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Paris Red
Paris, 1862. A young girl in a threadbare dress and green boots, hungry for experience, meets the mysterious and wealthy artist Edouard Manet. The encounter will change her and the art world forever.
At seventeen, Victorine Meurent abandons her old life to become immersed in the Parisian society of dance halls and cafes, meeting writers and artists like Baudelaire and Alfred Stevens. As Manet s model, Victorine explores a world of new possibilities and stirs the artist to push the boundaries of painting in his infamous portrait Olympia, which scandalizes even the most cosmopolitan city.
Manet becomes himself because of Victorine. But who does she become, that figure on the divan?
Intense, erotic, and beautifully wrought, Paris Red evokes the unconventional love story of a painter and his muse that changed the history of art."
At seventeen, Victorine Meurent abandons her old life to become immersed in the Parisian society of dance halls and cafes, meeting writers and artists like Baudelaire and Alfred Stevens. As Manet s model, Victorine explores a world of new possibilities and stirs the artist to push the boundaries of painting in his infamous portrait Olympia, which scandalizes even the most cosmopolitan city.
Manet becomes himself because of Victorine. But who does she become, that figure on the divan?
Intense, erotic, and beautifully wrought, Paris Red evokes the unconventional love story of a painter and his muse that changed the history of art."
282 pages, Hardcover
First published April 13, 2015
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4096 people want to read
About the author
Maureen Gibbon
7 books59 followersMaureen Gibbon is the author of Paris Red and two previous novels. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Playboy, Byliner, and elsewhere. She lives in Park Rapids, Minnesota.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 203 reviews
February 25, 2015
Thank goodness for short sex scenes. Maureen Gibbons gets to the point, the characters have sex often and in various ways, and then get on with their lives. Have you ever read the nominees for worst sex scene in a novel? They go on and on for paragraphs and after awhile you feel like it was written by someone who never had sex. Paris Red doesn't make this mistake, which is good because the characters have sex so often that the book would be 500 pages long if it was all described in detail.
Where the details of sex are graphic enough to open the imagination but not so long as to become silly, the descriptions of light, color, mood, the Paris working class were all quite lovely. Victorine, the seventeen year old protagonist, seemed too mature for the average teen, then again she had already been working in a factory for two years. Hard work and low pay makes kids grow up fast.
There never was a huge, climatic event. Anybody who knows art history knows that the huge event was Manet's showing of his controversial painting of Victorine. It shocked the public so much that viewers spit at it and threw things at it. That never happens in the book. He finishes the painting, Victorine realizes she may have a future after all, and the story ends. If you don't know art history, you'd never know that she just poised for one of the most controversial paintings ever exhibited. Perhaps readers of Paris Red will get the spark to learn more about this interesting model and the art world.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway for which I am thankful.
Where the details of sex are graphic enough to open the imagination but not so long as to become silly, the descriptions of light, color, mood, the Paris working class were all quite lovely. Victorine, the seventeen year old protagonist, seemed too mature for the average teen, then again she had already been working in a factory for two years. Hard work and low pay makes kids grow up fast.
There never was a huge, climatic event. Anybody who knows art history knows that the huge event was Manet's showing of his controversial painting of Victorine. It shocked the public so much that viewers spit at it and threw things at it. That never happens in the book. He finishes the painting, Victorine realizes she may have a future after all, and the story ends. If you don't know art history, you'd never know that she just poised for one of the most controversial paintings ever exhibited. Perhaps readers of Paris Red will get the spark to learn more about this interesting model and the art world.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway for which I am thankful.
September 14, 2016
I chose this book thinking it would be similar to Sunflowers, the story of Van Gogh, and Claude and Camille, the story of Monet. I was greatly disappointed. Paris red is the mostly fictionalized account of the love affair between Manet and his favorite model, Victorine. I say mostly fictionalized because I had to do my own research to determine the facts as there were no author notes at the end, and found the true story of Victorine, which is nothing like this book. Since research is a huge plus for my rating I scored poorly. However, taking the book at face value I do have some opinions to share.
Eighty pages in and I felt such deplorable sadness. The level of poverty and wretchedness, the lack of privacy and intimacy were shocking to me. Soon the book moved into the erotica genre, which I enjoy reading WHEN I EXPECT IT. The synopsis of this book should be revised. The author continuously creates such a negative sexual vibe, taboos thread throughout the plot, and no mention of any of this is in the reviews. I sound like a prude, but the book makes it sound like all Manet focused on was nudity and sex. This impressionist has over 430 paintings in his oeuvre. Many deal with death and children and the sea. He was a gifted craftsman and took his art seriously. But instead of mentioning any of this, the author twists the fact that he died of complications from syphillis and had an affair with his model.
This sexual web is spun by constantly mentioning Victorine's "whore boots", a gift of many years ago. These boots are emerald green. As Victorine experiments with painting using Manet's old tubes of color, she creates a self portrait giving herself emerald green hair, and says,"it does not seem strange to give myself hair the same color as my boots. That green has been inside me nearly my whole life." At that moment I realized the author was imbuing the narrator with low self esteem, as if what she was doing for money was selling herself like a woman on the street. Everything I have read about Victorine does not support this.
Yes, Manet had an affair with his favorite model for many years. Yes, he created the works of art discussed in the novel. Yes, he was friends with the men mentioned. Ummm, that's about it.
Eighty pages in and I felt such deplorable sadness. The level of poverty and wretchedness, the lack of privacy and intimacy were shocking to me. Soon the book moved into the erotica genre, which I enjoy reading WHEN I EXPECT IT. The synopsis of this book should be revised. The author continuously creates such a negative sexual vibe, taboos thread throughout the plot, and no mention of any of this is in the reviews. I sound like a prude, but the book makes it sound like all Manet focused on was nudity and sex. This impressionist has over 430 paintings in his oeuvre. Many deal with death and children and the sea. He was a gifted craftsman and took his art seriously. But instead of mentioning any of this, the author twists the fact that he died of complications from syphillis and had an affair with his model.
This sexual web is spun by constantly mentioning Victorine's "whore boots", a gift of many years ago. These boots are emerald green. As Victorine experiments with painting using Manet's old tubes of color, she creates a self portrait giving herself emerald green hair, and says,"it does not seem strange to give myself hair the same color as my boots. That green has been inside me nearly my whole life." At that moment I realized the author was imbuing the narrator with low self esteem, as if what she was doing for money was selling herself like a woman on the street. Everything I have read about Victorine does not support this.
Yes, Manet had an affair with his favorite model for many years. Yes, he created the works of art discussed in the novel. Yes, he was friends with the men mentioned. Ummm, that's about it.
February 20, 2015
I was lucky to receive an advanced copy of this novel. I was intrigued about the subject matter of this book- the relationship between Eduard Manet and one of his muses, Victorine Meurent. She appears in several of Manet's paintings and drawings; but this book mainly focuses on his painting "Olympia."
