The Artist
- Author Lucy Steeds
- Narrator Tanya Reynolds
- Publisher John Murray Press
- Publish Date 30 January 2025
- Run Time 11 hours and 1 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Feminism and feminist theory, Historical fiction, Historical romance.
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What to expect
WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT PRIZE 2025
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025
A RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
A TELEGRAPH AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
'A furiously romantic, sun-drenched mystery . . . The Artist will leave you yearning in every sense of the word' Yael van der Wouden, author of The Safekeep
'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 is one to watch' Sunday Times, BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Beautiful' Daily Telegraph, BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Dextrous and powerful . . . a hugely accomplished portrait of ambition and self-fulfilment' Guardian
'The year's most lauded debut novelist . . . A sultry, headily perfumed portrait of monstrous male egos and oppressed overlooked women . . . The Artist uncovers its secrets by stealth' Telegraph
'A blaze of a book, poetic, passionate and quietly powerful' Daily Mail
'This compelling, evocative debut will transport you to idyllic, sun-drenched Provence in 1920 . . . An absorbing, poetic read' Mail on Sunday
'Captivating . . . with imagery as lush as an oil painting' Washington Post
'Enthralling . . . the descriptions of the landscape, the meals they eat and the art created are so rich and evocative it's as if you're there' Good Housekeeping
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.
'Lucy Steeds transports the reader with her sensuous depictions of food, art, and landscape . . . an assured and atmospheric debut' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent
'An intoxicating tale of creativity, possession and freedom. An impressively assured debut which asks questions about all those who are painted over by history' Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre
'I could not love this beautiful novel more . . . the final chapters left me with that delicious heart-bursting feeling, full of hope and delight' Florence Knapp, author of The Names
'Gorgeous . . . Steeped in the heat and atmosphere of 1920s Provence, this novel brims with intrigue, hope and yearning' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory and The Burial Plot
'Phenomenal . . . beautiful, pacey historical fiction, vividly realised. It drifts with the scent of summer, the land lit up and throbbing, the food piled high and richly painted, the paint as thick and buttery as food. I wanted to eat it. Yes, I even wanted to eat the paint. Read this book!' Seth Insua, author of Human, Animal
BEST BOOKS FOR 2025 from Stylist and Good Housekeeping
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT PRIZE 2025
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025
A RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
A TELEGRAPH AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
'A furiously romantic, sun-drenched mystery . . . The Artist will leave you yearning in every sense of the word' Yael van der Wouden, author of The Safekeep
'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 is one to watch' Sunday Times, BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Beautiful' Daily Telegraph, BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Dextrous and powerful . . . a hugely accomplished portrait of ambition and self-fulfilment' Guardian
'The year's most lauded debut novelist . . . A sultry, headily perfumed portrait of monstrous male egos and oppressed overlooked women . . . The Artist uncovers its secrets by stealth' Telegraph
'A blaze of a book, poetic, passionate and quietly powerful' Daily Mail
'This compelling, evocative debut will transport you to idyllic, sun-drenched Provence in 1920 . . . An absorbing, poetic read' Mail on Sunday
'Captivating . . . with imagery as lush as an oil painting' Washington Post
'Enthralling . . . the descriptions of the landscape, the meals they eat and the art created are so rich and evocative it's as if you're there' Good Housekeeping
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.
'Lucy Steeds transports the reader with her sensuous depictions of food, art, and landscape . . . an assured and atmospheric debut' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent
'An intoxicating tale of creativity, possession and freedom. An impressively assured debut which asks questions about all those who are painted over by history' Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre
'I could not love this beautiful novel more . . . the final chapters left me with that delicious heart-bursting feeling, full of hope and delight' Florence Knapp, author of The Names
'Gorgeous . . . Steeped in the heat and atmosphere of 1920s Provence, this novel brims with intrigue, hope and yearning' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory and The Burial Plot
'Phenomenal . . . beautiful, pacey historical fiction, vividly realised. It drifts with the scent of summer, the land lit up and throbbing, the food piled high and richly painted, the paint as thick and buttery as food. I wanted to eat it. Yes, I even wanted to eat the paint. Read this book!' Seth Insua, author of Human, Animal
BEST BOOKS FOR 2025 from Stylist and Good Housekeeping
Critics Review
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
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
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
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
A sultry, headily perfumed portrait of monstrous male egos and oppressed overlooked women . . . The Artist uncovers its secrets by stealth
This compelling, evocative debut will transport you to idyllic, sun-drenched Provence in 1920 . . . An absorbing, poetic read
The air is thick with the power of art, the sensuality of food, the desire to be seen and create alarming heat
A blaze of a book, poetic, passionate and quietly powerful
Romantic . . . brings to life a painter's studio in 1920s Provence
Sensuous and brooding
Enthralling . . . the descriptions of the landscape, the meals they eat and the art created are so rich and evocative it's as if you're there
A vivid and atmospheric literary novel, rich in observational detail, that explores and transcends the oppressive power dynamics of artistic creation
Lucy Steeds transports the reader with her sensuous depictions of food, art, and landscape . . . an assured and atmospheric debut about creativity, female agency, and the legacy of war
A furiously romantic, sun-drenched mystery about the violent power of good art. The Artist will leave you yearning in every sense of the word
The Artist is an intoxicating tale of creativity, possession and freedom told by the alternate voices of a young English writer and a French woman who have been drawn into the orbit of a celebrated but reclusive artist. As they circle around him during one hot summer in Provence, both his secrets and theirs slowly come into the light. This is a compelling, beautifully textured and impressively assured debut about the risks we take to get what we want, a novel which asks questions about all those who are painted over by history
Gorgeous . . . Steeped in the heat and atmosphere of 1920s Provence, this novel brims with intrigue, hope and yearning. The questions it asks will linger with me: about authenticity, about what it means to be an artist and to long to leave a mark on the world
Phenomenal . . . beautiful, pacey historical fiction, vividly realised. It drifts with the scent of summer, the land lit up and throbbing, the food piled high and richly painted, the paint as thick and buttery as food. I wanted to eat it. Yes, I even wanted to eat the paint. Read this book!
I could not love this beautiful novel more . . . the final chapters left me with that delicious heart-bursting feeling, full of hope and delight
Beautiful . . . Steeds uses vivid, sensory language to evoke the sultriness of a summer in Provence and the tyranny of living with a genius artist . . . A thought-provoking book whose characters will stay with you long after you've finished reading it
Steeds's debut is gorgeously immersive, the summer Provencal landscape vividly evoked and her descriptions of art arresting
The author has had so much advance praise for this novel that we feel slightly awed by it. It might be a 2025, fictional reply to Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence, published in 1989, a book that proved to be publishing gold and single-handedly sent a million Brits down to the land of lavender and wine
Sheds light on the unsung women bhind great artists. Throw in the glorious remote Provence setting, and I can't imagine a better book to escape with
We are instantly immersed in a lavish sensory realm . . . we absorb their world through the fragrance of linseed oil and sun-baked olive trees, through touch and taste and longing.
Captivating . . . with imagery as lush as an oil painting
A banquet of a novel and a carnival of the senses
'The Provençale summer is beautiful but oppressive . . . a brilliant debut'
'Moving'
Enthralling . . . the descriptions of the landscape, the meals the trio eat and the art that's created are so rich and evocative, it's as if you're there
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 is one to watch
User Reviews
30/03/2025
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