About the Author

Tracy Chevalier grew up in Washington DC. In 1994 she graduated from the creative writing course at the University of East Anglia. She lives in London with her husband and young son.

Reviews

Praise for Girl With a Pearl Earring: 'A jewel of a novel' Time 'This novel will win prizes' The Times 'A wonderful novel, a truly magical experience' The Guardian 'A vibrant, sumptuous novel...triumphant...a beautifully written tale that mirrors the elegance of the painting that inspired it.' Wall Street Journal

Praise for Girl With a Pearl Earring: 'A jewel of a novel' Time 'This novel will win prizes' The Times 'A wonderful novel, a truly magical experience' The Guardian 'A vibrant, sumptuous novel...triumphant...a beautifully written tale that mirrors the elegance of the painting that inspired it.' Wall Street Journal

Chevalier follows up her best-selling Girl with a Pearl Earring with the story of two girls from different backgrounds who might never have met and become friends had their families not visited adjoining gravesites in 1901 London. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

January 1901. Queen Victoria is one day dead; two families visit their respective family graves to mourn, and two girls meet, become friends, and bring their relatives together in unexpected ways. As in her first novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Chevalier excels at capturing subtle social nuances and setting historical scenes. Key among the characters who narrate parts of the story is beautiful and frustrated Kitty Coleman, who, as the times shift from Victorian to modern, embraces the change with a bid for personal freedom. Her secrets and lies have disastrous consequences. The novel is infused with enriching details the proper fabric for mourning handkerchiefs, how to host an "at home" (an open house), and the route the suffragettes took on their march to Hyde Park. Like an E.M. Forster novel filtered through a modern sensibility, Falling Angels takes us back to the early 20th century and keeps us there, waiting to see what Kitty and her crowd will do next. Boldly plotted and beautifully written, this impressive novel is highly recommended for all public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/01.] Yvette W. Olson, City Univ. Lib., Renton, WA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.