For me, it was a fast read. I was drawn into their relationship, I have to say, but it still left me wanting more. I have to say I grew tired of their sexual adventures. I wanted more substance, more about Manet the artist, and more about Victorine perhaps....her life after "Olympia", the other paintings he created with her as his muse. And I would've loved to have had an Epilogue at the end. Victorine years later, and perhaps what other artists she modeled for and inspired.
I wanted to give it 4 stars, I am verbally giving it 3 1/2. It has piqued my interest in knowing more about Manet and Victorine Meurent for that matter. I thank the author for giving me this want of knowing more.
For me, it was a fast read. I was drawn into their relationship, I have to say, but it still left me wanting more. I have to say I grew tired of their sexual adventures. I wanted more substance, more about Manet the artist, and more about Victorine perhaps....her life after "Olympia", the other paintings he created with her as his muse. And I would've loved to have had an Epilogue at the end. Victorine years later, and perhaps what other artists she modeled for and inspired.
I wanted to give it 4 stars, I am verbally giving it 3 1/2. It has piqued my interest in knowing more about Manet and Victorine Meurent for that matter. I thank the author for giving me this want of knowing more.
March 1, 2015
I received this book from the Goodreads giveaway.
This book had such great potential, to let the world know about the woman behind Manet's "Olympia" painting. But I found it really had no plot. Manet meets "Louisa," they have a lot of sex and she poses for his painting. That is the entire book.
It is also frustrating that the author included a lot of French in the book without translations. There was too much of it to Google translations every single time.
This book had such great potential, to let the world know about the woman behind Manet's "Olympia" painting. But I found it really had no plot. Manet meets "Louisa," they have a lot of sex and she poses for his painting. That is the entire book.
It is also frustrating that the author included a lot of French in the book without translations. There was too much of it to Google translations every single time.
August 11, 2023
Una ragazza, una umile operaia che lavora l'argento, è intenta a disegnare una vetrina di un negozio dove un gatto dorme pigramente al sole.
Indossa degli stivaletti vedi, provocanti, sono il dono di una prostituta, il solo saperlo la rende più sicura di sé, più spregiudicata. Con lei c'è un'amica.
Il loro è un gioco, un modo per attirare l'attenzione, per addescare uomini. Questa volta si avvicina un uomo, guarda il disegno e con due semplici tratti rende immediatamente l'idea della presenza del vetro, ecco che la vetrina, magicamente, prende forma.
Le due ragazze iniziano a frequentare questo signor E. Si fanno pagare da mangiare, accettano le sue provocazioni sessuali che dovrebbero portare ad una relazione a tre. Lei è Victorine Meurent, la rossa, la più decisa. Denise invece è mora, dopo i primi approcci si farà da parte. Lui è Édouard Manet, la sua identità la scopriamo solo una volta dentro il suo studio, "vedendo" le sue opere.
Un romanzo che pensavo dovesse parlare del pittore, della sua musa e degli Impressionisti, diventa solo una storia erotica, a volte forzatamente volgare.
Giunti a metà del libro ancora non si conosce niente della loro personalità, poco e niente delle opere del pittore, ma molto sui suoi "capricci" sessuali.
Di Victorine Meurent, anche se le piace usare un linguaggio volgare, mi piace il suo soffermarsi maniacalmente su una parola, su un'immagine o una frase e volerla analizzare profondamente quasi come se fosse riluttante a lasciarla andare. Un dialogo interiore, un flusso di pensiero che usa per cullarsi e, talvolta, per addormentarsi.
Il romanzo si conclude, così come è iniziato, con l'esposizione privata di Olympia alla modella, con le prime impressioni della musa di fronte al suo doppio.
Indossa degli stivaletti vedi, provocanti, sono il dono di una prostituta, il solo saperlo la rende più sicura di sé, più spregiudicata. Con lei c'è un'amica.
Il loro è un gioco, un modo per attirare l'attenzione, per addescare uomini. Questa volta si avvicina un uomo, guarda il disegno e con due semplici tratti rende immediatamente l'idea della presenza del vetro, ecco che la vetrina, magicamente, prende forma.
Le due ragazze iniziano a frequentare questo signor E. Si fanno pagare da mangiare, accettano le sue provocazioni sessuali che dovrebbero portare ad una relazione a tre. Lei è Victorine Meurent, la rossa, la più decisa. Denise invece è mora, dopo i primi approcci si farà da parte. Lui è Édouard Manet, la sua identità la scopriamo solo una volta dentro il suo studio, "vedendo" le sue opere.
Un romanzo che pensavo dovesse parlare del pittore, della sua musa e degli Impressionisti, diventa solo una storia erotica, a volte forzatamente volgare.
Giunti a metà del libro ancora non si conosce niente della loro personalità, poco e niente delle opere del pittore, ma molto sui suoi "capricci" sessuali.
Di Victorine Meurent, anche se le piace usare un linguaggio volgare, mi piace il suo soffermarsi maniacalmente su una parola, su un'immagine o una frase e volerla analizzare profondamente quasi come se fosse riluttante a lasciarla andare. Un dialogo interiore, un flusso di pensiero che usa per cullarsi e, talvolta, per addormentarsi.
Il romanzo si conclude, così come è iniziato, con l'esposizione privata di Olympia alla modella, con le prime impressioni della musa di fronte al suo doppio.
April 28, 2015
French Realism: Édouard Manet and his “modèle de profession,” Victorine Louise Meurent (Paris, 1862): The first clue you get that Maureen Gibbon’s 19th-century historical novel about the French painter, Édouard Manet, and his muse, Victorine Louise Meurent – he 30, she 17 – is going to be risky and provocative is that of his more than 400 paintings, the one selected for the cover is Olympia. The full painting is a nude, one that caused such a stir critics did see red when exhibited at the Salon of Paris in 1865, two years after Manet finished it, after the novel ends.
Manet’s nude is considered the most famous of that century. It may not be the painting non-art historians like myself are most familiar with (or most enamored with). Those are his impressionistic masterpieces of later years – boating, beach, café, railway scenes – that evoke a “dewy-eyed” loveliness, which the avant-garde Olympia is not. But Gibbon’s goal is to pen something original, like Manet’s passion to “paint something entirely new.”
She does so with spare prose that creates an aura catching Manet’s shadowy, mysterious, erotic world, which means her novel isn’t soaked in details, nor the totality of the artist’s career. Instead, it’s a window into Manet’s art when he created a sensual painting that shocked the Parisian art scene, giving us glimpses into the inspiration of his early years, pioneering the French realist art movement.
Here we see Manet’s devotion to art that is honest and realistic not romanticized, the prevailing preferences of the time. The same can be said of the author, who wants us to see the darker side of the City of Lights. The novel is best appreciated like a great piece of art in a museum: by looking and seeing, understanding all by ourselves, with just enough details to intrigue.
So, despite the short chapters – sometimes only a one-page impressionistic paragraph, like the artist sketching – this is not a breezy read. The prose is nuanced, echoing Paris when the lights are gray-blue. We sense what it might have felt like to have been Victorine, who tries so hard to grasp Manet’s “not-simple” paintings, because we’re compelled to understand what the author wants us to see. Gibbon acknowledges she’s thought about Olympia for ten years, so her vision and impressions interest us almost as much as Manet’s or his model’s. (“I am trying hard to understand what it all means to him because I know that it does mean something.”)
