It's 1920, and an aging Claude Monet struggles against approaching blindness, declining health, and depression over losing loved ones while fighting to complete his greatest masterpieces, the Grande Decorations. Enter a young American soldier who takes him on a journey through his long life for one last look before it's over. Oscar helps Monet revisit the beginnings of his career, his struggles with the art establishment, the formation of the Impressionist movement, his rise to fame and success, and his lost loves. Throughout it, Oscar falls in love with Monet's extended family and a young artist from Chicago as he nurtures Monet's Garden and Lily Pond. This is an enthralling and beautiful story filled with art, love, passion, self-discovery, and a reconciliation with the past. Set against the backdrop of Monet's famous garden at Giverny, France, this book offers a new, historically accurate depiction of Monet told through the eyes of a fictional character, Oscar. Monet & Oscar: The Essence of Light reveals the personal life of one of your most beloved painters. It was the end of WWI when Oscar, an American soldier in a French Army hospital, learned of his mother's death. Oscar decides to remain in France with no reason to return home to find his father, an impressionist painter whose identity he never knew. Oscar accepts a job working in Monet's world-famous garden at Giverny. Hopeful that the most renowned Impressionist can help him find his father, Oscar searches for clues as Monet, tired and disheartened by his deteriorating eyesight, introduces him to his previous painting venues and Impressionist friends. Thus begins an enthralling and beautiful story filled with art, love, passion, self-discovery, and a reconciliation with the past. Set against the backdrop of Monet's famous garden at Giverny, France, this book offers a new, historically accurate depiction of Monet told through the eyes of a fictional character, Oscar.