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| The Rouen Cathedral - June 2014 |
Last week I mentioned that I was dithering over which of my projects to focus on this year; well, I've decided: my middle grade historical fiction novel entitled: The Rabbit of Rouen - my 2020 NaNoWriMo manuscript.
When we visited Rouen, France, in 2014, it was with the purpose of allowing my husband, fine artist Michael Lindstrom, the opportunity to paint the iconic cathedral that Claude Monet so beautifully captured many times. Michael was thrilled to stand right where Monet stood.
However, I found the quaint, cobble stone streets of the historic city (the place where Joan of Arc was martyred) to be inspiring as well. I had intended Rouen to be the setting for Book II of a middle grade series entitled, Livvi Biddle, but somehow it ended up being perfect for The Rabbit of Rouen - set in WWII France. Here's a brief description:
While eleven-year-old Gigi had been born in Paris, after the Nazis occupied the City of Light in 1940, her parents had sent her to live in the Normandy region of France on her grandparents' apple farm outside of Rouen. But in April of 1944 - after Grandpère and Grandmère had been killed in the bombing of the Rouen Cathedral - Gigi was on her own. So she set out for Paris, to once again live with her parents. But the eighty-mile journey was fraught with danger and death, and when she finally arrived in Paris she discovered her parents were not the people she remembered - they're resistance fighters. Learn how Gigi finds the courage, amidst France's darkest days of World War II, to become one of the youngest resistance fighters - The Rabbit of Rouen. Then in August 1944, despite the power and prevalence of the Third Reich, she helped the Allies liberate Paris.
Revising this will keep me busy for much of 2021 - I'll keep you posted.
By the way, here is Michael painting the cathedral in Rouen in 2014:
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| michaellindstromartist.com |
Here is his finished plein air painting of the Rouen Cathedral:
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| The Rouen Cathedral - 16X12 - not for sale |
