Book 1: The Louise trilogy
Winner of the Bisto Book of the Year Award 2004 and Reading Association of Ireland Award 2005.
As the daughter of a wealthy Dutch family, Louise Eeden knows that certain things are expected of her. When her father commissions a famous artist to paint her portrait, she reluctantly agrees.
But lately things have started to move too fast in her life. Somehow everyone believes she is engaged to Reynier de Vries; a marriage that will bring about the merger of two respected pottery businesses. In the studio with Master Haitink and his gangly apprentice, Pieter, Louise unexpectedly finds freedom to be herself.
But someone has been watching her every move, and her deepening friendship with Pieter has not gone unnoticed. Behind the scenes, a web of treachery and deceit is gradually unravelling, leading to a brutal and shocking confrontation.
And fate has yet another surprise in store for Louise Eeden.
'A wonderful story set in a very exciting time, the quality of the writing is superb and the ending unforgettably moving. A must for the school library.' - School Librarian
'an exquisitely crafted novel which will stay in the reader's memory long after the closing pages are read.' - INIS
'A story full of individual stories, each of which contributes to a final picture which is immensely rich and colourful ... It is one of Flegg's most impressive achievements that he portrays so credibly a society (and indeed a Europe) on the verge of numerous forms of discovery, not least about itself ... An assured piece of writing which more than fulfils the promise expressed in the Whitman lines which serve as its epigraph: "You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself".' - Irish Times
'The gentle love story takes the reader through dark intrigue, religious unrest and the palpable, cultural atmosphere of life in a Dutch city, to an unexpected conclusion. A well-tailored and absorbing read for adults as well as for age 12-plus.' - Sunday Tribune
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