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Your next spring read! Historical fiction blooming with heart and hope by bestselling author Michelle Muriel. Available where books are sold!
Watch for news on my next novel, Essie’s Roses Book 3 coming soon!
On Sale Now!
WESTLAND (Essie’s Roses Book 2)
Praise for Westland
Kirkus Reviews
Flowers bloom and families split apart in this sequel to Muriel’s historical fiction debut.
“The characters of pre–American Civil War era Essie’s Roses are back in Westland, an Alabama plantation where the ‘willows hold secrets, until the night air sweeps through their leaves, scattering them in the wind and into our ears.’ The novel explores themes of forgiveness, freedom, and found families through the voices of diverse women: Katie, Evie, Essie Mae, and Black matriarch and housekeeper Delly. The multiple perspectives put the focus on what is perhaps the novel’s most complex character—Westland itself—and its essential nature. Questions of what it means to be free and independent as a woman, and especially as a Black woman, are addressed with nuance and care through Evie's and Essie Mae’s voices. . . . the plot is skillfully structured, with dramatic truths revealed unexpectedly. An often engaging look into the complex history of the American South.” — Kirkus Reviews
Midwest Book Review
A deftly crafted historical novel.
“A deftly crafted historical novel, Westland showcases author Michelle Muriel’s genuine flare for originality framed with historical detail and the kind of entertaining narrative storytelling style that holds the reader’s attention from beginning to end.” — Midwest Book Review
5 stars for Westland from Readers’ Favorite!
Author’s new book receives a warm literary welcome.
“Westland is the second novel in the Essie's Roses series by Michelle Muriel. Set in the years after the Civil War, the novel continues the story of Evie and Essie Mae. The two girls, now women, come back to their plantation, to Miss Katie and to the place they call home. While the plantation is now unproductive, it is still a place where they feel the safest. However, that safety is threatened once again when James receives threatening letters targeting Essie and Westland. Although James is ready to do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe, fate has other plans. Before they know it, someone very dangerous from the past is back, knocking on their door, and it looks like their peaceful family will be tested. With the rebels destroying everything and everyone in sight, Essie, Evie, and everyone at the plantation will have to stick together to survive.
Author Michelle Muriel has done a fantastic job of describing the fear and uncertainty Essie, Evie, and the rest of the people at Westland felt when their security was threatened. Emotions are running high from the very beginning and you can feel the tension between Evie and Essie. Even though Essie is a freed slave, the shadowy past of being a slave still has an impact on her. She is independent, smart, and can definitely make decisions for herself, but she still doubts herself from time to time. Evie, on the other hand, is just unsure of her abilities. While she does grow a lot and becomes a well-rounded character toward the end, she has a learning curve that feels very human and relatable. The actual plot of the story is fantastic. It has just the right amount of twists, action, and suspense to keep the story flowing seamlessly. What more can a reader ask for?” — Rabia Tanveer, Readers' Favorite
Praise for Westland!
On Sale Now!
#1 Amazon Kindle Bestseller!
#1 Amazon Kindle bestseller! ESSIE’S ROSES KINDLE eBook on sale now! This is a great time to share Essie’s Roses with a friend.
Praise for ESSIE'S ROSES!
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Available Now - Updated Edition!
WATER LILY DANCE by Michelle Muriel
Add Water Lily Dance to your "Want to Read" list on Goodreads
An imaginative, stunning historical novel wrapped in a second-chance romance by the bestselling author of Essie’s Roses, Michelle Muriel. Three brave women, centuries apart, risk everything for love in this healing, magical story of self-discovery, artistic freedom, and the friendships that pull us through the darkest times back into the light.
Through years of research, new historical finds, and Michelle’s personal loss, Water Lily Dance transports the reader to the Impressionists’ Paris and the colorful, fragile world of Sophie Noel, a young widow and budding artist on the edge. Michelle’s heartbreaking, heart-mending stories, lyrical prose, and stunning historical settings provide readers with an imaginative escape into the past with heartfelt relevance for the present.
For the history and reason behind this special story, visit Michelle’s FAQ page
Water Lily Dance: Watch the Book Trailer!
Praise for WATER LILY DANCE!
Midwest Book Review
A brilliantly penned and original novel . . .
“A brilliantly penned and original novel showcasing the extraordinary talent and genuine flair of a distinctive narrative storytelling style, “Water Lily Dance” by Michelle Muriel is an unreservedly recommended addition to both community and academic library General Literary Fiction collections. An absorbing and inherently riveting read from beginning to end . . .” — Midwest Book Review
Historical Novel Society
Muriel offers a story beyond words – exquisitely sad, loving, and healing historical fiction.
Missouri, 2014: “I have to find what’s missing so I can move beyond those memories, find what they stole from me, what I lost. Maybe that’s why it’s called loss.” This is the core of Sophie Noel’s journey in this warm, passionate, and life-changing story. Sophie is the daughter of a famous artist, Josephine du Lue, and both are obsessed with Claude Monet’s art and his famous Water Lily Garden.
