The Blue: A Novel. Nancy Bilyeau. Endeavor Quill. December 2018. $3.99; pb, 430 pp.; ISBN: 9781911445626.
Genevieve
Planche is the granddaughter of French Huguenots, an artist who is reduced to
painting on porcelain cups although her skills pertain to being able to paint
in oils, the latter talent closed to females in 1758 England. The author’s own familial background is connected
to the Huguenot background of this artist.
She adores the work of the famous artist, William Hogarth, and Joshua
Reynolds. She lives in Spitalfields, a
modest area outside of the West End of famous artists and wealthy patrons. Despite
being associated in the recent past with the criminal Dennis Arsenault, Genevieve
makes up a story to meet William Hogarth.
Imagine her surprise when she is accosted by two men, one her ex-lover
and one, Sir Gabriel Courtenay. The latter she met at a dinner earlier and then
in Hogarth’s home. His interest in her seems
awkward but determined. Their earlier
conversation was about the history of different types of porcelain, including
the famous Sevres porcelain. The contact
immediately becomes dangerous!
Two
items dominate this complex, ever-changing plot. One is the past French massacre of Genevieve’s
fellow Huguenots at what is known as St. Bartholomew Massacre and the other is
the exploratory search for a brand new color of blue. The reader is at first unsure whether this is
blue as we know it, a type of Prussian blue or some other shade of blue. Either
way, the machinations spun by Courtenay make Genevieve realize it’s a secret that
results in plenty of injured and dead people who get too close to this affair.
Thomas
Sturbridge is the brilliant scientist who is said to rival the talent of Isaac
Newton. Before she meets him, she is
invited, through her grandfather’s artistic influence, to paint porcelain at
Derby Porcelain Works. It is quite unclear
who is a trustworthy part of this exploration into the new color being
sought. Even Thomas, with whom Genevieve
falls in love, is partially secretive and purely passionate about his scientific
experiments. Genevieve is threatened,
beaten at one point and imprisoned because of their love. She is the only one who can get Thomas to
continue his work and yet he seems to know something that he has not revealed
to Genevieve.
Words
cannot convey the passion, talents, criminal intent and plans to make this
discovery real. The characters move between
England and France, who by the way are also currently at war, at a breakneck
pace. One is never sure of who is
sincere and who is a criminal. The conclusion
is mind-blowing in its surprises.
Royalty is more involved in this plot than earlier realized. The author has obviously researched her
subject with precision and depth and knows how to hold the reader’s fascination
with plot and character manipulations.
More than that, the author also has a deep, passionate love for the
world of porcelain and art, as well as the Huguenot people.
This
is magnificent historical fiction that’s a must read and a great gift for those
who love the genres of historical fiction and mysteries! Congratulations, Nancy
Bilyeau, for a book that will be read, re-read and talked about for some time
to come!
