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Ophelia's Muse
Ophelia's Muse depicts the passionate but doomed romance between the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood painter Dante Rossetti and his model, muse, and wife, Lizzie Siddal.
"I'll never want to draw anyone else but you. You are my muse. Without you there is no art in me."
With her pale, luminous skin and cloud of copper-colored hair, nineteen-year-old Lizzie Siddal looks nothing like the rosy-cheeked ideal of Victorian beauty. Working in a London milliner's shop, Lizzie stitches elegant bonnets destined for wealthier young women, until a chance meeting brings her to the attention of painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Enchanted both by her ethereal appearance and her artistic ambitions--quite out of place for a shop girl--Rossetti draws her into his glittering world of salons and bohemian soirees.
Lizzie begins to sit for some of the most celebrated members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, posing for John Everett Millais as Shakespeare's Ophelia, for William Holman Hunt--and especially for Rossetti, who immortalizes her in countless paintings as his namesake's beloved Beatrice. The passionate visions Rossetti creates on canvas are echoed in their intense affair. But while Lizzie strives to establish herself as a painter and poet in her own right, betrayal, illness, and addiction leave her struggling to save her marriage and her sense of self.
Rita Cameron weaves historical figures and vivid details into a complex, unconventional love story, giving voice to one of the most influential yet overlooked figures of a fascinating era--a woman who is both artist and inspiration, long gazed upon, but until now, never fully seen.
"I'll never want to draw anyone else but you. You are my muse. Without you there is no art in me."
With her pale, luminous skin and cloud of copper-colored hair, nineteen-year-old Lizzie Siddal looks nothing like the rosy-cheeked ideal of Victorian beauty. Working in a London milliner's shop, Lizzie stitches elegant bonnets destined for wealthier young women, until a chance meeting brings her to the attention of painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Enchanted both by her ethereal appearance and her artistic ambitions--quite out of place for a shop girl--Rossetti draws her into his glittering world of salons and bohemian soirees.
Lizzie begins to sit for some of the most celebrated members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, posing for John Everett Millais as Shakespeare's Ophelia, for William Holman Hunt--and especially for Rossetti, who immortalizes her in countless paintings as his namesake's beloved Beatrice. The passionate visions Rossetti creates on canvas are echoed in their intense affair. But while Lizzie strives to establish herself as a painter and poet in her own right, betrayal, illness, and addiction leave her struggling to save her marriage and her sense of self.
Rita Cameron weaves historical figures and vivid details into a complex, unconventional love story, giving voice to one of the most influential yet overlooked figures of a fascinating era--a woman who is both artist and inspiration, long gazed upon, but until now, never fully seen.
369 pages, Paperback
First published September 29, 2015
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1562 people want to read
About the author
Rita Cameron
3 books140 followersRita Cameron is the author of two novels, The House Party and Ophelia's Muse. She grew up in Philadelphia and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and currently lives in San Jose, California, with her husband and two children. She enjoys hiking, reading, visiting wineries, and throwing overly-ambitious theme parties.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
July 23, 2015
Elizabeth Siddel was born in 1829 to a family barely eking out a living in genteel poverty; a family prosperous a few generations past but no longer. She is brought up to read and value books and art, but is forced to spend her days working at a milliner’s shop, making hats for fashionable ladies, and turning her wages over to her mother. But one day an opportunity arises; a young artist, Walter Deverell, comes into the shop with his mother, and is taken by Lizzie’s beauty and her red hair. He wants her to pose for him. In those days, artist’s models were considered no better than prostitutes, frequently sleeping with the artist’s they sat for. But an arrangement is made; a respectable female chaperon will be provided, Lizzie will make far better wages than she does sewing hats, and her job will be held open for her. While sitting for Deverell, his friend and fellow member of the newly formed pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, sees Lizzie and is smitten. Her life takes a considerably less respectable turn after this.
Theirs’s was a relationship filled with obstacles. Rossetti was from a well to do family, and Lizzie’s situation was not acceptable to them- even before she started sleeping with Rossetti. Plus, Rossetti felt that a wife would mean establishing a house and being conventional, which would distract him from the art he was devoted to. There were also issues of opiate addiction, near constant infidelity, and Lizzie’s isolation from her family once she became Rossetti’s mistress. The brilliant artist Rossetti was, in many ways, a spoiled child. These days, his art redeems him, but he could not have been an easy person to love.
