&;A luminous, Marquez-esque tale&; (O, The Oprah Magazine) from the New York Times bestselling author of The Museum of Extraordinary Things: a forbidden love story set on a tropical island about the extraordinary woman who gave birth to painter Camille Pissarro&;the Father of Impressionism.Growing up on idyllic St. Thomas in the early 1800s, Rachel dreams of life in faraway Paris. Rachel&;s mother, a pillar of their small refugee community of Jews who escaped the Inquisition, has never forgiven her daughter for being a difficult girl who refuses to live by the rules. Growing up, Rachel&;s salvation is their maid Adelle&;s belief in her strengths, and her deep, life-long friendship with Jestine, Adelle&;s daughter. But Rachel&;s life is not her own. She is married off to a widower with three children to save her father&;s business. When her older husband dies suddenly and his handsome, much younger nephew, Frédérick, arrives from France to settle the estate, Rachel seizes her own life story, beginning a defiant, passionate love affair that sparks a scandal that affects all of her family, including her favorite son, who will become one of the greatest artists of France. &;A work of art&; (Dallas Morning News), The Marriage of Opposites showcases the beloved, bestselling Alice Hoffman at the height of her considerable powers. &;Her lush, seductive prose, and heart-pounding subject&;make this latest skinny-dip in enchanted realism&;the Platonic ideal of the beach read&; (Slate.com). Once forgotten to history, the marriage of Rachel and Frédérick &;will only renew your commitment to Hoffman&;s astonishing storytelling&; (USA TODAY).