There’s a sadness that permeates Victorine’s voice – our narrator – and the evocative prose. Apparently, not that much is known about the real-life young woman who posed for Olympia, allowing the author the freedom to speculate. Artistic freedom – Manet’s, his muse’s, and the author’s – a worthy theme.
What the novel tells us about Victorine is that she’s a precocious 17-year-old working-class girl, a silver burnisher. She relishes the tools of her trade, learned from her working-class parents: her father an engraver, her mother a seamstress. But it’s not until we’re more than halfway through that we’re even sure of her real name: Victorine Louis Meurent.
That’s because when the novel opens she’s called Louise by her intimate friend, Denise, not her lover, more like a sister. They share a shabby room, even the same bed, toiling away at the same silver shop barely eking out enough money to live. That shopworn look is what Manet spots on a street. He makes advances to them both, teases about their names, a “ménage à trois” at first. He’s sizing them up: Denise, the brunette, with “a kind of sweetness about her”; Louise, the emboldened redhead, craving much more out of life.
Louise/Victorine knows she’s “different from everyone else.” Hers is a restless yearning to be noticed and touched – to be someone. So she makes a crass sexual move to grab Manet’s sole attention. Turns out she’s a far better match of the two to become his model: she enjoys drawing, colors, details, and, most importantly, is very willing to experiment.
Victorine has been sizing Manet up too. Her intense desires “not to be ordinary” are matched by his intensity about realism in art (“there’s only beauty in what’s real”). A poignant scene finds Manet rubbing away much of a canvas he disliked, which upsets Victorine because she doesn’t want to be “erased.” Manet sensitively explains it’s not the memory of the woman he painted he removed, just brushstrokes and composition. It’s a marvelous example of his softness. Indeed, Manet is a sensitive man, not content to “paint people at the edges.” And yet he’s veiled, hiding his face behind a bushy beard. (“There is something fine-grained about his face in spite of the riotous beard and moustache.”)
Artist and model also share a fierce independent streak. Manet has the luxury of being an independent artist. He has money to pay Victorine, presumably coming from a well-to-do family, so he’s not enslaved to paint to please the aristocracy. Instead, he painted what he saw. Victorine may adore Denise, yet she risks striking out on her own for “whatever it is in me that wants and wants – it is as big as the sky and keeps going.”
By the time Victorine has grown comfortable posing nude for Manet, she’s taken the black ribbon necklace on the book’s cover and made it her own. It’s a pivotal moment, seeming then to transition from being Manet’s model to his rebellious source of inspiration, his muse. By now he’s calling her “Trine,” an affectionate name reflecting the sexuality of their artistic relationship.
Was their real-life artist/muse relationship as sexual/erotic as depicted? Not clear. What appears certain is Victorine was Manet’s most favored model. Did he love her? Not clear either. He cares for her, is concerned about her finances, is kindly and respectful in the privacy of his studio and publicly among his contemporaries, but Manet is an obscure man with another life.
Most certain is his ardor for his art: “That is the thing that I cannot get inside: what it must be like to love something – a thing – so much.” Did he make love to her so she’d trust him completely? To capture Victorine’s essence, she must unabashedly be at ease, in her most personal, raw moments, especially if he is to paint the soulful expression in her eyes. When Manet finally shows Victorine Olympia, she’s moved that there’s “nowhere to look in the painting except my eyes.” She recognizes that expression: “I know what it feels like to look that way … When my grandmother died. When my heart was broken.” Victorine’s soul, then, is forever a part of Manet’s “groundbreaking” art. Now she has what she’s desperately wanted: she’s unforgettable.
Numerous sprinklings of references evoke the era – names of Parisian streets in the 1860s, French phrases, Manet’s artist and writer friends. At times I wished for an appendix, maps, dictionary, but the truth is that precision isn’t necessary since the novel is about sensing moods and artistry, which it achieves.
Still, once read, I googled Manet’s friends, as some names were familiar, others not: Félix-Jacques Antoine Moulin was a photographer whose photos Manet uses to see the “effect of shadow and light;” Henri Fantin-Latour was a portraitist and painter of flowers; Charles Baudelaire, a poet; Honoré Daumier, cartoonist and painter; Louis-Émile-Edmond Duranty, author; Zacharie Astruc, sculptor and painter; Tonin, turns out is An-tonin Proust, boyhood friend and journalist; Tony Robert-Fleury, another French painter; and Alfred Stevens, a kindly, romantic Belgian painter.
Just as Manet pushes Victorine to observe her reactions, the author pushes us. Like the famous artist and his muse, she’s “bold enough to tell the truth.”
Lorraine (EnchantedProse.com)
Manet’s nude is considered the most famous of that century. It may not be the painting non-art historians like myself are most familiar with (or most enamored with). Those are his impressionistic masterpieces of later years – boating, beach, café, railway scenes – that evoke a “dewy-eyed” loveliness, which the avant-garde Olympia is not. But Gibbon’s goal is to pen something original, like Manet’s passion to “paint something entirely new.”
She does so with spare prose that creates an aura catching Manet’s shadowy, mysterious, erotic world, which means her novel isn’t soaked in details, nor the totality of the artist’s career. Instead, it’s a window into Manet’s art when he created a sensual painting that shocked the Parisian art scene, giving us glimpses into the inspiration of his early years, pioneering the French realist art movement.
Here we see Manet’s devotion to art that is honest and realistic not romanticized, the prevailing preferences of the time. The same can be said of the author, who wants us to see the darker side of the City of Lights. The novel is best appreciated like a great piece of art in a museum: by looking and seeing, understanding all by ourselves, with just enough details to intrigue.
So, despite the short chapters – sometimes only a one-page impressionistic paragraph, like the artist sketching – this is not a breezy read. The prose is nuanced, echoing Paris when the lights are gray-blue. We sense what it might have felt like to have been Victorine, who tries so hard to grasp Manet’s “not-simple” paintings, because we’re compelled to understand what the author wants us to see. Gibbon acknowledges she’s thought about Olympia for ten years, so her vision and impressions interest us almost as much as Manet’s or his model’s. (“I am trying hard to understand what it all means to him because I know that it does mean something.”)
There’s a sadness that permeates Victorine’s voice – our narrator – and the evocative prose. Apparently, not that much is known about the real-life young woman who posed for Olympia, allowing the author the freedom to speculate. Artistic freedom – Manet’s, his muse’s, and the author’s – a worthy theme.
What the novel tells us about Victorine is that she’s a precocious 17-year-old working-class girl, a silver burnisher. She relishes the tools of her trade, learned from her working-class parents: her father an engraver, her mother a seamstress. But it’s not until we’re more than halfway through that we’re even sure of her real name: Victorine Louis Meurent.
