Where the Light Falls, by Katherine Keenum.

This book follows the adventures of a young American artist in Paris in the late ninetheenth century.  It also tells the story of her older, science-minded,  American civil war-damaged love interest and eventual husband.  In a dual plot line, we first follow the young artist, then the veteran, then the young artist again, until the two meet, and then again we follow the one and then the other alternately until we reach the end of the book.

Overall, this was a really interesting book.  I found the dual plot line method a little confusing, particularly at first, as we were plunged from one plot line into the other without any introduction or warning, leaving you wondering what the heck the one group of people had to do with the other.  There did not appear to be any real rhyme or reason to why the switch occurred at the point it did, either.  But once I got used to the changes in storyline, I really began to enjoy this book.  Each of the characters were interesting, the plot had enough twists to keep you interested, and the period detail and detail about the artistic process itself were very well done without going overboard and losing the reader in inane facts.  The only thing I didn't like about this book is that it ended very abruptly, and with a major change from the ending indicated by the characters themselves, without any explanation why they decided to do things differently, or information as to what happened to them in later years.  It seemed that both could be successful in their chosen careers in France, while possibly only the male protagonist could be successful back in Ohio, yet we were never given any information why they decided to go back to Ohio or how their careers turned out.  I was very disappointed by that.  Otherwise, however, I did not want this book to end and enjoyed it thoroughly.  4.5.

I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher.  This did not affect my review.