This sounds like I’m giving away the whole plot, but I’m not. I knew these facts before I read the novel, and it still absorbed me. Lizzie and Dante came alive in these pages. While the members of the PRB are fairly well known today, the models still are not. Life for women in that era was very circumscribed, and anyone who stepped outside the lines of respectability had a very hard time of it.
The author describes things in detail without getting bogged down. The clothing, the art, the houses, all spring into the reader’s mind in full color. The characters are rounded and real; there are no villains here, just people trying to do the best they can. A great fictionalized biography; anyone with interest in the pre-Raphaelites should give this book a go.
Theirs’s was a relationship filled with obstacles. Rossetti was from a well to do family, and Lizzie’s situation was not acceptable to them- even before she started sleeping with Rossetti. Plus, Rossetti felt that a wife would mean establishing a house and being conventional, which would distract him from the art he was devoted to. There were also issues of opiate addiction, near constant infidelity, and Lizzie’s isolation from her family once she became Rossetti’s mistress. The brilliant artist Rossetti was, in many ways, a spoiled child. These days, his art redeems him, but he could not have been an easy person to love.
This sounds like I’m giving away the whole plot, but I’m not. I knew these facts before I read the novel, and it still absorbed me. Lizzie and Dante came alive in these pages. While the members of the PRB are fairly well known today, the models still are not. Life for women in that era was very circumscribed, and anyone who stepped outside the lines of respectability had a very hard time of it.
The author describes things in detail without getting bogged down. The clothing, the art, the houses, all spring into the reader’s mind in full color. The characters are rounded and real; there are no villains here, just people trying to do the best they can. A great fictionalized biography; anyone with interest in the pre-Raphaelites should give this book a go.
January 3, 2018
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood began as a reaction to the Royal Academy of Art and the academy's acceptance of what they thought of as staid art, such as that of Joshua Reynolds or Turner. Seeking the "truth" in painting, the small group sought lovely models who, to them represented purity. The were rosy-cheeked ladies with long flowing hair, and soft, lovely features that made them what the brotherhood coined as "stunners."
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Siddal worked as a milliner at a hat shop. Her family was poor. Her father spent his life in a useless battle to obtain what he thought his rightful inheritance. Because herr father's attempts were unfruitful, Lizzie at 19, had to seek gainful employment. Tall, with grey eyes, heavy lids and thick, rich red hair, she was spotted and was convinced to become a model. This was not a suitable profession in Victorian England, still she was drawn by the bohemian lifestyle, the thrill of praise, and of becoming one of the very first models for the small group of painters.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millias and William Hunt found her angel-like and all of them, in varying times, used her as their model.
Her family did not approve of her lifestyle, and thus eventually, she became the mistress of Rossetti. A narcissistic cad, he loved, but used her, and it wasn't until her near death that he married her.
Her image looks out from many Pre-Raphaelite paintings, but she is best know as the model in John Everett Millias'
rendition of the love-lost character of Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Lying in a tub of water, lit by candles at the bottom of the tub, soon Millias, enraptured with his work, forgot to continue to keep the water warm.
Many believe this led to Lizzie's poor health, laudanum addiction and eventual death.
Forever captured on the canvas, best known as one of the premier stunners, her life was a sad one. Forever desolate by Rossetti's refusal to marry, and his continued cheating, she overdosed on laudanum. She was buried with Rossetti's book of poems, and forever haunted him.
Hiring men to dig her grave so that his poems could survive, even in death, he defiled her.
While Rita Cameron's portrayal is in novel form. It is very obvious that she did a lot of research in painting Lizzie as a beautiful, talented woman, stuck in Victorian time. forever a muse and stunner.
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Siddal worked as a milliner at a hat shop. Her family was poor. Her father spent his life in a useless battle to obtain what he thought his rightful inheritance. Because herr father's attempts were unfruitful, Lizzie at 19, had to seek gainful employment. Tall, with grey eyes, heavy lids and thick, rich red hair, she was spotted and was convinced to become a model. This was not a suitable profession in Victorian England, still she was drawn by the bohemian lifestyle, the thrill of praise, and of becoming one of the very first models for the small group of painters.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millias and William Hunt found her angel-like and all of them, in varying times, used her as their model.