That’s because when the novel opens she’s called Louise by her intimate friend, Denise, not her lover, more like a sister. They share a shabby room, even the same bed, toiling away at the same silver shop barely eking out enough money to live. That shopworn look is what Manet spots on a street. He makes advances to them both, teases about their names, a “ménage à trois” at first. He’s sizing them up: Denise, the brunette, with “a kind of sweetness about her”; Louise, the emboldened redhead, craving much more out of life.
Louise/Victorine knows she’s “different from everyone else.” Hers is a restless yearning to be noticed and touched – to be someone. So she makes a crass sexual move to grab Manet’s sole attention. Turns out she’s a far better match of the two to become his model: she enjoys drawing, colors, details, and, most importantly, is very willing to experiment.
Victorine has been sizing Manet up too. Her intense desires “not to be ordinary” are matched by his intensity about realism in art (“there’s only beauty in what’s real”). A poignant scene finds Manet rubbing away much of a canvas he disliked, which upsets Victorine because she doesn’t want to be “erased.” Manet sensitively explains it’s not the memory of the woman he painted he removed, just brushstrokes and composition. It’s a marvelous example of his softness. Indeed, Manet is a sensitive man, not content to “paint people at the edges.” And yet he’s veiled, hiding his face behind a bushy beard. (“There is something fine-grained about his face in spite of the riotous beard and moustache.”)
Artist and model also share a fierce independent streak. Manet has the luxury of being an independent artist. He has money to pay Victorine, presumably coming from a well-to-do family, so he’s not enslaved to paint to please the aristocracy. Instead, he painted what he saw. Victorine may adore Denise, yet she risks striking out on her own for “whatever it is in me that wants and wants – it is as big as the sky and keeps going.”
By the time Victorine has grown comfortable posing nude for Manet, she’s taken the black ribbon necklace on the book’s cover and made it her own. It’s a pivotal moment, seeming then to transition from being Manet’s model to his rebellious source of inspiration, his muse. By now he’s calling her “Trine,” an affectionate name reflecting the sexuality of their artistic relationship.
Was their real-life artist/muse relationship as sexual/erotic as depicted? Not clear. What appears certain is Victorine was Manet’s most favored model. Did he love her? Not clear either. He cares for her, is concerned about her finances, is kindly and respectful in the privacy of his studio and publicly among his contemporaries, but Manet is an obscure man with another life.
Most certain is his ardor for his art: “That is the thing that I cannot get inside: what it must be like to love something – a thing – so much.” Did he make love to her so she’d trust him completely? To capture Victorine’s essence, she must unabashedly be at ease, in her most personal, raw moments, especially if he is to paint the soulful expression in her eyes. When Manet finally shows Victorine Olympia, she’s moved that there’s “nowhere to look in the painting except my eyes.” She recognizes that expression: “I know what it feels like to look that way … When my grandmother died. When my heart was broken.” Victorine’s soul, then, is forever a part of Manet’s “groundbreaking” art. Now she has what she’s desperately wanted: she’s unforgettable.
Numerous sprinklings of references evoke the era – names of Parisian streets in the 1860s, French phrases, Manet’s artist and writer friends. At times I wished for an appendix, maps, dictionary, but the truth is that precision isn’t necessary since the novel is about sensing moods and artistry, which it achieves.
Still, once read, I googled Manet’s friends, as some names were familiar, others not: Félix-Jacques Antoine Moulin was a photographer whose photos Manet uses to see the “effect of shadow and light;” Henri Fantin-Latour was a portraitist and painter of flowers; Charles Baudelaire, a poet; Honoré Daumier, cartoonist and painter; Louis-Émile-Edmond Duranty, author; Zacharie Astruc, sculptor and painter; Tonin, turns out is An-tonin Proust, boyhood friend and journalist; Tony Robert-Fleury, another French painter; and Alfred Stevens, a kindly, romantic Belgian painter.
Just as Manet pushes Victorine to observe her reactions, the author pushes us. Like the famous artist and his muse, she’s “bold enough to tell the truth.”
Lorraine (EnchantedProse.com)
August 7, 2020
A highly original work. I can’t really describe its writing style; you have to read it to understand what I’m talking about. It’s definitely a different type of historical fiction and I’m extremely glad I picked it up. The writing is economical and almost unemotional in places, but that’s precisely what I like and what made the novel so hauntingly beautiful. I’ve always admired an author’s ability to convey emotions without overdramatizing them and “Paris Red” is a perfect example of how it should be done the right way. The novel itself is like a painting: one moment you admire the prose and next, you’re amazed at how the entire scene is born out of those seemingly simple sentences. There’s not much going on, but there is. Along with Victorine, who caught the famous Manet’s eye on the streets of the city, you’ll be transported into his studio and watch him create one of his most famous paintings and once you’re there, you won’t want to leave. I fell in love with this novel. Absolutely gorgeous and unforgettable.
February 11, 2017
poteva essere un libro molto bello invece l'autrice ha voluto rovinare tutto! non si parla altro che di sesso, lei viene fatta passare oltre che per una di facili costumi anche un pó stupida! poteva essere un libro bello che raccontava l incontro tra Manet e la sua Musa e descrive così tutti i quadri con lei sotto un altra luce invece sembrava di leggere "50 sfumature di grigio"..che tristezza!!
April 13, 2017
Grazie a Maureen Gibbon, conosciamo la figura di Victorine Meurent, la donna, la musa di molti capolavori di Manet. Per chi non lo sapesse, Victorine Meurent è stata la musa rappresentata in quadri quali Colazione sull'erba e soprattutto Olympia.
Non è un caso che il romanzo si intitoli Rosso Parigi. Il rosso Parigi del titolo è il rosso dei capelli di Victorine, ma è anche il colore della passione bruciante che scoppia tra la musa ed E.
Rosso Parigi è un tuffo nell'erotismo, nella passione sfrenata di due corpi che si intrecciano. È un tuffo nella vita di E., nel suo "differenziarsi, nel suo voler dipingere in maniera originale". È un viaggio nell'arte, nei colori, è un tuffo in un'arte sublime, unica che riesce a scombussolarti, a trafiggerti. Un'arte che ti entra dentro, che ti libera mostrando a Victorine "momenti diversi della stessa persona. Diverse descrizioni di me".
Non è un caso che il romanzo si intitoli Rosso Parigi. Il rosso Parigi del titolo è il rosso dei capelli di Victorine, ma è anche il colore della passione bruciante che scoppia tra la musa ed E.
Rosso Parigi è un tuffo nell'erotismo, nella passione sfrenata di due corpi che si intrecciano. È un tuffo nella vita di E., nel suo "differenziarsi, nel suo voler dipingere in maniera originale". È un viaggio nell'arte, nei colori, è un tuffo in un'arte sublime, unica che riesce a scombussolarti, a trafiggerti. Un'arte che ti entra dentro, che ti libera mostrando a Victorine "momenti diversi della stessa persona. Diverse descrizioni di me".
