When the work finally went on display in Paris in 1853 nobody believed that a mere woman could possibly have painted such a “masculine” and imposing work of art. In England, critics acclaimed it as the greatest work of its kind and yet there were many who remained adamant that a woman couldn’t possibly have created it! To prove them wrong Bonheur was forced to tour alongside her painting so that they could see her in the flesh.

When American art patron Cornelius Vanderbilt II bought the work for a record sum the purchase rocked the art world and secured Rosa Bonheur a place forever as one of the most important artists who ever lived.

The character of Rose Bonifait is based on Rosa Bonheur. As for the rest of this book, well, if you travel to Paris you’ll find much of the modern-day story is also based on real life. The Célestins – the stables that are the home of the horses of the Garde républicaine – are right there on the boulevard Henri IV. And Ladurée, the store that is renowned for having the best macarons in the world, has a branch just down the road.

The wild horses of the Camargue are very real too. They are always grey, and it is believed they were once the prized possessions of the Romans, descended from the Arabic Barb. Unlike the Barb, who learnt to survive the hardships of the desert, the Camargue horse has adapted to life in the salt marshes of the French coastlands. If you visit the Camargue you’ll see them cantering wild and free through the waves in the natural wetland reserves that surround the village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. For centuries they’ve been tended by the gardians, the French horsemen who manage the herd and muster them twice a year so that they can select young stock ready to be broken into saddle as riding horses, branded with the symbol of their lineage and let loose again to roam wild through the waves on the briny terrain of salt marsh and rice fields.

And if you are in London, visit the Serpentine Gallery, and watch the black-and-white cobs go about their daily exercise in Hyde Park, and then travel across the city to Trafalgar Square to the National Gallery and you’ll find a painting by the English artist George Stubbs of a horse called Whistlejacket that was one of the chief inspirations both for Rosa Bonheur and for this story. Whistlejacket’s portrait is worth thirteen million pounds, and if I had the money he would be mine.

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Books by Stacy Gregg