Paris, 1865: It’s also about Camille, Monet’s wife, a woman torn between her needs and the love of the man who preferred to be alone, so enmeshed was he in the art he was creating, an art that moved beyond the acceptance or rejection of Paris’s famous Salon Judges.
Light and color are everything to these three women. Monet is Sophie’s imaginary friend and as important to her as he was to Camille, long gone. But Sophie has also lost her father, brother and her mother and is paralyzed by grief.
Monet’s goal is perfectly described: “I wish to record our time, nature as it happens before my eyes. Not as a day – in moments, with feeling in the vibrant palette God provides.” Lavender, blue, pink and yellow were colors adored by Monet and all three women, along with light shining on and through water and objects in water – lily pads, toads, etc. Muriel’s novel lets readers dance and drink with them in the famous Mirabelle ball of Paris, enjoy the talks and fun with friends Renoir and Bazille, and visit Monet’s exhibitions with Sophie, beauty personified. Imagination is at the heart of this superb novel, imagination that builds, rends, and immortalizes. Muriel offers a story beyond words – exquisitely sad, loving, and healing historical fiction. — Viviane Crystal, Historical Novel Society
5 stars for Water Lily Dance from Readers’ Favorite!
Water Lily Dance is a novel mixing contemporary and historical stories and was penned by author Michelle Muriel. Set in both 2014 and 1865, we meet women in search of a better life for themselves, all of whom are connected by the romantic art and beautiful gardens of the artist Claude Monet. In the modern age, Sophie Noel is grief-stricken and in search of a way to cope, and her artistic tendencies lead her back to her love of Monet as a means of escape. And, in 1865, Camille Doncieux seeks more from life in the company of the rebellious and powerful artists of the time, one of whom is Claude Monet.
It is clear from the start that author Michelle Muriel relishes in fine art and has plenty of knowledge about it because her beautiful descriptions of Monet’s work make you feel as though you’re looking right at it. As a fan myself, I was totally transported by the historical setting of Paris reborn and the Salon culture, reveling in every stylish detail and the well-depicted dialogue of the post-uprising rebels. There is a fantastic air of reinvention to this deeply emotional and sensitive tale, making for a smooth mix of women’s emancipatory fiction, emotional drama and historical artistic fiction that fans of any/all are sure to enjoy. For me, it was the characters at the very heart which draw you in and keep you reading, superbly developed and likable as they are. Water Lily Dance is a highly recommended read. 5 stars! — K.C. Finn, Readers’ Favorite
Praise for Water Lily Dance from Feathered Quill Book Reviews!
Author Michelle Muriel delights readers once again . . .
Author Michelle Muriel delights readers once again with her sophomore novel, Water Lily Dance. This historical fiction drama guides readers through the lives of two resilient women living in two separate eras, one, 19th century Paris, and the second, modern-day Missouri. Intertwining their lives in the backdrop is the artist Claude Monet and his famous paintings of waterlilies.
In the 1800s, Camille Doncieux is a young lady living in Paris with a close relationship with her father and younger sister. She faithfully works in her father’s shop, but longs to break free of the rigid French traditions and make her own decisions, especially regarding whom she is to marry. Despite her father’s wishes, Camille befriends several local artists, who themselves are bucking the strict rules of traditional art forms in Paris, and agrees to pose for a few of their paintings. Camille is drawn toward one particular artist, Claude Monet, and together they fall in love, but she is torn between her expected life in Paris with her family, and the often times rocky, and not-as-respected life among artists with Claude.
Sophie Noel is a strong woman, who has had more than her fair share of loss in recent years. She had just started to cope with the death of her father, whom she has had a complicated past with, when her husband died tragically in an accident. This sends her into a major tailspin that she cannot seem to positively get through, despite the encouragement of her mother and close friends. One thing that she clings to besides her mother is art, particularly that of the painter Claude Monet, who whispers wisdom to her in her mind. Unfortunately, Sophie is left completely alone, swallowed up in her grief after her mother dies, and not knowing how to progress past the sadness. Together with a cast of dynamic and likable family and friends, Sophie is taken on a journey of her past and present that includes a few twists and surprises (including meeting a handsome Parisian!) that will hopefully allow her to work positively through her grief and move on to a happier, fulfilled life.
Water Lily Dance is more than a mere novel that happens to revolve around an Impressionist artist. It is a wonderfully written, sometimes a bit wordy, but nevertheless, moving portrayal of the strength and resilience of women, centuries apart. This reviewer was delighted that, shortly after reading this novel, I was able to visit an exhibit entitled, The Impressionist’s Eye, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Author Michelle Muriel’s writing is so vividly descriptive throughout the entire story, that I too felt as if I could hear Claude Monet and his contemporaries whispering in my ear. This novel is also a great reminder, specifically for women readers, that we can move through and overcome grief and other obstacles, if we just give it, and life, a chance.
