Critical Praise

"Becoming George Sand is a wonderful book --- filled with wisdom, poetry, and imagery so brilliant I wish I could steal it. Maria is a character to love, whose loves are vivid, embracing, and revelatory. This is a treasure!"

—Annie Dillard

"Written with brilliant assurance and a rich, stirring voice, Becoming George Sand is a masterful tale that travels the world in pursuit of its extraordinary characters and takes readers on a journey filled with wisdom and an unforgettable sense of joy and inspiration."

—Diana Abu-Jaber

"Read Becoming George Sand for the beauty of the prose, for the intertwined and compelling stories of two brave and piercingly alive women. Read it most of all, though, for its honesty, the way it reveals and illuminates certain truths and longings that are often believed to be secreted inside only one individual, but are in fact universal. This is not so much a story about having a love affair as it is a study of the nature of love itself. I was absolutely knocked out by it."

—Elizabeth Berg

"This is a beautiful, wise novel about a modern woman in Scotland and her 19th century precursor, the even more modern George Sand. Maria Jameson wants to juggle a marriage and a love affair (and children and a teaching career); when her life starts to fall apart she finds in Sand courage and an abundance of spirit that console her for some if not all of her losses. The intertwining of past and present, of France and Scotland, of genius and analysis is done with an ease that disguises the consummate skill of the writing. A lovely book."

—Edmund White