I very much enjoyed Sophie Haydock's previous novel 'The Flames', about the women in Egon Schiele's life in Vienna, so was delighted to receive an ARC of Madame Matisse. Once again the focus is on the women who play an important role in the artist's life, in this case, Henri Matisse. The first is Amelie, Matisse's wife, who is a free spirit and sees him as a route out of the conventional life expected of a young woman in 1920s Paris. Upon moving from Paris to the Riviera when Matisse is older, a young Russian emigre, Lydia Delectorskaya becomes Matisse's assistant and inveigles herself within the household to the chagrin of Amelie. The third woman is Marguerite, Matisse's daughter by his first wife, who plays an active role in the French resistance during WW2. Madame Matisse is definitely a book for lovers of art and 20th century history, with three resilient strong women at its core. I wonder which artist Ms Haydock will cover next! Gustave Klimt would be wonderful ...
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK/Transworld Publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A fascinating exploration of the three women in Henri Matisse's life - his wife, assistant and daughter. I found all three to be so interesting, but particularly was drawn to the story of his assistant Lydia. The book is clearly well researched as well as clearly written and evokes the era and location so well. I have since read more on the subject and will be recommending this to our library users who like historical fiction and character driven narratives.

Sophie Haydock’s ‘The Flames was one of my favourite books of 2022. I was utterly captivated by the world of artist Egon Schiele and the depiction of 20th Century Vienna. Even more so, the female muses that Schiele painted and was inspired by were characters that were instantly memorable. The writer imagines their interactions and relationships with Schiele, their love and admiration but also their bitterness and anger, in what feels like a meticulously researched work of fiction.
These themes and ideas are also very much the focus of the Sophie Haydock’s new novel Madame Matisse however here we are transported to 1930s France and to the life of French visual artist Henri Matisse. Even though both books have at their centre a male artist, it is the women that are the true focus and are at the heart of each novel. Their relationship with the creator, how they handle the challenges that the relationship brings about alongside their struggle to find their own selves within the particular society they inhabit and the respective constraints it poses is all incorporated within the pages of this book.
In Madame Matisse the narrative is driven by Matisse’s wife Amelie, a woman that defied society by marrying ‘beneath’ her and gave everything to support her husband’s passion and dreams. There is also Lydia Delectorskaya, a young Russian emigree and muse of Matisse, whose traumatic past we go back in time to discover. Thirdly, there is Matisse’s daughter from his first marriage Marguerite, who navigates a fraught political landscape with bravery and determination. I knew nothing about these women prior to reading the book and it was fascinating to explore 1930s France and the lives they inhabited. Sophie Haydock is so adept at creating characters with all their nuances and flaws, it has left me feeling like I want to find out more about these bold and brave women who will stay with me for a long time to come.
Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC

The life and times of artist Henri Matisse are told through the eyes of the three most important women in his life - his wife Adele, his mistress and muse, Lydia, and his daughter Marguerite. Each woman has her own interesting, often heart-breaking story to tell, as life moves on from the early 2oth century, through the Russian Revolution, and up to and beyond World War II.
This was an interesting read - I like the way the author makes the women the main focus of Matisse's story, giving each the importance they deserve as brave, bold, independent women in the days when it was hard for women to forge their own path in life.
I'm not so keen on the way the story is structured - a linear narrative split iinto three parts, one for each woman, didn't lend itself to the tension, drama and emotion that must have simmered below the surface in their intertwined lives. Apart from the prologue, which hints of drama to come, there is not a great deal of suspense here. I liked this story, but I didn't love it.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction focused on the women in the lives of the artist Henri Matisse. There are three points of view, each given time and space to develop, across a wide time period on the twentieth century.

I hadn’t known anything about Matisse before reading and I liked the fact that the book focuses on the women who shaped him.

Given the wide time span too it was interesting to get perspectives on 20th century European history as the backdrop to the principle story line.

This is a great story based on historical facts with a good dollop of fictional embellishment. It is the story of Amélie Matisse, the famous French painter’s wife as much as it is the one of the two other women whose lives were deeply entangled with that of the artist: Marguerite, his daughter and Lydia Delectorskaya, his muse and inspiration during the last decades of his life.

The desire and sheer determination to control their own lives is common to all three women and so is their deep – but in each case very different - love for Henri. Through their eyes we get to know him as an artist, a man and a human being. At the same time, we also get a deeper understanding about what drives Amélie, Marguerite and Lydia and how their lives were shaped by their devotion and desire to be close to Henri.

It is Amélie who after 40 years of marriage to him, questions her decision to do everything to further his career whilst putting her own ambitions on the back burner. When she asks herself who she has become after all those years, she can only come up with one answer: the artist’s wife.
Henri Matisse had already achieved greatness during his lifetime but this book begs the question, where would he have been without the unwavering support of the three women who made it their purpose to encourage, support, nurture and love him.
This is a cleverly composed book that had me hooked right from the start and which I enjoyed to the very end. I can only recommend it.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Transworld Publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Three women and the artist : mutually influencing

What a thoroughly absorbing merging of researched biography and fiction this is.

