Book guide
The Marriage of Opposites
A lush, defiant love story of a rebellious woman in St. Thomas whose scandalous choices shape the life of artist Camille Pissarro.
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About The Marriage of Opposites
From best-selling author Alice Hoffman comes a love story about one of history’s most captivating ‘invisible’ women: Rachel, the mother of impressionist painter Camille Pissarro. Growing up on idyllic St. Thomas in the early 1800s, Rachel dreams of life in faraway Paris. Rachel’s mother, a pillar of their small refugee community of Jews who escaped the Inquisition, has never forgiven her daughter for being a difficult girl who refuses to live by the rules. Growing up, Rachel’s salvation is their maid Adelle’s belief in her strengths and her deep, life-long friendship with Jestine, Adelle’s daughter. But Rachel’s life is not her own. She is married off to a widower with three children to save her father’s business. When her husband dies suddenly and his handsome, much younger nephew, Frédérick, arrives from France to settle the estate, Rachel seizes her own life story, beginning a defiant, passionate love affair that sparks a scandal that affects all of her family, including her favourite son, who will become one of the greatest artists of France. Set in a world of lush, exquisite beauty, The Marriage of Opposites shows Alice Hoffman at the height of her considerable powers. The marriage of Rachel and Frédérick is an unforgettable story of an extraordinary woman and her forbidden love.
Reading signals
- Spice
- Light
- Darkness
- Balanced
- Pacing
- Balanced
Content warnings
- antisemitism
- racism
- slavery
- grief
- death of a spouse
- scandal/taboo relationship
