Reseña del libro "The Artist (en Inglés)"
Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2025
"From a shortlist of six stunning books, The Artist stood out for its atmospheric, sensory prose, and its headily evocative sense of time and place. Lucy Steeds is a writer of staggering, rare talent: she is able to conjure vivid brushstrokes, sticky heat, and the smells and tastes of Provence, through words on the page. This is a gorgeously claustrophobic novel to be fully swept away by: The Artist has something for readers of all tastes and heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice." - Bea Carvalho, Waterstones Head of Books
Provence, 1920.
Ettie moves through the remote farmhouse, silently creating the conditions that make her uncle's artistic genius possible. Joseph, an aspiring journalist, has been invited to the house. He believes he'll make his name by interviewing the reclusive painter, the great Edouard Tartuffe.
But everyone has their secrets. And, under the cover of darkness, Ettie has spent years cultivating hers.
Over this sweltering summer, everyone's true colours will be revealed. Because Ettie is ready to be seen. Even if it means setting her world on fire.
An intoxicating tale of art, love and secrets set across a sun-drenched Provençal summer in 1920, Steeds' masterly debut revolves around a fabled, reclusive painter, an aspiring British journalist set on penning a piece on him, and the artist’s seemingly unworldly niece Ettie who harbours an explosive secret.
Blending mystery and slow-burning romance with lush, cinematic prose and exquisite characterisation, The Artist is an absorbing study in monstrous egos, self-discovery and the power of art, filled with dextrous detail for the senses.
The Artist is a lush, impressive debut; the writing is rich and sensuous, especially in descriptions of food, the landscape and the act of creation. Lucy Steeds, a graduate of the Faber Academy, is one to watch - The Times, Best Historical Fiction of 2025
Vividly poetic . . . A seductive combination of romance, puzzle and poetry, The Artist also offers a considered interrogation of the value of art: to open windows in human existence, to push against limits, to bring freedom, perspective and light - Guardian
The height of summer in 1920s Provence is a place of honeyed heat and slow-burn attraction. This is the intense, beautifully realised tale of reclusive painter Tata, his put-upon niece Ettie, who's living a secret artistic life of her own, and aspiring writer Joseph, who finds himself drawn into their tempestuous, luminous orbit in this smouldering book - Daily Mail
The stifling Provence landscape and the visceral nature of creating and consuming art are evoked beautifully . . . Steeds command of language is dextrous and powerful . . . a hugely accomplished portrait of ambition and self-fulfilment - Observer
A sultry, headily perfumed portrait of monstrous male egos and oppressed overlooked women . . . The Artist uncovers its secrets by stealth - Daily Telegraph
This compelling, evocative debut will transport you to idyllic, sun-drenched Provence in 1920 . . . An absorbing, poetic read - Mail on Sunday
The air is thick with the power of art, the sensuality of food, the desire to be seen and create alarming heat - Sainsbury's Magazine
A blaze of a book, poetic, passionate and quietly powerful - Daily Mail
Romantic . . . brings to life a painter's studio in 1920s Provence - Country & Town House
