The Flames

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Every painting tells a story, but what if the women on the canvas could talk...

ADELE: passionate, fierce, obstinate. The daughter of a bourgeois family in 1900s Vienna, she rails against the strictures of her class and longs for freedom.

GERTRUDE: spirited, single-minded, possessive. The sister to budding artist Egon Schiele, she longs for an exciting life away from their tempestuous family home.

VALLY: determined, independent, proud. A model for celebrated artist Gustav Klimt, she has carved her way out of poverty and is now forging a brave new path for herself.

EDITH: quiet, conventional, loyal. Or is she? Younger sister to Adele, Edith is overlooked and wonders if there is another version of the woman she might become.

Four flames, four wild, blazing hearts, longing to be known. All four will become muses to the charismatic but controversial artist Egon Schiele. In an elegant bohemian city like Vienna, everything seems possible - until an act of betrayal changes everything. For just as a flame has the power to mesmerize, it can also destroy everything in its path . . .

© Sophie Haydock 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Critics Review

  • MAGNIFICENT. Feels destined to be a classic – exquisitely crafted and so absorbing. I loved it and REFUSE to accept it is a debut. It’s simply too good.

    Katie Lowe, author of The Furies

  • As a feminist reworking of Schiele’s story, and as an exercise in redressing historical injustice, this novel is a glorious success. Haydock ensures that these women emerge from behind Schiele’s gaze, and she also uses them to illuminate a period of seismic change… an impressive and highly enjoyable debut.

    GUARDIAN

  • Completely convincing and utterly compelling, THE FLAMES gives vivid voice to four muses who refuse to be remembered as just that. Haydock is a writer to watch.

    Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies

  • Confident…urgent…illuminating: you will never again look at Schiele’s vivid portraits without wondering about his subjects’ lives beyond the frame.

    SUNDAY TIMES

  • In Sophie Haydock’s impressive debut these women leap from Schiele’s canvases, becoming fascinating and complex characters.

    THE TIMES, 'Best historical fiction books of 2022'

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