Quill says: Water Lily Dance is a beautifully moving story about women, love, grief and overcoming adversity; a story that should not be missed. — Lynette Latzko, Feathered Quill Book Reviews
Essie’s Roses: Watch the Book Trailer!
Readers’ Favorite Book Award Winner!
Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal Winner Southern Fiction
Thank you to Readers’ Favorite for selecting Essie’s Roses as a Readers' Favorite Book Award Winner! Essie’s Roses was awarded the silver medal for best Southern fiction novel.
5 Stars for ESSIE'S ROSES!
"Impressively well written from beginning to end, "Essie's Roses" is an inherently absorbing and skillfully presented read, establishing author Michelle Muriel as an exceptionally talented novelist."
"...tremendously impressive debut novel ... A richly moving reading experience."
"Miss Muriel's novel is a thing of beauty. 5 Stars!"
"...one of my favorite books from this year! 5 Stars!"
"...all I can say is – wow, what an amazing read. ...I fully expect to see Essie’s Roses on the silver screen someday, but until then I will simply look forward to reading future works by this author. 5 Stars (and then add some more)!"
Reviews
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Praise for Essie’s Roses
Historical Novel Society
A richly moving reading experience.
Michelle Muriel’s tremendously impressive debut novel takes place in the Antebellum South and centers on the experiences of four remarkable women: Katherine Winthrop, a sweet-natured woman who comes to find herself the owner of Westland, an Alabama cotton plantation; Delly, her strong-willed house slave and confidant; Evie, Katherine’s daughter, and Essie Mae, a young slave girl who forms a deep and life-changing friendship with young Evie.
As the two girls grow to young adulthood, the world around them darkens and agitates more and more toward the triggering events of the American Civil War, and when the two travel to Richmond, Virginia, on the eve of war, they are exposed to the worst depravities of a depraved society. Their friendship is tested in several very dramatic ways.
Muriel does an extremely confident job of moving her complex, multi-part novel forward. Her characters are vividly drawn, and the many period details – social, linguistic, and even literary – with which she fleshes out her story never feel forced or melodramatic.
Fans of both Gone with the Wind and Geraldine Brooks’ March will find Essie’s Roses a richly moving reading experience. —Historical Novel Society
Essie's Roses receives 5 stars from Feathered Quill Book Reviews!
5 Stars! Feathered Quill Book Reviews
All I can say is – wow, what an amazing read.
"I have finished my reading of Essie’s Roses and all I can say is – wow, what an amazing read. What a well-written, completely believable and insightful book. Essie’s Roses is a ‘fictional’ novel, yet it encompasses the same importance of message, and will certainly remind readers of their intrinsic knowledge of right versus wrong with the same quiet strength of conviction that Harriet Beecher Stowe provided to her readers when she wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Additionally though, this book is much more than just that. Essie’s Roses is the beautifully poignant tale of two girls; one white, the other colored – who grow up together (but still separate) during the mid-1800s. This is the story of their heartfelt and true love for one another. An accounting showing how they are each able to overcome the odds of the lives they have been born into. For even though slavery (the subjugation of an entire race due only to the ‘infraction’ of being born a different color) was commonly accepted as ‘right’ during our country’s younger years; this book will force the reader to look even further beyond that misconception – in order to acknowledge that there are many additional forms of slavery; and that they each stem from cruelty, coupled with a complete and utter disregard for the pricelessness of another human’s soul.
In Essie’s Roses, the reader will begin his, or her, literary journey with a very poignant show of love – as a young colored girl named Essie Mae seeks to save the life of her (white) best-friend, Evie Winthrop. Essie Mae also understands that to be caught would result in the loss of her own life, but she cannot – more importantly will not; leave her best friend to suffer alone.
From here, the story continues – providing the reader with a brief glimpse into the lives of the mothers who birthed these two girls, before the story again moves forward and focuses on each one of the two very different, yet very similar, lives of Essie Mae and Evie.
While I could provide the potential reader with additional information about this amazing and riveting novel – I choose not to. The power of the words and the story found within Essie’s Roses needs to be discovered by the reader for her or himself.
Quill says: Michelle Muriel has penned a wonderfully moving work of fiction – and one that will leave no reader with a dry eye. I fully expect to see Essie’s Roses on the silver screen someday, but until then I will simply look forward to reading future works by this author. Five Stars (and then add some more)!" — Charline Ratcliff, Feathered Quill Book Reviews
Midwest Book Review
An inherently absorbing and skillfully presented read.
"Impressively well written from beginning to end, Essie's Roses is an inherently absorbing and skillfully presented read, establishing author Michelle Muriel as an exceptionally talented novelist." —Midwest Book Review
Thank You, Friends!
I treasure your support. Visit my home page or sidebar for the links to buy Westland (Essie’s Roses Book 2), Essie’s Roses, and Water Lily Dance available as hardcover and paperback print books and as an eBook. Please don’t forget to support your local indie bookstore and library. Westland, Essie’s Roses, and Water Lily Dance and Essie’s Roses are also available on IndieBound!
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