Girl Braiding Her Hair

Inspired by the True Story of a Revolutionary Female Artist History Forgot

By: Marta Molnar, Dana Marton

Narrated by: Leah Daniels

Her friends included Van Gogh, Degas, and Renoir. Paris celebrated her as a sought-after model, until she picked up the brush herself, at a time when art schools refused to accept female students. By the time Suzanne Valadon was 15 years old, shed been a horse walker, a milliner, a funeral wreath maker, and a circus acrobat, but that was just the beginning of her adventures. Here is her story, along with Ellie's, a modern woman a century later at a crossroads of her life, who pulls Suzanne from the shadows of the past into the light.

A brand-new novel from the author of the bestselling novel of THE SECRET LIFE OF SUNFLOWERS.

The perfect Book Club listen!

©2023 Marta Dana (P)2024 Marta Dana

Another wonderful introduction of a woman mostly lost to history.

Suzanne Valadon was a force of nature! Thanks for introducing another woman who was fighting to break down barriers for all women. Sorry to say that the narrator's pronunciation, over-diction at some points, and particularly her voiced sound effects were disruptive to my enjoyment.

Narrator and Book Review

The narration of the book was phenomenal and it was a great book as well. Loved the story!

An artist I was unfamiliar with. Great story.

Fell in love with Ellie, of course, and her dream. Hard to warm up to Susan, tho she had to be a tough cookie. That sure came through.

I really liked the story(ies), had trouble with the voice of Susan.

Great Story about an Unknown Artist

I love learning about female artists who were so unfortunately overlooked. This story is especially amazing because this woman was amazing….the way she constantly reinvented herself in a world that didn’t care about her and where survival (let alone any kind of success) was very tenuous. So strong and multi-talented. I was a little less fond of Ellie. At least, in comparison. But overall a good read and a good story, despite the not so good narrator. Her strange accents and constantly weird over-emphasis was really distracting. Probably would be better to just read the book.

Women under- estimated in history

Like the Secret Life of Sunflowers, this book gives people today an appreciation for all the accomplishments of women in historical times. It shows the stresses they were enduring yet the strength the struggles gave them. Women are still not regarded as equals with men, despite the progresses we have seen. But, at least more women are breaking through the glass ceiling. I think you handled the temporal back and forth very well so that it was not confusing. I am going to recommend this book to my wonderful book club consisting of my female in- laws, all of whom I love for so many reasons, including their sensitivity and insight about not human nature.

Powerful story on women impressionists

I was amazed by the narration of this book. The story was enhanced by the unique voices of each of the characters. Suzanne Valadon had such an interesting life. This story calls for a revolution in how we teach art history! I’ve been telling book and art lovers I come across they must read, or better yet, listen to this book!!

I really,really liked this book

I am picky about the books I listen to. I thought this book was well written and the stories intertwined beautifully. I loved the narrator. If I could picture myself floating down a lazy river being very contented, that’s exactly how I felt listening to this book. I also learned something new as I previously knew nothing about this artist. Well done!!

Unseen art!

Learning about Suzanne, who I had not heard of, and how it was to be a model and how she used it to learn how to paint from the masters! Smart girl! The other story was okay, but I knew of all the unseen art in basements of art galleries! I love the concept of unseen art! Thank you!

Stark difference in stories

I loved the story of the artist, every word of it. The modern day story had its charm but also seemed written by a lesser artist. The onomatopoeia scratch scratch etc was annoying, and the plot predictable. Well worth reading the book for the deep, plot rich and masterful story of Susan Valladone. I look forward to your next historical novel. Peerhaps the story of Maurice. Maybe told from his perspective interspersed with his family’s thought about him. A rich narrative about grandmother would be fantastic. One final thought, maybe use only one voice be it man woman or child speaking. I loved when Valladone expressed regarding prejudice against people of color, What? In 1894? I feel that way about 2024!