Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser

Some books teach us to see. Mona’s Eyes teaches us to look.

This #1 International Bestseller has captivated readers around the globe with its tender exploration of art, love, and what it means to truly witness beauty. When ten-year-old Mona faces the terrifying possibility of permanent blindness, her grandfather Henry devises a plan both urgent and profound: fifty-two Wednesdays to visit fifty-two masterpieces across Paris’s legendary museums. Together, they’ll fill her memory with “all that is beautiful in the world” before darkness falls.

From Botticelli to Basquiat, each Wednesday becomes a lesson in more than art history. Through paintings and sculptures spanning five centuries, Mona learns about generosity, melancholy, revolution, and the transformative power of human creativity. Her grandfather’s gentle wisdom turns museum galleries into classrooms of the heart, where every brushstroke carries meaning and every canvas holds a world.

Publishers Weekly praises this “vibrant debut,” comparing it to Jostein Gaarder’s beloved Sophie’s World. Readers who treasured The Elegance of the Hedgehog and The Little Paris Bookshop will find themselves equally moved by Schlesser’s graceful storytelling.

A special feature: discover all 52 masterpieces beautifully reproduced inside the fold-out dustjacket—a keepsake as treasured as the story itself.

This is a novel about seeing before you lose sight, about learning before you forget, about loving while you still can. It’s the kind of book that changes how you look at art—and at the people you love.

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