Luncheon of the Boating Party

**Bestselling author Susan Vreeland returns with a vivid exploration of one of

the most beloved Renoir paintings in the world**

Instantly recognizable, Auguste Renoir's masterpiece depicts a gathering of

his real friends enjoying a summer Sunday on a café terrace along the Seine

near Paris. A wealthy painter, an art collector, an Italian journalist, a war

hero, a celebrated actress, and Renoir's future wife, among others, share this

moment of _la vie moderne_ , a time when social constraints were loosening and

Paris was healing after the Franco-Prussian War. Parisians were bursting with

a desire for pleasure and a yearning to create something extraordinary out of

life. Renoir shared these urges and took on this most challenging project at a

time of personal crises in art and love, all the while facing issues of

loyalty and the diverging styles that were tearing apart the Impressionist

group. Narrated by Renoir and seven of the models and using settings in Paris

and on the Seine, Vreeland illuminates the gusto, hedonism, and art of the

era. With a gorgeous palette of vibrant, captivating characters, she paints

their lives, loves, losses, and triumphs in a brilliant portrait of her own.