A lovely quiet story.

This gets three stars because the book itself is a pretty little thing, it is well-intentioned and I feel mean picking on it. It is the brief story behind five of Mary Cassatt's Paris paintings of her older sister Lydia, each of which is reproduced in a slick print. In these paintings Lydia reads the paper, drinks tea, crochets, drives a buggy and does needlepoint. There is not a lot to say about these activities. Degas drops by, and it is insinuated that he and Mary are having an affair, which may or may not have actually happened, many think not) Lydia is very ill with Bright's disease, and she has a lot of Deep Thoughts. It was all a bit twee for me, I am afraid...I don't deal well with lines like "The thickness in the air of May's studio becomes palpable. I imagine opening my mouth to eat it like bread." The paintings are lovely. The novel itself (really a novella, only 164 pages) is a wee bit sappy.

I enjoyed the art history and it was an easy read. The relationship between she and her sister is well written and emotional.

Famed impressionist Mary Cassatt painted five portraits of her sister Lydia. In this book, Chessman structures a chapter around each one, envisioning what the two women must have been like, encapsulating their hopes, dreams, and ambitions around the image in each painting. This is a character study--a plot is nowhere to be found--but Chessman's elegant writing and her thorough research were enough to keep my interest.

What an endearing book! Deftly written with insight into Mary Cassatt's artistry, relationships, and seen through her sister's lens. Touching - I enjoyed the integration of Mary Cassatt's works in the book.

I wasn’t familiar with Harriet Scott Chessman until I won an autographed copy of Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper and now I find myself wondering why. In a word, this book is delightful. The writing is artistic and the photos of Mary Cassatt’s paintings that are featured are stunning. This book is a fictional account of the relationship between the American Impressionist artist Mary Cassatt and her sister Lydia. It is set in France in the late 1800’s and focuses on five paintings Mary did of Lydia during that time. Mary and Lydia had an incredibly close bond that only sister’s can share. Lydia was Mary’s favorite model and sometimes struggled to pose because she was battling Bright’s disease, which eventually took her life.

This book is helps you imagine what it was like in Paris in the late 1800’s. I felt like I knew the Cassatts by the time I was through. It is a wonderful story of family, love, strength and endurance. I will definitely be looking for more of Harriet’s work.

A lovely, little carry-in-my-purse book that is a fictionalized account of painter Mary Cassat and her sister Lydia who posed for her.

A fictional account on the inspiration behind several of Mary Cassatt's paintings. The story follows the relationship between Mary and her sister Lydia. The book was a little uneven, in my opinion.