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C'est Moi
Notes from Molly Dwyer
I'm home now. I spent September through December of 2009 living in Paris and working on my second novel—The Appassionata. Following in the footsteps of writers I've long admired, I spun the roulette wheel, risking everything—or so it feels, in pursuit of a dream. My first novel, Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein, is about Mary Shelley. It was nominated for the 2009 Northern California Book of the Year Award for Fiction. I was overwhelmed by the recognition. I have lived in Northern California since 1970. To be honored as a writer by a city I love was truly magnificent.
Still, to gain the kind of recognition I believe I must, is a big step. Very few accomplish the feat. I am closer than I've ever been, and also as far away as ever. It's in this spirit that I cast my lot, traveling to Paris to work on The Appassionata. Like Requiem, this novel is about the Romantic Movement and the artists and thinkers who embody Romantic ideals. It is particularly about the women who moved in a world of famous men, struggling to find and express themselves. My main character is Louise Farrenc, a talented composer, a real person, who was a contemporary of Chopin and Liszt. I'm also writing about her daughter, Victorine, a young pianist who falls hopelessly in love with Franz Liszt. She died at the age of 32. The book is peopled by many of the celebrated artists of the Romantic Era, including authors Georges Sand and Victor Hugo, and painters Delacroix and Géricault.
Still, to gain the kind of recognition I believe I must, is a big step. Very few accomplish the feat. I am closer than I've ever been, and also as far away as ever. It's in this spirit that I cast my lot, traveling to Paris to work on The Appassionata. Like Requiem, this novel is about the Romantic Movement and the artists and thinkers who embody Romantic ideals. It is particularly about the women who moved in a world of famous men, struggling to find and express themselves. My main character is Louise Farrenc, a talented composer, a real person, who was a contemporary of Chopin and Liszt. I'm also writing about her daughter, Victorine, a young pianist who falls hopelessly in love with Franz Liszt. She died at the age of 32. The book is peopled by many of the celebrated artists of the Romantic Era, including authors Georges Sand and Victor Hugo, and painters Delacroix and Géricault.
Writing The Appassionata
Blog Archive
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2009
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October
(26)
- The Day of the Dead
- The Sibyl of Faubourg Saint-Germain
- Touring the Lubéron
- Avignon
- Update: Persistence Pays
- I Need to Visit Le Chesnay
- Montmartre In the Rain
- Mon Ami Arrivé
- Le Marché Aux Chevaux
- Done With My Tests
- Tuesday Morning Coffee
- The Red & The Black
- The Workshop Has Ended
- Writing Workshop: Day Three
- Shifting Gears
- Way Too Much Excitement
- Bon Courage
- Writing the Appassionata
- Escargot, Hugo & Other Tasties
- Giselle, 1841
- Paris in the Rain
- Sunday
- Nuit Blanche
- My Novel & The Darker Side of Things
- The Sun King Rides into the Sunset
- Were Those Guys Thieves?
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October
(26)
A Parisian Alleyway
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