The Martha Trilogy

by Margery Sharp 3 books in this series

The Martha Trilogy follows Martha, a child artist first observed during the Great Depression, from her unconventional upbringing in London to artistic independence in post-war Paris. The Eye of Love introduces nine-year-old Martha while her aunt Dolores Diver and the furrier Harry Gibson attempt to preserve their relationship during a financial crisis.

Martha in Paris sends the eighteen-year-old painter to study in the late 1940s, where an affair with the homesick bank clerk Eric produces consequences she handles without surrendering her ambitions. Martha, Eric, and George returns to Paris ten years later, when the now successful artist meets the son she left in Eric’s care. Across the trilogy, art, motherhood and romantic convention are examined through a heroine who consistently values work and independence over social approval.

Reading order

Books in this series (3 books)

1. The Eye of Love

Margery Sharp

First published 1957

4.1(93)

In London in 1932, Dolores Diver and Harry Gibson have loved each other since meeting at the Chelsea Arts Ball, but Harry’s fur business is close to failure. To obtain the money needed to save it, he agrees to marry the daughter of his business associate,…

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2. Martha in Paris

Margery Sharp

First published 1962

4.1(74)

In the late 1940s, eighteen-year-old Martha travels to Paris to study painting and the work of artists whose reputations have shaped her ambitions. She approaches the city as material for her art rather than as a romantic adventure, but her independence attracts Eric, a homesick British…

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3. Martha, Eric, and George

Margery Sharp

First published 1964

4.3(97)

Ten years after leaving Paris, Martha returns as a successful painter for an exhibition of her work. Her professional achievement has depended on a life organised around art, while her son George has been raised by Eric and his devoted grandmother. The visit forces Martha to…

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