The Louise Trilogy
3 total works 3 total works planned
Over a century has elapsed since Louise sat for her portrait. The painting has passed from person to person, unsigned and unvalued. Then, in 1792, as Revolution sweeps through France, Gaston Morteau, a lieutenant in the Hussars, rescues the canvas from a canal in Holland. Louise becomes a very real presence in Gaston's life, sharing his experiences -- the trauma of war, his meeting with Napoleon. When events force Gaston to give up the painting to the sinister Count du Bois, Louise becomes embroiled in a tale of political intrigue and Gothic horror.In the ashes of the Delft explosion, Louise made a choice for life. Now she has to face the realities of love, loss and pain that this life brings.
Book 3: The Louise trilogy
The year is 1913. The portrait of Louise is now hanging in the home of a Jewish family, the Abrahams, in Vienna. Izaac Abrahams is showing early signs of the talent that will make him a famous violin virtuoso and often practices in front of the picture.
After the Anschluss of 1939, Izaac is sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp and then to Auschwitz.
The portrait of Louisa falls into the hands of Erich Hoffman, an SS officer, and seems destined to join the art collection being amassed on the orders of Adolf Hitler
What now for Louise and her portrait? Can Louise save Izaac from the gas chamber and Erich from his Nazism? And what is to be her decision on her own future?
Aubrey Flegg's Louise trilogy began with Wings Over Delft, winner of the Bisto Book of the Year Award 2004 and the Reading Association of Ireland Award 2005, and continued with The Rainbow Bridge.