Leelanau resident and author Karen Mulvahill launched her debut novel, “The Lost Woman,” on Tuesday at the Willowbrook Mill in Northport. Her book launch and talk was the first event of the Leelanau Township Library’s Summer Writers Series.
“The Lost Woman” takes place in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II, and follows the story of Nicole Cassin. When the Nazis arrest Nicole’s parents and seize their art gallery, she is compelled to join the Resistance, a decision that sets her on a path of danger, bravery, and sacrifice. The book follows Nicole’s life years later where she lives in New York and is still haunted by the memories of the war and the loss of her family. She hires Robert, an art historian, to track down her family’s stolen paintings, including a portrait of her mother by renowned artist Henri Matisse. The search for the lost art becomes a symbolic quest for Nicole’s reconciliation with her past.
Mulvahill said her inspiration behind the story all started when she first read the nonfiction book “The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe’s Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War” more than 20 years ago. She said she was fascinated by the history of the looting of art treasures during the war and thought the subject would eventually make for a great novel. Her fascination led her to read about 30 more books on World War II as she delved into research about the era. Mulvahill worked on her story on and off again for years, finishing her first draft of the book in 2016.