May 26, 2015
I picked up this book because I love historical fiction and love Paris, so why not? Little did i know that the red in the title does not refer to the main character's hair color. there is a lot of sex in this book, and it is fairly explicit.
this book is about how we choose our paths in life, and how others' perceptions of us gives us strength - or robs us of it. about pushing boundaries and taking opportunities as they come. about the importance of friends to feel a little less lonely in the world.
and sex. sex is the other main character in this book. I personally would have preferred less sex and more about Victorine's life after the painting was completed.
was it well written? it was descriptive and the words pulled you along at a fast clip through the very short chapters. however, the characters were so shallowly written, I never felt like I knew them. it took 3 days to finish the book, and I will remember the artist's process and scenes of mid-19th century Paris more than the characters.
this book is about how we choose our paths in life, and how others' perceptions of us gives us strength - or robs us of it. about pushing boundaries and taking opportunities as they come. about the importance of friends to feel a little less lonely in the world.
and sex. sex is the other main character in this book. I personally would have preferred less sex and more about Victorine's life after the painting was completed.
was it well written? it was descriptive and the words pulled you along at a fast clip through the very short chapters. however, the characters were so shallowly written, I never felt like I knew them. it took 3 days to finish the book, and I will remember the artist's process and scenes of mid-19th century Paris more than the characters.
February 13, 2015
A compact story about Victorine Louise Meurent, the model for Manet's "Olympia" who later became an artist in her own right, but whose life was summarily reduced to that of a prostitute by Manet's early biographers. Maureen Gibbon does Ms. Meurent justice by presenting us with a story told through the eyes of a young, working-class girl, whose thirst for life and experience is unbound by convention. We see the beginnings of the woman Louise is becoming, as she navigates the world of the much older and wealthier men around her. She incorporates the experiences she wants into her very being, taking in life for all it has to offer; giving, loving and taking without apology.
August 11, 2022
This certainly was not what I expected it to be. I have no idea how to rate this, 2.5 stars I guess.
The first chapters were, well, they were something - a big red flag mostly.
Manet‘s character was SUCH a creep in the first half of the book, don't even get me started (the way he talked to the girls in the beginning had me almost vomiting at times, like what even was that? especially considering the fact that he was literally on that street spying on a seventeen year old girl and later trying to seduce both her and her friend, playfully calling them his wives, like wtf??) Also, the green boots - I get it, they’re a huge part of the heroine’s identity, but why was this SO overdone right in the beginning? Just let the readers slowly find out about their meaningfulness by themselves.
But, after a while, the story very unexpectedly started growing on me.
I really liked the heroine’s perception of art and the role colors played for her, the overall precision with which she observed her environment. The chapters about her strolling around the streets of Paris on her own, reflecting on words and the happenings of the day, reminicing - those were what turned things over for me, what gave the book some depth and made me enjoy parts of it a lot actually. I loved reading about her painting in solitude (especially when she made that self-portrait) or about her discovering colors when sent out to buy paint. The relationship dynamics in this were also interesting to take apart, especially taking into account everything the protagonist didn’t articulate (her intimate feelings towards Nise; her general discomfort when being alone; her fear of being erased from her lover’s canvas one day, of not being wanted anymore; her hating to be so dependent on him, yet still prioritizing her desires and the urge to please him over literally everything else). That we got to see her interact with her mother, knowing about their rather complicated relationship before, was a nice addition as well. I found that scene very telling and well executed.
Apart from that, I still had a lot to complain about. In my opinion, the book would’ve desperately needed some kind of epilogue at least to give the story more depth and the protagonist a chance to evolve as both an individual and as an artist. In her relationship with Manet, she let herself become completely dependent on him and though she realizes that towards the very end and begins to view his influence on her life in a more critical way, the latter was only briefly touched upon and not further explored. Things just continue as if nothing happened, the changes stay little ephemeral thoughts in her head. Also, what drew her and Manet towards one another was mostly just physical attraction, their connection didn’t really go beyond that - which was a bit of a letdown. Unfortunately, the way Manet is portrayed throughout the novel sometimes made it seem like his art was, like their affair, focused mainly on nudity and sex as well (which is not true, of course). I feel like his character wasn't that well written in general.
I love reading about artists and their muses, but all in all this particular book just didn’t give me the vibes I wanted and expected to get from it, at least not for the most part. Still a fast and easy read though, I sure had lots of fun analyzing it. There are some really poetic and underline-worthy passages, but also be prepared for some of the conversations giving badly-written-erotica-energy (that will make you very uncomfortable, to say the least), and a whole lotta amount of smut.
The first chapters were, well, they were something - a big red flag mostly.
Manet‘s character was SUCH a creep in the first half of the book, don't even get me started (the way he talked to the girls in the beginning had me almost vomiting at times, like what even was that? especially considering the fact that he was literally on that street spying on a seventeen year old girl and later trying to seduce both her and her friend, playfully calling them his wives, like wtf??) Also, the green boots - I get it, they’re a huge part of the heroine’s identity, but why was this SO overdone right in the beginning? Just let the readers slowly find out about their meaningfulness by themselves.
But, after a while, the story very unexpectedly started growing on me.
I really liked the heroine’s perception of art and the role colors played for her, the overall precision with which she observed her environment. The chapters about her strolling around the streets of Paris on her own, reflecting on words and the happenings of the day, reminicing - those were what turned things over for me, what gave the book some depth and made me enjoy parts of it a lot actually. I loved reading about her painting in solitude (especially when she made that self-portrait) or about her discovering colors when sent out to buy paint. The relationship dynamics in this were also interesting to take apart, especially taking into account everything the protagonist didn’t articulate (her intimate feelings towards Nise; her general discomfort when being alone; her fear of being erased from her lover’s canvas one day, of not being wanted anymore; her hating to be so dependent on him, yet still prioritizing her desires and the urge to please him over literally everything else). That we got to see her interact with her mother, knowing about their rather complicated relationship before, was a nice addition as well. I found that scene very telling and well executed.
Apart from that, I still had a lot to complain about. In my opinion, the book would’ve desperately needed some kind of epilogue at least to give the story more depth and the protagonist a chance to evolve as both an individual and as an artist. In her relationship with Manet, she let herself become completely dependent on him and though she realizes that towards the very end and begins to view his influence on her life in a more critical way, the latter was only briefly touched upon and not further explored. Things just continue as if nothing happened, the changes stay little ephemeral thoughts in her head. Also, what drew her and Manet towards one another was mostly just physical attraction, their connection didn’t really go beyond that - which was a bit of a letdown. Unfortunately, the way Manet is portrayed throughout the novel sometimes made it seem like his art was, like their affair, focused mainly on nudity and sex as well (which is not true, of course). I feel like his character wasn't that well written in general.
I love reading about artists and their muses, but all in all this particular book just didn’t give me the vibes I wanted and expected to get from it, at least not for the most part. Still a fast and easy read though, I sure had lots of fun analyzing it. There are some really poetic and underline-worthy passages, but also be prepared for some of the conversations giving badly-written-erotica-energy (that will make you very uncomfortable, to say the least), and a whole lotta amount of smut.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 23, 2015
This book is told from the point of view of Manet's model, Victorine Louise. After meeting Manet when he helps her with a sketch she is making, she becomes his lover and muse. Much of the story focuses on the painting of "Olympia" which created much scandal in its time. Victorine was young, only 17, working in a silver factory when through Manet she begins to discover more about Paris, about art, and about her own sensuality.
