Utrillo's Mother

by Sarah Bayliss

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 1990

Reviews

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Utrillo's mother was the artist Suzanne Valadon, an Impressionist artist I recently learned of. This novel is evidently based on reality with quite a bit of license since relatively little is known about Valadon. The novel mostly covers her youth and old age, with little about her prime years in art. Let's just say, that as a child conceived in rape of a poor mother also conceived in rape in a time when poverty, alcohol and abuse were common, her early life was very rough. In fact, the brutality wore on me and I wished I had learned more about her successes.

[Tricia Florence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the life of painter Suzanne Valadon