A Beautiful Alien

"A Beautiful Alien" by Julia Magruder is a story set in the late 1800s about a young, recently married woman named Christine Dallas traveling home from Europe with her husband. The story follows Christine's battle with feeling like an outsider and incredibly lonely in her new marriage, which is made worse by her emotionally unavailable husband and difficulties communicating with him. An artist named Albert Noel notices Christine on their trip and becomes interested in her, seeing her beauty, but also her deep sadness. The language barrier and her husband's lack of concern suggest that there's a deeper emotional problem, making the reader root for Christine to find some form of connection as the novel suggests a growing friendship with Noel, who hopes to capture her essence through painting.