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What do you have left, if you only ever loved one man, with everything you possess? And how do you prove that you ever lived at all, if all you can point to, is a painting in a gallery?
The Flames by Sophie Haydock - Publishers Weekly The Flames by Sophie Haydock - Publishers Weekly
Sophie is represented by Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment and is currently working on her second novel. But the artist carries demons from his past that could destroy everything. Must he sacrifice everyone he loves to succeed? Beneath his confident brushstrokes, ensnared in the pigment, are secrets of heartbreak, deception and betrayal that finally come to the surface.blogtour Adventure Ancient Egypt Art History Australia Book Blogger Bookliterati Book Recommendation Book review Christmas Contemporary Fiction Crime Del Rey Doubleday Emmeline Kirby and Gregory Longdon Mystery Fantasy Festive Reads Florence Folklore Harper Collins Historical Fiction History Independently Published Italy Karen Swan Literary Fiction Magic Mantle Books Melville House Murder Mystery Myth Orenda Books Pan Macmillan Penguin Random House Psychological thriller Romance Secrets Simon and Schuster Supernatural Suspense thriller Venice Women's Fiction Zaffre Books Book title Search for: Search Search Recent Comments Over the course of a decade, the four women risk everything – their reputations, their most precious relationships, their sanity and souls – as they try to hold on to the man they each love. As the First World War throws their lives off course forever, and the Spanish influenza pandemic ravages Europe, threatening everyone in its path, one question remains: will any of them emerge unscathed? Next we meet Egon’s sster Gertie who has a very controversial relationship with her brother. Then there’s Vally who in in a relationship with Egon for years and who is constantly by his side when others leave him. He avoids marrying her though and tends to keep her at arms length. At a time when marriage and women’s prospects were linked with men, this is hard to bear. This is a debut novel and I really like the way the author weaves fact with fiction to bring these characters to life. I especially enjoyed the way she explores the potential dynamics between the flames/muses to create a fascinating narrative throughout. The triangle between Egon and the two sisters is especially intriguing but also how Vally fits into the jigsaw. The one that especially fascinates me is the relationship between Egon and Gertrude and here you learn much about the man.
The Flames (Audio Download): Sophie Haydock, Hattie Morahan The Flames (Audio Download): Sophie Haydock, Hattie Morahan
The Flames paints a history so detailed and vivid that we feel we were there in the flesh. A book to get lost in, a great feat of a debut." author of the Booker Prize–winning novel Ver DBC Pierre Her debut novel, The Flames, about the four muses who posed for the artist Egon Schiele in Vienna more than 100 years ago, won the Impress Prize for New Writers. It will be published by Doubleday / Penguin Random House in March 2022 and translated into several languages. Sophie was an artist herself in making us visualize a possible world, how the characters might have behaved or what they could have thought at the time. I had never heard of Egon until this book crossed my path, so I'm glad I read it. It also made me realize that in spite of the technological advances our world has had, we will always be vulnerable to things we're really unaware of like the recent COVID pandemic we've gone through.The quality of the writing is very good, in places it’s almost sensual as you might expect given the nature of Shiele’s work but the author cleverly changes the tone to suit the four very different women and how they interact with him and impact on his life. A drama of love, loss, rivalry and betrayal. A terrific debut, brilliantly imagined' Saga Debut of the Month Sophie trained as a journalist at City University, London, and has worked at the Sunday Times Magazine, Tatler and BBC Three, as well as writing for publications including the Financial Times, Guardian Weekend magazine, Arts Council, Royal Academy and Sotheby’s.
The Flames by Sophie Haydock | Goodreads The Flames by Sophie Haydock | Goodreads
Through the perspective of Adele Harms, Gertrude Schiele, Vally Neuzil, and Edith Harms (Schiele), we get to learn some historical facts splashed with bits of fiction of what these women might have been like and felt and how they influenced Egon and his art. MyHome.ie (Opens in new window) • Top 1000 • The Gloss (Opens in new window) • Recruit Ireland (Opens in new window) • Irish Times Training (Opens in new window)
Edith and Adele are sisters, the daughters of a wealthy bourgeois industrialist. They are expected to follow the rules, to marry well, and produce children. Gertrude is in thrall to her flamboyant older brother. Marked by a traumatic childhood, she envies the freedom he so readily commands. Vally was born into poverty but is making her way in the world as a model for the eminent artist Gustav Klimt. Vienna at the start of the book is described beautifully with all its magnificent opulence. The theatricality, extravagance, the glitz and glamour of the dying embers of the Hapsburg empire. The contrast by 1918 is a stark one and impacts all the characters and in most cases disastrously. She interviews leading authors including Hilary Mantel (pictured with Sophie, above), Maggie O’Farrell, Bernardine Evaristo, Sally Rooney and Amy Tan. Vienna at the dawn of the 20th century. An opulent, extravagant city teeming with art, music and radical ideas. A place where the social elite attend glamorous balls in the city's palaces whilst young intellectuals decry the empire across the tables of crowded cafes. It is a city where anything seems possible - if you are a man.
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