This novel appealed to me as it takes place around the time when my grandmother was a young woman in Sweden and takes place there. I enjoyed about half of it and then it lost my interest.Sofie and Cecila are wives of celebrated Swedish artists Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn (Nils Olsson and Lars Vogt in the novel). But I did reflect that I rather liked the historiical fiction idea and didn't realize I have actually read quite a bit of it. I thought the genre had to be based on real people but it seems all of Jane Austen and probably most of Dickens fits the genre.
From Wiki:
An essential element of historical fiction is that it is set in the past and pays attention to the manners, social conditions and other details of the period depicted.[1] Authors also frequently choose to explore notable historical figures in these settings, allowing readers to better understand how these individuals might have responded to their environments. Some subgenres such as alternate history and historical fantasy insert speculative or ahistorical elements into a novel.
Some paintings by Carl Larsson
Some paintings from Anders Zorn