Haydock, whose first book. The Flames, examining the life, works and female influences on the artist Egon Schiele, had been absorbing, but one I had certain stylistic reservations about, was what nevertheless made me eager to read this similar outing into Henri Matisse , and the often unsung lives of women whose lives and influence are more hidden.

My reservations about her first book came from her choice of a framing device, the creation of a modern woman who meets one of the 4 ‘Flames’ coincidentally a few days before the muse’s death, and explores and unpicks parts of their stories.

I was delighted to find she abjured any framing device here, allowing each of the 3 women’s stories to unroll and intertwine with each other, and with Matisse himself.

Amelie Matisse, born Amelie Parayre, was the daughter of free-thinking, progressive radicals. Raised to think for herself, intelligent and of strong opinions, she married Matisse in 1898. This was a marriage which the conventionally minded would have considered beyond the pale anyway, as he not only was an unconventional, ground-breaking, and, at the time, unsuccessful artist, but already had a child, Marguerite, born out of wedlock, with his previous artist’s model, who had left him, taking their daughter with her.

Strong minded Amelie not only was the one who fostered, encouraged and believed in the brilliance of her husband’s work, but was also instrumental in strengthening the relationship between Matisse and his daughter. Marguerite’s mother was not capable of looking after the little girl, but was still loath to allow her contact with her father. Amelie clearly loved Marguerite, and ‘rescued’ her, bringing her up with the sons she and Matisse had together. Amelie was also the model for many of Matisse’s most revolutionary and challenging (at the time) paintings, such as The Green Line and Woman with a Hat. However, late in 1939, Amelie separated from her husband due to the close relationship between Matisse and his assistant and model, Lydia Delectorskaya. Amelie, who died in 1958, became part of the French Resistance after Germany invaded France.

Marguerite Matisse (later Marguerite Duthuit) who also featured as a model for her father, and who died in 1982, played a particularly active role in the French Resistance. Her story, her life, and her role in binding the story and the relationship of the other two women to Matisse and herself, is fascinating. In some ways she is herself the ‘framing device’.

Lydia Delectorskaya is perhaps the most mysterious figure here. Born in Siberia in 1910, she was orphaned by the time she was 12. She was brought up by her aunt, who had fled Russia with her during the upheaval of the epidemics of typhus and cholera which were raging at the time. Lydia grew up in Manchuria, China where many Russian’s had emigrated, either seeking to escape the epidemic, or the Civil War and Revolution in Russia. Lydia came to France, wanting to train as a doctor. Accepted at the Sorbonne, she could not afford the fees, and was somewhat penniless, scratching a living, when she was initially employed by the Matisses, as a companion and assistant to the by then, invalided, Amelie Matisse, in the early 1930’s.
Later, it was the increasingly close relationship which developed between the elderly Matisse and Lydia, as she became his assistant, muse and model in the development of his later art, and the cut out period of his work, as he became increasingly frail, which caused Amelie to leave her long marriage. Matisse died in 1954, and Lydia was his companion till the end.

Haydock’s book works wonderfully as a novel, and wonderfully also as a biography of the three women, and an exploration of Matisse’s art, and its place in art history. Beautifully researched, that research however is seamless and rich within the novel, never overdone. The development and arc of story and character properly carry and contain the academic research

Well I adored this. Beautiful and resilient female characters that came to life off the page vividly and passionately. A sweeping story spanning the years that was addictive and intriguing.

The Flames I thought may be hard to beat, but this is top of the pile too with glorious writing. A wonderful look at the world behind the art we all know and love.

Madame Matisse is an interesting take on the lives of the women who belong to Henri Matisse, brilliant French artist in the early 1900s.
It follows the stories of the women closest to him, Amelie, his wife, Marguerite, his daughter and Lydia, a Russian refugee who becomes his close personal assistant. The novel moves between the three women's lives although it is mostly divided into three separate and chronological parts.

I thought there were many fascinating historical details and it had me looking at Matisse's work with new appreciation. I didn't really connect with the character of Amelie, who is the first perspective we view the story from and so it took me a little longer to get into the tale. However, once we started viewing it through Lydia's eyes and see how traumatic the Russian revolution was on children and families, I sped through the rest in no time.

Would recommend, especially to art lovers! Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really interesting account of Matisse's muses told from the women's perspective. Well written and a fascinating look at that time and artistic life.

This is a fascinating book, it really pulled me in, wanting to know more about the lives of the women around the artist. Based on a true story ,this book tells the tale of the three most important women in the life of Henri Matisse. I liked that the book did not focus on the great artist but the women who inspired and supported him.

