The Artist

The Artist begins in 1957 with a woman gazing at a painting she knows intimately in London’s National Gallery before winding back to the summer of 1920 when a young art journalist travels to Provence, hoping to interview the renowned and notoriously reclusive Edouard Tartuffe. He’s somewhat taken aback when the irascible artist demands that he model for a portrait, brusquely agreeing that Joseph can write about him in return. Tata's every need is attended to by Ettie, so self-effacing Joesph barely notices her at first. Ettie has hardly left the remote 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. As the summer wears on, Joseph unravels a perplexing mystery and Ettie sees a way for her talent to be recognised.
Steeds’ debut 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. The novel’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.

The book that I have just finished reading is a book set in the French countryside and follows an aspiring journalist, Joseph, who gets invited by his favourite artist to travel to his home and write an article on him, or so he believes. When Joseph arrives he finds that the artist had no idea he was coming and he was in fact invited by the artists niece, Ettie. They reach a deal however. Joseph can stay and write his article if he agree’s to be the artists model.

I can’t tell you what drew me to this book. It’s been a while since I’ve browsed through NetGalley and I saw this one in the general fiction section and something about it just stood out to me. Without knowing too much about it I requested it and started reading it soon after I got accepted and it had me in it’s grasp from page one.

This book is so full of intrigue and it’s so steadily paced. Throughout it has these little reveals that keeps the story going and keeps making you want to turn the page. It’s a very isolated setting so you get to know these characters quite intimately and by the end I found I had come to really care about them, especially Ettie.

Through Ettie, Steeds explores a women’s place in an artists world. This is historical fiction set post WWI which is one of my favourite eras to read about anyway, and a very interesting time in the feminist movement. Steeds explores a very Virginia Woolf, Room of One’s Own feminist message which I think made me love this book even more. I’ve read books like this before where authors make the creative decision to keep these female characters silent and in the background to reflect their situation. Steeds wasn’t afraid to make this Ettie’s story, give her a voice, a fire in her belly.

“When nobody is looking she can do as she pleases, living in the freedom that comes when other peoples eyes are turned away.”

There is also a beautiful romance that blossoms and a mystery with a very satisfying conclusion. This book has a lot of heart to it and it is written with a beautiful tenderness. Steeds has a way with words and it makes me quite sad that this is her first novel. I am impatiently waiting for her to write more, and her debut hasn’t even been officially released yet.

“It is she who commissions the frame and returns a week later to carry it home, slung over he shoulder as if she herself is a painting.”

I was consumed by this novel from the first few pages. Set in the isolation of a rural home in Provence, France, the characters of Tata, Ettie and Joseph are so convincingly depicted.

Beautiful atmospheric and brimming with life and light and energy, the author's writing is vivid and polished.

Perfectly plotted, from beginning to end there was never a relief to the relentless pace.

I highly recommend The Artist.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

It's been over two days since I've finished "The Artist" by Lucy Steeds and I'm still lost for words... This book is a masterpiece and have raised my standards so high that I'm afraid to start another book (and that ladies and gentlemen was never a problem). I'm not going to share a blurb, as if you are looking at my review, you've probably saw it and would scroll down anyway, and if you haven't I hope what I have to say will make you to look it up for yourself.
Main characters are Ettie, Tata(Eduard) and Joseph. Everything takes place in 1920s Provence. Let me stop here for a moment. The writing style and language used, takes you, my dear reader, to France, whether you want it or not. Descriptions of meadows, streams, wind in your hair along with smells of flowers or rotten food are so perfect, that you can feel it as if you would stand beside any character or look at everything through their eyes.
Let's move to Ettie or Sylvette if you wish. She represents, for me anyway, every woman that had dreams squished or pushed into a corner by a family member or society in general but despite it, she still keeps the flame going and slowly builds it up into a roaring fire.
I feel like no matter what words I'm going to use, they'll never be enough and won't give this book a justice. It's impeccably crafted, epic in every sense of the word and one that you'll lose yourself in.
Massive thanks to Netgalley to provide me the early copy in exchange for an honest review

I absolutely loved this book. Beautifully written, it slowly unfolded until I was engrossed, impatient to see how it all played out.
Joseph, a writer, is sent from London to discover the secrets of the famous artist Tartuffe, who lives a reclusive life in the south of France. However, it soon becomes clear that his niece, Ettie, is the real person of interest and the story is hers. The reader gradually learns her history, her secrets and her desires in this compelling novel.
The sense of place, time, atmosphere and landscape were all brilliantly evoked, and I was drawn into Ettie's world, thoroughly invested in her story.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Beautiful, tense, sensuous, edible, enthralling, and mind-opening. This was absolutely delicious and delicately poignant at the same time, from the simmering descriptions of Southern France to the tender exploration of hearts and minds in the aftermath of World War I. With a twisty, gripping story and a spiky but fascinating heroine, it's a page turner that also gives you time to think new thoughts: about who really makes art, about how women are forced to occupy unexpected spaces, and about freedom. Thanks to Netgalley and John Murray for an eARC. Can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy.

If January starts with such a brilliant book then I am hoping that all of 2025 will be an amazing reading year.

I fell in love with all the main characters in this book, even the irascible Tata. The writing was so vivid that I could feel the heat of the French summer and smell all of the food that was being painted. The art was described so vividly that I thought this was a book fictionalising a 'real' artist and was already half planning a trip to the National Gallery.
I very much liked how the trauma of WW1 was woven into the book, and how the bravery of all the characters involved was showcased. It was also refreshing that the book ended before the 2nd world war and the occupation of France, the tight timeline really worked for me.

1920 Provence and Joseph, a young art columnist from England arrives at the home of reclusive artist Edouard Tartuffe, thinking he’s been granted an interview. He finds a grumpy, white bearded eccentric who is not happy to see him, and his shy young niece Ettie who he depends upon.

So you may be thinking, is this one of those novels? Is our wrong heroine going to be rescued from her claustrophobic life? Well let me tell you, young Ettie does not need rescuing and (no spoilers here) she’s found a way to show the world her talents.

The characters in this debut - Joseph, Tartuffe and Ettie - are so exquisitely drawn, and the back stories are wonderful. However Ettie is the star of the show. The art, the food, the descriptions- it’s all so vivid. A book hasn’t moved me this much in a long time. If you loved Sarah Winman’s Still Life, I think you’ll love this. It may be half the length, but boy does it pack a punch.