Much of this story is beautifully told and Victorine has a fascinating voice. It's clear the author has a great grasp of Paris, Manet, art, and Victorine. Sadly, about half of the book is about their explicit sexual encounters and it just became boring. It needed a larger ratio of story to sex.
I received this book as a Goodreads First-Reads giveaway.
Much of this story is beautifully told and Victorine has a fascinating voice. It's clear the author has a great grasp of Paris, Manet, art, and Victorine. Sadly, about half of the book is about their explicit sexual encounters and it just became boring. It needed a larger ratio of story to sex.
I received this book as a Goodreads First-Reads giveaway.
June 1, 2015
This book is so very raw and succinct. If sex talk bothers you, don't read this novel. The author is very unapologetic about putting the heroine right in your face...her fears, her loves, her desire. But this book is so much more than a sex novel. It is about a young working girl in Paris learning to love herself and discovering what makes her tick. It is about complicated relationships between people and sometimes with yourself. I absolutely loved the way Maureen Gibbon gave us a peek into the historical time period and art world of Manet and Meurent's time all the while exposing the deep thoughts of a young girl coming of age. Well done.
March 11, 2016
Everything I think Maureen Gibbon set out to do with her historical novel, "Paris Red" -- a memoir about the famous painter Manet's model, Victorine, and her sensual and imaginative life that came into other special interpretations on Manet's canvasses in the 1800s -- I think she accomplished. Such a smooth, entrancing flow of events, thoughts, words! A great tale told, and unusually so. Thank you all for allowing me to read an advance copy through Goodreads Giveaways!
May 4, 2016
A smart, sexy, fun read, Paris Red is erotic prose, well wrought and even richly literary. I enjoyed seeing the 19th century Parisian art world through protagonist Victorine's eyes, because although she is young, she lacks neither experience nor curiosity (sensual or intellectual). What I admire most is how Gibbon steered clear of recreating the tired cliche of the innocent, naif we see in most historical fiction about young women who go astray after modeling for famous (lecherous) artists. I loved Victorine for her determination and her tireless pursuit of pleasure and art. Her love for art--both as a model and a painter--and her dream of being an artist in her own right, was also admirable. This young woman is no stranger to struggle, as the story begins with her working in a factory. However, Paris Red is still a coming of age story, which adds to its appeal. Manet's paintings will never look quite the same way again for me, as Gibbon has added even more warmth and sensuality to them (if one can even imagine that, since I have always loved Manet's work) by recreating these wonderful characters and places. I am glad I bought Paris Red, and I will proudly reserve a place for it on my shelves, where space becomes more and more limited by the day.
March 27, 2015
I just won this in the goodreads giveaway. I am really looking forward to reading this one. :)
Well this book was a hard one to rate. I finally settled on 3 stars just because it's a middle of the road rating. Like how the book is middle of the road. I mean Paris Red isn't a BAD book, but it's not a GREAT book either. I think what I was expecting was some kind of grand romance between an artist and his muse that led to the "Olympia" painting. Something passionate and beautiful. Instead it all was a little too...seedy for me. Mostly because nothing really happened. They met, flirted, had sex, she posed, and he painted. THAT'S IT. Oh and then the ending seemed pretty abrupt to me. As far as good points though the writing style was interesting and it did make me curious to look up information on Victorine and Manet. Perhaps I would like a non fiction book about them instead.
Also, by mid way through the book I wanted to rip the book in half every time the green boots of a whore was mentioned. That tells you how annoying that is because I'm never for harming books!!
Well this book was a hard one to rate. I finally settled on 3 stars just because it's a middle of the road rating. Like how the book is middle of the road. I mean Paris Red isn't a BAD book, but it's not a GREAT book either. I think what I was expecting was some kind of grand romance between an artist and his muse that led to the "Olympia" painting. Something passionate and beautiful. Instead it all was a little too...seedy for me. Mostly because nothing really happened. They met, flirted, had sex, she posed, and he painted. THAT'S IT. Oh and then the ending seemed pretty abrupt to me. As far as good points though the writing style was interesting and it did make me curious to look up information on Victorine and Manet. Perhaps I would like a non fiction book about them instead.
Also, by mid way through the book I wanted to rip the book in half every time the green boots of a whore was mentioned. That tells you how annoying that is because I'm never for harming books!!
March 12, 2015
Just saw this described as "historical fiction erotica" and that pretty much sums it up. Enjoyed the descriptions of life and art in Paris in the 1860s but it wasn't as informative as I hoped.
January 25, 2016
Beautiful writing.
May 26, 2021
I had never heard of this book when it showed up in my Little Free Library. What is not to like? Paris, art, colors, culture and morals of another time, and more than a little erotica? I'm all in.
I particularly enjoyed the heroine, through whose eyes the entire (quick-reading) novel takes place. When we meet her, she is young, poor, hard-working, and adventuresome. She meets a man - I don't believe Manet's name is ever mentioned in full, but he is the artist - with her roommate, and they begin a social relationship, which quickly develops into something more.
Even before meeting the artist, however, we know Victorine and her roommate have lived unconventional lives, and are willing to take risks.
I've seen some objection to the numerous erotic scenes, but this is the nature of artistic experimentation breaking down conventional boundaries, and artistic obsession, and is not uncommon to the world of art, or entertainment, or writing, or - well, people are people, some are more conventional, some are less so. This was true then, and is true, as I see it, now.
What I found fascinating about Victorine was that from the beginning, we know she loves colors. She has so many words to describe them, starting with her bottle green boots and her copper shawl. She keeps a lot of her thoughts to herself, but her silence, we learn, does not mean she is not observing and pondering what she sees. Some events and some interactions disturb her, and it takes her a while to work through what is going on, but she works toward achieving clarity, and she acts on her own perceptions, not the perceptions of others.
When asked, she is direct and acute in her observations; she is a woman who, although uneducated, has eyes to see and an analytical mind. She walks a fine line between skilled laborer and prostitute, choosing an uncomfortable and undefined middle ground. It was another interesting exploration of cultural boundaries.
It's a quick read, and a total immersion into a period when art was rapidly evolving, and, reading this book, you are right in the middle of a segment of how it all happens. Maybe this book isn't for everyone, but I liked it a lot.
I particularly enjoyed the heroine, through whose eyes the entire (quick-reading) novel takes place. When we meet her, she is young, poor, hard-working, and adventuresome. She meets a man - I don't believe Manet's name is ever mentioned in full, but he is the artist - with her roommate, and they begin a social relationship, which quickly develops into something more.
Even before meeting the artist, however, we know Victorine and her roommate have lived unconventional lives, and are willing to take risks.
