Well, it’s that time of year again, when you’re desperately finding a way to get to the lake or seaside or local pool again, or else riding the D train out to Coney Island— but just because you’re not at a museum (though, hey, they have good climate control), doesn’t mean you can’t take art with you!
Why not try these three novels, all about women artists, to enjoy on the sand (or your long subway ride there)?
If you liked the Blazing World* by Siri Hustvedt, you’ll love The Biography of X * by Catherine Lacey
Both these books have at their center a renegade female artist with a rebellious attitude towards the world when it comes to her art. While Lacey’s New York is part of a larger fantasy landscape in which the U.S. has been divided after World War II (as compared to Hustvedt’s more familiar New York), both treat their protagonists with the distance (and seriousness) of a documentary subject. Footnotes abound. So do questions about identity, as an artist and as a woman.
If you like Letter from an Unknown Woman by Stefan Zweig, you’ll love Madonna in a Fur Coat* by Sabahattin Ali
I discovered this apparent classic while in Turkey last week. (I’d never heard of it, but my friend who grew up in Istanbul raved about it.) It’s a strange, sad, short novel about a Turkish immigrant in 1920s Berlin who falls deeply in love with a German woman— who he first encounters in her self-portrait.
The book isn’t really about Maria as an artist, but the fact that she is a painter is an inescapable piece of the plot. More than anything it’s a story about loneliness and the fleeting nature of love.
If you liked Girl with a Pearl Earring* by Tracey Chevalier, you’ll love The Last Painting of Sara de Vos* by Dominic Smith
Okay, I’ll admit I am still reading this one, but I’m enjoying it so far! This book has at its center the one remaining work of a female Dutch Golden Age painter. It jumps across time and is full of crime, mystery, and the Dutch aristocracy. Art and intrigue? Just what I want to read on the porch/beach/plane/air conditioned coffee shop!
And a bonus: if you like historical fiction, why not try Barbara Chase-Riboud? The acclaimed sculptor is also an acclaimed novelist, writing primarily fiction about the Black American experience. Try her latest The Great Mrs. Elias.*
*buying through this link will give LTH a small commission at no expense to you!
Okay, that’s enough from me! What are you reading? Comment below with your women artist book recommendations. (Only paid subscribers can comment.)
Thoughtful additions. Thank you.
I love Donna Dennis’ journals from 1971-84 or so, called Writing Toward Dawn 🍃