This enchanting story of artist Margaret Hall Hoybach's realization of a secret dream, nurtured since childhood, begins among the red-tiled roofs of Southern France. Her palette becomes an instant passport to both the beauty of France and the hearts and hearths of its people.

Feast and famine, blizzard and seasickness combine with ghosts, horses and memories of times past as she paints her way to Monet's gardens, ever concerned lest something interfere, the closer she comes to reaching her cherished goal.

Yet, in the first moments of the first day at Giverny, our artist-guide can produce only tears, unable to paint but for the invitation of a voice from the past that finally permits her to begin.

Hoybach's renderings and word-sketches immerse the reader in every step of her evocative journey, a mélange of exhilaration, humor and frustration crowned by the joy of fulfillment.