Her family did not approve of her lifestyle, and thus eventually, she became the mistress of Rossetti. A narcissistic cad, he loved, but used her, and it wasn't until her near death that he married her.
Her image looks out from many Pre-Raphaelite paintings, but she is best know as the model in John Everett Millias'
rendition of the love-lost character of Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Lying in a tub of water, lit by candles at the bottom of the tub, soon Millias, enraptured with his work, forgot to continue to keep the water warm.
Many believe this led to Lizzie's poor health, laudanum addiction and eventual death.
Forever captured on the canvas, best known as one of the premier stunners, her life was a sad one. Forever desolate by Rossetti's refusal to marry, and his continued cheating, she overdosed on laudanum. She was buried with Rossetti's book of poems, and forever haunted him.
Hiring men to dig her grave so that his poems could survive, even in death, he defiled her.
While Rita Cameron's portrayal is in novel form. It is very obvious that she did a lot of research in painting Lizzie as a beautiful, talented woman, stuck in Victorian time. forever a muse and stunner.
July 25, 2022
When starting this book I was already quite familiar with the story of Lizzie Siddal and her rocky, to say the least, relationship with Rosetti, as it took me through plenty of teenage heartbreak and melodrama. But in her life there are several questions that a strictly factual biography can never hope to answer, and my hope was that this book would use the fact that it was fictional to attempt to answer these questions based on the facts as historians new them. After reading a couple of pages I realized that this book was not interested in that, but rather to use these real people to tell an historical romance, even when the facts do not support this. Instead of attempting to answer questions like why Lizzie Sidall stayed in the relationship for so long, why Rosetti refused to marry her so long or how much of their relationship was built on Rosetti seeing her as the Beatrice to his Dante and how much of it was genuine love for Lizzie Siddal as her own woman. It is not interested in reconciliating Rosettis treatment of the woman he claimed to love with wither the effects he had on her or the fact that even when refusing to marry her and being unfaithful there are hundreds of sketches he did of her, not as a queen or fair maiden from times past but as Guggum the women he was living with, whom he loved, which is one of the most romantic things my aro eyes have ever seen.
The main problem with the book is that it can’t decide which of two conflicting narratives it wants to tell, in the end squandering both opportunities. On one hand this is a historical romance the kind written by Barbara Cartland, and featuring women with long, windblown hair and men without shirts on the cover and on the other hand it attempts to tell Lizzies story to make her as the blurb promises seen for the first time as opposed to gazed on and write about problems women faced then and still face today, like objectification, the expectations for women as opposed to men and the efforts to have both family and a career. Not only do these differing narratives change so often that none of them are a success but the first one do on several occasion actively weaken the second one, through before getting into that I feel it is only fair to judge the two styles of narrative on their own merit.
I will in the name of fairness disclaim that historical romance as a genre is not generally my cup of tea, so my critiques of the book on this level should be seen through that lens. The main problem with this book read as a romance book divorced from any kind of reality, is that there is no reason for the reader to connect with the characters or root for their love story. I never felt like I truly knew anything about either of these characters on a deeper level or got any sort of understanding of their psyche, they all have a couple of moods they shift back and forth from over and over again without any change or variation. Nothing new is added in any of the cycles just the same thing over and over again until Lizzie dies, so scenes that are supposed to elicit emotions and gasps in the reader only elicit boredom and yawns. Further as the historical reality is that these people were not good for each other this lack of emotional attachment to the character means that the readers aren’t rooting for these characters to solve their issues and find a way to be together, there is no sense of triumph when Rosetti proposes or they kiss for the first time. The reader sees it all passively, at most wishing one of them would just leave the other permanently. This means that even apart from the issues I had with it as based in reality the story doesn’t stand on its own as a fictional historical romance either, the only thing it does is diminish the book as an honest and focused look at a forgotten woman’s life.