I've seen some objection to the numerous erotic scenes, but this is the nature of artistic experimentation breaking down conventional boundaries, and artistic obsession, and is not uncommon to the world of art, or entertainment, or writing, or - well, people are people, some are more conventional, some are less so. This was true then, and is true, as I see it, now.
What I found fascinating about Victorine was that from the beginning, we know she loves colors. She has so many words to describe them, starting with her bottle green boots and her copper shawl. She keeps a lot of her thoughts to herself, but her silence, we learn, does not mean she is not observing and pondering what she sees. Some events and some interactions disturb her, and it takes her a while to work through what is going on, but she works toward achieving clarity, and she acts on her own perceptions, not the perceptions of others.
When asked, she is direct and acute in her observations; she is a woman who, although uneducated, has eyes to see and an analytical mind. She walks a fine line between skilled laborer and prostitute, choosing an uncomfortable and undefined middle ground. It was another interesting exploration of cultural boundaries.
It's a quick read, and a total immersion into a period when art was rapidly evolving, and, reading this book, you are right in the middle of a segment of how it all happens. Maybe this book isn't for everyone, but I liked it a lot.
May 15, 2022
it took me a long time to finish reading this, and it wasn't the greatest. but some parts were beautiful and made me tear up and for that I would read it again. it is mildly horny but only a little.
October 10, 2021
Paris 1860's, Edouard Manet, his muse/lover Victorine Meurent...an enjoyable, fast read. Knowing that this is a FICTIONALIZED account of their relationship, it did not disappoint.
September 25, 2025
Letto tanto tempo fa e rimosso dopo una lunga sensazione di orrore e mestizia. Ieri è uscito fuori da un cassetto e a distanza di anni la sensazione nel vedere la copertina è stata la medesima.
September 8, 2022
Une histoire facile à lire, très édulcorée mais ça reste un bon livre de vacances !
March 30, 2020
Loved: the story, the setting, the characters. Would give it five stars except there's a fair amount of dialogue in French, without translation, and not all of it can be figured out by context.
April 15, 2015
Paris Red, a novel by Maureen Gibbon and published by W.W Norton and Company is an interesting read. It is told from the point of view of a poor, 17 year old girl in 1862, who works in a silver polishing factory. She enters into a love triangle with her roommate and a man they meet on the street.
They play a little game of you touch her and then touch me for several chapters, before she leaves her roommate, and joins the man in his studio. He is a painter; an Artist, who ends up being Edouard Manet. Manet was a French painter during 19th century.
Manet's painting, Olympia, caused great controversy when it was painted. In Paris Red, the story teller is that of his muse, Victorine Meurent. Olympia is a striking nude panting. It was unlike anything that had been painted before it.
In order to understand Paris Red, the reader has to understand a little about Manet and his famous work. It took until the end of the novel to understand who was who. I also had to use Google, because the novel does not come out and say who the young painter is for most of the book.
This is a fictional account of the relationship between Manet and Meurent. It read a lot like another book, and might have been called Fifty Shades of Paris Red, due to its content. This novel contains graphic sex including, some eyebrow raising acts that might shock those not expecting it. The vibe is similar to the other book mention; a relationship between a man and woman, based on sex, lust and control.
Paris Red is not for the modest. If the reader did not like Fifty Shades of Grey, they may not like this book, either.
What I didn't like about Paris Red is pretty easy to guess. I dislike the over sexual nature of the book. I wish the author had included more history of the man. Instead, Manet remains a mystery for most of the book. There were a couple of sexual parts that didn’t need to be explained in such detail. I really wanted the story of them and not just some repeat of another book. I disliked how his muse was so greedy that she left her roommate; who was supposed to be part of this relationship. He had wanted both of them in the beginning. I also, found myself skipping the excessive sex to find the story.
What I did like about it was the way it flowed. Paris Red is told from the point of view of his muse. The detail in which the author describes each person and object is amazing. The novel is sensual at times and beautiful. The details of the two girl’s living area and working conditions were amazing. It brought me to tears.
Overall, this is as intense as the back cover suggests it is. It is a striking erotic work, loosely based on Manet and his muse. I enjoyed the book, once I understood the history of Manet.
A big thanks to Maureen Gibbon, the author, the publisher and Goodreads for allowing me to review this gem.
Disclaimer: This book was won after entering a contest on Goodreads 1st reads.
They play a little game of you touch her and then touch me for several chapters, before she leaves her roommate, and joins the man in his studio. He is a painter; an Artist, who ends up being Edouard Manet. Manet was a French painter during 19th century.
Manet's painting, Olympia, caused great controversy when it was painted. In Paris Red, the story teller is that of his muse, Victorine Meurent. Olympia is a striking nude panting. It was unlike anything that had been painted before it.
In order to understand Paris Red, the reader has to understand a little about Manet and his famous work. It took until the end of the novel to understand who was who. I also had to use Google, because the novel does not come out and say who the young painter is for most of the book.
This is a fictional account of the relationship between Manet and Meurent. It read a lot like another book, and might have been called Fifty Shades of Paris Red, due to its content. This novel contains graphic sex including, some eyebrow raising acts that might shock those not expecting it. The vibe is similar to the other book mention; a relationship between a man and woman, based on sex, lust and control.
Paris Red is not for the modest. If the reader did not like Fifty Shades of Grey, they may not like this book, either.
What I didn't like about Paris Red is pretty easy to guess. I dislike the over sexual nature of the book. I wish the author had included more history of the man. Instead, Manet remains a mystery for most of the book. There were a couple of sexual parts that didn’t need to be explained in such detail. I really wanted the story of them and not just some repeat of another book. I disliked how his muse was so greedy that she left her roommate; who was supposed to be part of this relationship. He had wanted both of them in the beginning. I also, found myself skipping the excessive sex to find the story.
What I did like about it was the way it flowed. Paris Red is told from the point of view of his muse. The detail in which the author describes each person and object is amazing. The novel is sensual at times and beautiful. The details of the two girl’s living area and working conditions were amazing. It brought me to tears.
Overall, this is as intense as the back cover suggests it is. It is a striking erotic work, loosely based on Manet and his muse. I enjoyed the book, once I understood the history of Manet.
A big thanks to Maureen Gibbon, the author, the publisher and Goodreads for allowing me to review this gem.
Disclaimer: This book was won after entering a contest on Goodreads 1st reads.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2016
My rating of this book is probably inflated because I expected . . . nothing from it. Actually, I sort of thought it was going to be actively bad. But it wasn't! Paris Red is actually rather good. It is maybe a little bit "a young girl's strange, erotic journey from Milan to Minsk" except that she stays in Paris the whole time, but I think that the book pulls it off. She's only 17 - self-possessed, but also self-obsessed.
It reminded me a little of the film Augustine, which I think is really only just about okay (like, why cast Gregoire Colin if you're not going to use him), but which does capture something about being young and overwhelmed by yourself and the world and finding that kind of intoxicating, especially when there is something about you that draws the world's attention. Augustine carves out, with the skin of her teeth and without much understanding, a space of agency; so does Louise (with more understanding). Paris Red is interested in the same kind of aspect of experience. It's a deeply internal novel, too, so although there is lots of rich (though economical!) description of places and sensation, it's all filtered tightly through Louise's own being. I think that's the way to go, if this is going to be anything but a book of artfully elided sex scenes.
