Review of 'The Artist' by Lucy Steeds

Review of 'The Artist' by Lucy Steeds

Release date in Australia: January 14th, 2025

Publisher John Murray

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What the book is about:

The year is 1920. The place is a remote farmhouse in Provence, home to the reclusive painter Edouard Tartuffe and his niece, Ettie. Into this strange, silent house walks a young journalist hoping to write an article about Tartuffe. But the more he entangles himself in the peculiar household, the more Joseph's curiosity grows . . .

Ettie cooks and cleans for her uncle. She prepares his studio, scrubs his paintbrushes, and creates the perfect environment for him to work. She has never gone further than the local village. She is sharp-eyed and watchful. But beneath her cool exterior, Joseph senses something simmering. Ettie, Joseph and Tartuffe circle each other throughout the hot, crackling summer, until finally they collide.

The Artist is about two people grabbing the other by the hand and pulling each other into life.

REVIEW

This is possibly the shortest official review I have ever written but the reasons for that hopefully will become clear.

I am speechless because this debut The Artist by Lucy Steeds set in 1920s Provence is a work of art itself. This novel sings with refined poetic language, inviting crystalline colours, warm and tender emotional hues. The Artist houses all these and more exceptional elements of writing.

And like the artwork featured, the portrait of each character is laced with pure light and revelation—boldly shining into their hearts, exposing the truth, and splashing it across these humble pages. Filled with intoxicating, stunning images, the beauty of Ms. Steed’s words captivated and fired my imagination. Reading The Artist offers an experience like being born again: fresh, new, unique and unforgettable. I also could not help but think of Vincent van Gogh and how his artwork made me ‘feel.’

I am so impressed with this author’s talent, it is hard to formulate adequate words to express the effects her story had on me. In many ways I feel like Joseph when he first tried to think of how to describe painter Tartuffe’s artwork for his journal article for The Inkling. It wasn’t until Ettie helped him ‘see’ that set his imagination free and on fire to express the inexpressible. But I don’t have an Ettie and I must conjure all the best adjectives and approaches possible to encourage others to read this novel.

This is ART! And I cannot recommend it enough for those who crave original stories with skilled poetic expression, raw unwavering truths and an honest peeling of the heart layers—not to mention the multi-dimensional depth of vision. Like Tartuffe’s art, this novel does not capture the mere sun on its canvas but the effects of it on the skin. I had goosebumps at times! I could not put this book down. The grumpy artist is intriguing, along with his creative master skill but Ettie is the star and Joseph is the student of life that catches her gift of perception and runs with it in new directions.

An absolute must read for 2025. The most unique and wonderful novel on art I have ever read. Highly recommend. It defies a 5 star rating as it is in another realm—way beyond any mundane measures. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+

As an afterthought, I am adding a couple videos with songs/poems I wrote for Alex Grata’s Voices of Babylon project. If you would like to watch, see links below. Play of Shades is about Vincent Van Gogh. The second video is Bird of Light… interpret as you wish! But I thought of these while reading The Artist.