As previously stated it is a goal of the author to lift this life story up, but when reading the book one gets the sense that the parts about Lizzie and the pre-raphaelites are just a veneer placed over an already written historical romance filled with the tropes associated with the genre. For a book so intent on making this woman seen for who she really was it does not seem to have respect for her or her life, as details are constantly changed or omitted, seemingly to make the story fill the romance tropes better. On the surface level this can be seen in details being wrong, such as Rosetti constantly being referred to as ”Dante” when in life the people closest to him used ”Gabriel” or the fact that the author seems to have moved the marriage and subsequently all events taking place afterwards 4 years forward in time, placing the wedding in 1856 as opposed to the actual year, 1860. But even if these are things that an author should not get wrong when describing real events and people the most insulting part is the way it uses tropes such as the ”not like other girls” trope common in YA and romance in place of trying to actually understand this woman the author claims to be so interested in making sure is seen. That is not to say that it is impossible that both Siddal and Rosetti saw her as above other women in some ways, but as opposed to writing these feelings from a place based in what we know of Lizzies psyche and biography it feels cliched, used not because the author feels based on her re-search that this is in reality but because that is expected of the genre. But the part where this cliched style of writing hurts the most is when it comes to just the question I was hoping the most for this book to answer, why Lizzie stayed, as there is no room for this kind of complexity in the novel. Instead of investigating the unique factors in Lizzies case the book once again choses the cliches used in many a romance books, she loves him too much and without him her reputation is ruined forever. While both of these were almost certainly factors in why the real Lizzie stayed what we know about her point to there being other factors as well, most obvious that Lizzie did have her own friends in the pre-raphaelite community for example one of the other poets in the movement, a person who’s absence is felt throughout most of the story. But in this book the only person who is allowed to be the connection to the world of art and poetry is Rosetti, once again something that feels more like a cliché from a book with a half naked man on the cover, than something taken from the life of an actual woman. Another factor this book ignores is the fact that Lizzie Siddal had been dreaming about being part of that world since long before Rosetti, so saying goodbye to the relationship also meant saying goodbye to her childhood dreams. The frustrating part is that these dreams play a big part in the beginning of the story, but as the focus becomes more and more on the relationship between Siddal and Rosetti this aspect of her life fades more and more into the background. It is used to paint her as the wide eyed heroine and give her an excuse to fall for Rosetti, but when that goal is achieved it seems Cameron sees no use for this detail, even though it would logically have been part of Siddals choice to stay with Rosetti. To ignore these potential factors in Lizzies decision to stay feels not only like a failure in showing Lizzie as she is but reducing her to the sexist stereotype of a woman who lets her emotions rule her when it comes to decision making rather that using any once of logic. The sort of depictions of women Cameron was trying to avoid as she writes in the q&a section of the book that ”scholarly literature on [Lizzie] depends on the written opinion of the higher-class men who knew her as an artists model […] I wanted to give a voice to a woman who had the power not only to inspire great men, but also to work alongside them”.
That is not to say that the book is entirely devoid of attempts at feminist critiques on the male artists Lizzie Sidall was surrounded by, most notably the way they used the idea of worshiping a muse as an excuse to objectify women and the way they could play at being ”free” and bohemian in a way that women never could, as that is one of the main reasons in Camerons versions of events that Siddal stayed with Rosetti. But even when it comes to these subjects the conversation feels forced and parts of Lizzies life that could be used to illustrate the point more subtly or complexly are ignored. In the first case a great example would be the poem ”The lust of the eyes” that Sidall wrote which goes:
”I care not for my Lady’s soul'
Though I worship before her smile;
I care not where be my Lady’s goal
When her beauty shall lose its wile.
Low sit I down at my Lady’s feet
Gazing through her wild eyes
Smiling to think how my love will fleet
When their starlike beauty dies.
I care not if my Lady pray
To our Father which is in Heaven
But for joy my heart’s quick pulses play
For to me her love is given.
Then who shall close my Lady’s eyes
And who shall fold her hands?
Will any hearken if she cries
Up to the unknown lands?”
