I can’t resist an art theme as regular readers of this blog will know and Lucy Steeds’s debut The Artist sounded particularly intriguing. Set in Provence over the summer of 1920, it begins and ends in 1957 with a woman gazing at a painting she knows intimately in London’s National Gallery.
No. Ettie knows better now. Tata is always selective in what he destroys. It is no coincidence that he chose to ruin the thing she had worked so hard to create.
Trying to establish himself as a writer specialising in art, Joseph dares to approach the renowned artist and notorious recluse Edouard Tartuffe for an interview, thrilled by the one-word response: ‘Venez’. Joseph left the Slade after a year, already much disparaged by his father for his stance as a conscientious objector to a war which his older brother had strode confidently towards. He makes his way to the tiny hamlet where Tartuffe has shut himself away with his niece, somewhat taken aback when the irascible artist demands that he model for a portrait, brusquely agreeing that Joseph can write about him in return. The artist’s every need is attended to by Ettie, so self-effacing Joesph barely notices her at first. Ettie has hardly left the farmhouse where she and her uncle live, filled with a longing to experience the world and explore the talent her uncle has done his best to squash. In 1920, the consequences of war are still painfully present, Joseph grieving his vibrant adventurous brother who has returned from the front broken; Ettie remembering the horrors she witnessed as a volunteer nurse. As the summer wears on, Joseph unravels a perplexing mystery and Ettie sees a way for her talent to be recognised.
The sunlight is buttery, the terrace sandy under his feet. There is an end-of-summer mellowing in the air. The greenness of the trees is like a painted parasol, shading the scene with a cool sweetness.
Steeds’s novel is gorgeously immersive, the summer Provencal landscape and the food it produces vividly evoked. Her descriptions of art are arresting as you might expect from a writer whose day job is lecturing on the subject. Unfolded from the alternating perspectives of Ettie and Joseph, the novel is framed by the two short London passages which sets us up nicely for a summer that ends dramatically and satisfyingly completes the story. Steeds’s overarching theme is the age-old dismissal of women’s artistic talent, still alive and kicking in the early twentieth century, skilfully explored through gripping storytelling, replete with small reveals, including a very satisfying one following a scene in which a female collector puts her boorish male companions firmly in their ignorant place. Clever title, too. I’m keen to see what Steeds comes up with next.
John Murray London 9781399819565 304 pages Hardback (read via NetGalley)
This sounds really good. Thank you!
You’re welcome. It’s a glorious trip to Provence, great for brightening up winter.
I’ve been longing to read a review of this novel as I saw the submission for it (not the novel, just the synopsis and start) in an anthology of Faber students. It looked very impressive even then, had won a couple of competitions, I think. I’m delighted that your excellent review is the first I’ve read and that you enjoyed it!
Oh, that’s interesting. I’ve heard good things about the Faber Academy courses, justly so if Steeds is an example of its students.
I also can’t resist a novel with an art theme (and this has the bonus of food descriptions as well, I take it?!).
It most certainly does plus luscious descriptions of the Provencal summer landscape.
You just knew I was going to like this right? An art theme? I’m in!
I did! I have a mental list of art fiction fans and you’re on it.
Honoured 🙂
I’ve just finished this utterly beguiling book, transporting me effortlessly to southern France, and rather less comfortably to the life Joseph finds there. I think that at this early stage in the year, I can confidently assert this will be in my this year’s Top Ten.
Mine, too! I’m so pleased you enjoyed it as much as I did,
ooh I love the sound of this, food and art, yum!
Plus lots of Provencal summer sunshine. It’s a winner!
This sounds such an immersive, evocative read. Lovely!
Perfect for cheering up winter blues!
I heard Steeds talk about this at the Durham Book Festival – really interesting, but I resisted it on Netgalley because I’m feeling so burnt out on novels about women’s hidden contributions to art. I guess my worry is that it will be majorly on the nose, but it sounds from your review that the writing is very good.
I loved the way she described the Provencal landscape, also the food, but it does mine that theme.
Sounds excellent–I’m loving the sound of the sense of place and food and eager to ‘see’ the scene where the female collector shows her male counterparts their place!
That was a very satisfying moment!
This has YOU written all over it!
Ha! You’re absolutely right!