The more I think about this book, though, the weirder the treatment of Olympia seems to me. Something to consider, I guess. 12/01/15: It still bothers me, and it actually bothers me enough to take this down to three stars. Is that reasonable? Nope.
It reminded me a little of the film Augustine, which I think is really only just about okay (like, why cast Gregoire Colin if you're not going to use him), but which does capture something about being young and overwhelmed by yourself and the world and finding that kind of intoxicating, especially when there is something about you that draws the world's attention. Augustine carves out, with the skin of her teeth and without much understanding, a space of agency; so does Louise (with more understanding). Paris Red is interested in the same kind of aspect of experience. It's a deeply internal novel, too, so although there is lots of rich (though economical!) description of places and sensation, it's all filtered tightly through Louise's own being. I think that's the way to go, if this is going to be anything but a book of artfully elided sex scenes.
The more I think about this book, though, the weirder the treatment of Olympia seems to me. Something to consider, I guess. 12/01/15: It still bothers me, and it actually bothers me enough to take this down to three stars. Is that reasonable? Nope.
September 24, 2017
I pick up books at the library relatively randomly - at the moment the main requirements are that they be written by a woman and that they aren't mystery or romance genre fiction. So that's how I ended up with this one. And I also don't read the blurbs or backs of the books beyond maybe the first sentence, so it's a little bit like roulette, never knowing where I'm going to land.
So I had no idea that this was a fictionalized account of the relationship between Victorine Meuneut and Edouard Manet. They were just characters in a book to me (the artist mostly remains unnamed, although he does introduce himself with a false name at the beginning) until the artist started mentioning his friend Baudelaire and I wondered if this was about a specific artist. But anyway, the point is that I'm not sure, but it's possible if you are familiar with the relationship between the two or you enjoy reading about Manet or something along those lines, you might enjoy this more.
Instead, for me it was just an endless series of erotic vignettes interspersed with some painting. I felt like Victorine almost wanted to be an interesting character, but it only happened with any success in the last few pages. Manet was just "mysterious" - meaning that I guess we are supposed to find it alluring or intriguing that we never get to find out much about him, but for me it just made him seem like a cardboard cutout to be moved around. Also, if I never hear anything described as "bottle green" again, it will still be too soon.
So I had no idea that this was a fictionalized account of the relationship between Victorine Meuneut and Edouard Manet. They were just characters in a book to me (the artist mostly remains unnamed, although he does introduce himself with a false name at the beginning) until the artist started mentioning his friend Baudelaire and I wondered if this was about a specific artist. But anyway, the point is that I'm not sure, but it's possible if you are familiar with the relationship between the two or you enjoy reading about Manet or something along those lines, you might enjoy this more.
Instead, for me it was just an endless series of erotic vignettes interspersed with some painting. I felt like Victorine almost wanted to be an interesting character, but it only happened with any success in the last few pages. Manet was just "mysterious" - meaning that I guess we are supposed to find it alluring or intriguing that we never get to find out much about him, but for me it just made him seem like a cardboard cutout to be moved around. Also, if I never hear anything described as "bottle green" again, it will still be too soon.
April 3, 2015
I was lucky enough to receive this book in the Good reads giveaway!
This is a very sensual book about a very heady time in Paris - and the narrator, Victorine, given to reflection on minor details. This sounds like it could be boring - but is, in fact a lovely exploration of the meaning of such details - in relationships, artwork, and her own slowly forming drive to create her own artwork. You might guess from the cover and from Victorine's fame that it is about the painting of the Olympia, but it's really more about the birth of a young artist, moving from a woman looking for a direction to a woman firmly in charge of her destiny.
One of the more enjoyablè aspects of this novel is in the attitude of its two main female characters in regards to sex. While they question whether or not to exhibit their bodies,and what constitutes prostitution when so much money passes between lovers, they are quite blase on the subject of sex. Whether or not they sleep with a man is not a sin at all - it is only a problem if it comes between friends. Indeed, the friendship between Nise and Victorine is one of the strongest aspects of the novel.The sex scenes are brief and light, no less sensual for their brevity, more gossamer than sweat in character.
My arc was missing about 15 pages near the end, so I can't speak for all of the novel. What I read though, was very enjoyable, and I will be purchasing for my library.
This is a very sensual book about a very heady time in Paris - and the narrator, Victorine, given to reflection on minor details. This sounds like it could be boring - but is, in fact a lovely exploration of the meaning of such details - in relationships, artwork, and her own slowly forming drive to create her own artwork. You might guess from the cover and from Victorine's fame that it is about the painting of the Olympia, but it's really more about the birth of a young artist, moving from a woman looking for a direction to a woman firmly in charge of her destiny.
One of the more enjoyablè aspects of this novel is in the attitude of its two main female characters in regards to sex. While they question whether or not to exhibit their bodies,and what constitutes prostitution when so much money passes between lovers, they are quite blase on the subject of sex. Whether or not they sleep with a man is not a sin at all - it is only a problem if it comes between friends. Indeed, the friendship between Nise and Victorine is one of the strongest aspects of the novel.The sex scenes are brief and light, no less sensual for their brevity, more gossamer than sweat in character.
My arc was missing about 15 pages near the end, so I can't speak for all of the novel. What I read though, was very enjoyable, and I will be purchasing for my library.
January 19, 2015
I was lucky enough to get an advanced reading copy of this book. The story is told in the voice of the real 17 year old working class girl in 19th century Paris who became the muse and model of Edouard Manet.
As a lover of Art and an amateur painter, I was sucked into the art angle of the book immediately. Manet was one of the first to paint what was real, what he saw, and saw as the truth. We read this play out through the girls eyes. To watch the girls mind work out life, love, friendship, power, sex, art, color and composition is very special.
It's very sexual and frank about the relationship between the 17 and 30 year old which honestly threw me for a while. You know, reading about some shit left on his dick after anal - I could have done without that!
But the art! And the story! And looking at his paintings now that were described in the book, wonderful.
My only complaint is that there was french in the book and it was totally distracting when I couldn't translate or the kindle couldn't translate. Besides that, read this book and be transported to another time and place.
As a lover of Art and an amateur painter, I was sucked into the art angle of the book immediately. Manet was one of the first to paint what was real, what he saw, and saw as the truth. We read this play out through the girls eyes. To watch the girls mind work out life, love, friendship, power, sex, art, color and composition is very special.
It's very sexual and frank about the relationship between the 17 and 30 year old which honestly threw me for a while. You know, reading about some shit left on his dick after anal - I could have done without that!
But the art! And the story! And looking at his paintings now that were described in the book, wonderful.
My only complaint is that there was french in the book and it was totally distracting when I couldn't translate or the kindle couldn't translate. Besides that, read this book and be transported to another time and place.
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