architecture and, art. This is splendidly brought to life by the author, especially with the addition of references to Marcel Proust’s book which capture this period so well. Then in 1894 the infamous Dreyfus case divided France into Dreyfusards and anti-Dreyfusards and moved Hews to the lowest on the social ladders. Many concerted to Catholicism as did the Cahen d’Anvers sisters. The sisters were decorated for their nursing efforts in WWI but by then antisemitism was a creeping evil. In spite of this and more because of their love of Paris that the the sisters stayed during WWII. The sad fate of Elizabeth, betrayed by a countryman, she died in Auschwitz. As to the paintings by luck they survived and decorate museums in Switzerland and Brazil.

This is such an interesting history as it sweeps to the heights and then sinks to depth of history but the resilience of people lies in the way to total defeat. Loved that. I found the structure though a bit unwieldy and confusing when reading . That’s my only criticism of the book. But the book’s spotlight on the evils of antisemitism is the real winner in this remarkable book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read this ARC.