This has an interesting cast of characters that carry the story along a nice pace and create depth to the story. Great plot and I found myself filling an afternoon reading this in one sitting as I found it so enjoyable. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest , unbiased review. 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A completely gripping account of the three women who come to dominate the life of the wonderful artist Henri Matisse. His is not the most interesting story in this; as the women’s lives have drama and colour to match his art. Their stories are caught up in each other inextricably woven into Henri’s life and art. The wife,the daughter and the muse, each with their own drama, and we the reader are compelled to identify with them as their stories unfold. The use of the present tense and the sections dedicated to each intensifies the telling and their personalities. The writing is quite wonderful, and perfectly suits the portrayal of a women’s place in the early part of the twentieth century, especially in a supporting role.

'Madame Matisse' tells the story of Henri Matisse through the lens of the three main 'madames' in his life - his wife, his assistant / muse, and his daughter - celebrating how their devotion and contributions shaped his career and legacy.
A fantastic piece of historical fiction, the book is very accurate to the real facts of Matisse's life while still bringing the characters to life. I learned a lot as I went through the book - it was particularly fascinating to look up the paintings mentioned and understand the context around them.
I was not familiar with the author and this book has certainly encouraged me to read her first novel, The Flames.
I would certainly recommend this book - for those who enjoy arts, this will be a real treat.
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I read Sophie Haydock's debut book The Flames in 2022, I did not know the movement she had started to celebrate the unnamed women models of famous paintings. I started following @egonschieleswomen that told the stories of four women who modelled for Egon Schieles - an artist whose work was dubbed pornographic and insulting.

In this book, she chooses Henri Matisse, the famous French artist whose works and artistic career is mostly recorded and respected. Founder of Fauvism, he was written off as a rebel. This book is not just about him, but about three women who have modelled for his famous paintings.

His wife Adele was his making as an artist, believing in his potential and supporting him when he was struggling. The first part of the book is well written with Amelie's resolve and strength becoming the headline. She goes out of her way to inspire him under tough circumstances with three children, one from an earlier marriage of Henri. When we see her paintings acknowledged, we feel vindicated.

We meet Amelie as a old woman now and the story shifts to Lydia, a runaway orphan from Russia, now a woman who became Amelie's caretaker in the Matisse household. She carries around a suitcase with a gun and her love life with a Russian gambler is not much to write about. How she came to become the muse for Matisse in his old age to reinvent his approach and the dynamics in the household becomes the second part.

The third part is about Henri's daughter Marguerite. This part was a bit two shaded especially the parts after the fall of Paris in 1939 resulting in a war. Her covert operation in the war and her arrests seem part of a different book given Henri no longer painted her.

All three women were Madame Matisse at some point of time and the book tries to capture their lives beyond the canvas of a painter. Very readable and I personally am a fan of what she is trying to achieve.

Thank you RandomHouse UK and Netgalley for the ARC. This book is getting published in March 2025.

A famous artist, his wife, his muse (or mistress?), his daughter.

The tangled life of Henri Matisse, from an encounter that leads to a marriage founded on love, but that becomes stale, to fame and fortune.

A compelling read — how much is fact and how much fiction is unclear — and a great story.

This is the story of revolutionary twentieth century artist Henri Matisse, told through the eyes of three women in his life: his wife Amelie, his daughter Marguerite, and his housekeeper and muse Lydia. It seems we're entering a time of reckoning for many of the last century's most lauded creative figures - Picasso, for example, and Eric Gill. (Not to mention many musicians and actors, too.) Sophie Haydock's Madame Matisse contributes to this movement skillfully - adopting previously neglected perspectives to explore the good and the bad in all its human complexity. This is a great companion, too, for any lovers of art history, since it deftly infuses many of Matisse's works with fresh layers of biography.

A great story told wonderfully.

Matisse’s muse. Russian emigre Lydia flees as a child to Paris with her aunt after the 1917 revolution with the aim of joining the Sorbonne. She later becomes assistant to Madame Amelie Matisse and her soon to be famous artist husband in Nice and their relationship deepens. The story is told from both Amelie’s and Lydia’s point of view.

Based on historical research, the author gives us the story of Matisse's career through the eyes of the three, main women in his life. His wife, his longest serving assistant and his daughter all get their moment in the spotlight to reflect on what it is to live in the shadow of a man who was essentially wedded to his art with a singular passion. I only knew a bit about Matisse before starting this and after I'd finished it I did a bit of reading about his life and was impressed by the author's ability to stay so close to the facts of the story and make the fictionalised elements work so seamlessly with them. I really enjoyed this book.

Sophie Haydock seems to understand painters and their muses, and how their interdependence is crucial to the art produced. In this, the so-called difficult second novel, she gives an extra dimension to understanding what makes Matisse so special, through her depiction of the women in his life. It is often not just the artist’s own sacrifice which allows genius to grow, but those of the women who devote themselves to him.

Here she tells the stories of not just his wife, but of the other women associated with him, notably his daughter and assistant/muse Lydia.

In the process she brings the South of France to vivid life and colour. This is a beautiful, tragic and inspiring novel. Engrossing.