Paris red : a novel

Title:

Paris red : a novel

Author:

Gibbon, Maureen.

Personal Author:

Gibbon, Maureen.

ISBN:

9780393244465

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

282 pages ; 22 cm

Abstract:

A tale inspired by the life of the woman depicted in ©ØEdouard Manet's "Olympia" follows the life of a passionate girl in mid-nineteenth-century Paris who after accepting dinner from a handsome stranger is indoctrinated into cultural society.

Personal Subject:

Manet, Édouard, 1832-1883

Meurent, Victorine-Fiction.

Subject Term:

Artists' models -- Fiction.

Painters -- France -- Paris -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Paris (France) -- History -- 1848-1870 -- Fiction.

Genre:

Biographical fiction.

Historical fiction.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Belmont	Book	FICTION GIBBON	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Paris, 1862. A young girl in a threadbare dress and green boots, hungry for experience, meets the mysterious and wealthy artist Édouard Manet. The encounter will change her--and the art world--forever.

At seventeen, Victorine Meurent abandons her old life to become immersed in the Parisian society of dance halls and cafés, meeting writers and artists like Baudelaire and Alfred Stevens. As Manet's model, Victorine explores a world of new possibilities and stirs the artist to push the boundaries of painting in his infamous portrait Olympia, which scandalizes even the most cosmopolitan city.

Manet becomes himself because of Victorine. But who does she become, that figure on the divan?

Intense, erotic, and beautifully wrought, Paris Red evokes the unconventional love story of a painter and his muse that changed the history of art.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

Manet's muse ponders color, power, sex and love in vibrant 1860s Paris. Based on the true relationship between artist Edouard Manet and model Victorine Meurent and set on the cusp of the impressionist revolution, Gibbon's (Thief, 2010, etc.) novel explores this landmark time in art history through the eyes of the artist's subject. Victorine lives and works with her best friend, Denise, for whom she harbors some secret attraction, until one day they encounter a mysterious and seductive stranger who turns out to be the famous painter. At first he seems interested in having both girls together (artistically and sexually), but it is Victorine, the quiet one, who harbors great hunger (both artistic and sexual), who sleeps with him and then leaves her friend and her old life in order to become Manet's model, ultimately inspiring his Olympia. But Victorine, like any modern heroine, refuses to serve as mere object or even as mere inspiration. Instead, it is suggested that she's responsible for triggering the creative use of color that came to define the art of this period. Her voice is sometimes immature, but she's only 17, and her self-awareness and sexual awareness are both engaging and deep. Gibbon writes in a rather fragmented style, with short chapters that often end on a "poetic" statement. ("Whatever my body wants, I give her. Bitter things as well as sweet.") Sometimes this makes the novel feel a bit spacey, but the overall effect is lyrical and fits the shabbily gorgeous Parisian setting. There's a lot of sex, but it tends to be tasteful and concerned with equal pleasure, and it's more hinted at than described in detail. Fans of art history, Paris and contemporary Knstleroman like Girl With a Pearl Earring will enjoy the new perspective and the strong female voice. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.