This poem quite clearly critiques just the sort of objectification Cameron strives to critique, but yet it is not one of the poems she includes in her novel, which strikes me as odd as this is so clearly Lizzie telling her version of events and trying to take the narrative back. While I do not know Camerons reasons for not including this poem I cannot help but think that her commentary in weaker for it. When it comes to the way women like Lizzy were trapped due to societies expectations, expectations not placed on men, an interesting part of Lizzies life is omitted, namely that she tried to escape from being dependent on Rosetti, by 1857 attending art school in Sheffield. (She also left Rosetti for a period in 1856 and lived in Bath, before reconciling when he joins her there in December of that year) This period in her life and the reasons she once again went back to Rosetti and London are another mystery in her biography and exploring this through fiction might be the only way for us to get answers. This in once again a golden opportunity for Cameron to show what her book can bring to the table, and yet she does not take it, instead ignoring these events all together.
Maybe that is the best symbol of my feelings towards this book, with its noble goal and attempts to lift interesting themes, but continually falling short by omitting or changing the details in order to better suit an expected or preconceived narrative. The most flattering thing I can say is that somewhere inside this book there is a good one, a great one even, but unfortunately it was not allowed to blossom. The finished result is instead a boring, conventional mess of a book that succeeds neither as an exploration of a singular woman’s life and the ways societal expectations affected her or as a historical romance that only has to concern itself with telling a good story.
The main problem with the book is that it can’t decide which of two conflicting narratives it wants to tell, in the end squandering both opportunities. On one hand this is a historical romance the kind written by Barbara Cartland, and featuring women with long, windblown hair and men without shirts on the cover and on the other hand it attempts to tell Lizzies story to make her as the blurb promises seen for the first time as opposed to gazed on and write about problems women faced then and still face today, like objectification, the expectations for women as opposed to men and the efforts to have both family and a career. Not only do these differing narratives change so often that none of them are a success but the first one do on several occasion actively weaken the second one, through before getting into that I feel it is only fair to judge the two styles of narrative on their own merit.
I will in the name of fairness disclaim that historical romance as a genre is not generally my cup of tea, so my critiques of the book on this level should be seen through that lens. The main problem with this book read as a romance book divorced from any kind of reality, is that there is no reason for the reader to connect with the characters or root for their love story. I never felt like I truly knew anything about either of these characters on a deeper level or got any sort of understanding of their psyche, they all have a couple of moods they shift back and forth from over and over again without any change or variation. Nothing new is added in any of the cycles just the same thing over and over again until Lizzie dies, so scenes that are supposed to elicit emotions and gasps in the reader only elicit boredom and yawns. Further as the historical reality is that these people were not good for each other this lack of emotional attachment to the character means that the readers aren’t rooting for these characters to solve their issues and find a way to be together, there is no sense of triumph when Rosetti proposes or they kiss for the first time. The reader sees it all passively, at most wishing one of them would just leave the other permanently. This means that even apart from the issues I had with it as based in reality the story doesn’t stand on its own as a fictional historical romance either, the only thing it does is diminish the book as an honest and focused look at a forgotten woman’s life.
As previously stated it is a goal of the author to lift this life story up, but when reading the book one gets the sense that the parts about Lizzie and the pre-raphaelites are just a veneer placed over an already written historical romance filled with the tropes associated with the genre. For a book so intent on making this woman seen for who she really was it does not seem to have respect for her or her life, as details are constantly changed or omitted, seemingly to make the story fill the romance tropes better. On the surface level this can be seen in details being wrong, such as Rosetti constantly being referred to as ”Dante” when in life the people closest to him used ”Gabriel” or the fact that the author seems to have moved the marriage and subsequently all events taking place afterwards 4 years forward in time, placing the wedding in 1856 as opposed to the actual year, 1860. But even if these are things that an author should not get wrong when describing real events and people the most insulting part is the way it uses tropes such as the ”not like other girls” trope common in YA and romance in place of trying to actually understand this woman the author claims to be so interested in making sure is seen. That is not to say that it is impossible that both Siddal and Rosetti saw her as above other women in some ways, but as opposed to writing these feelings from a place based in what we know of Lizzies psyche and biography it feels cliched, used not because the author feels based on her re-search that this is in reality but because that is expected of the genre. But the part where this cliched style of writing hurts the most is when it comes to just the question I was hoping the most for this book to answer, why Lizzie stayed, as there is no room for this kind of complexity in the novel. Instead of investigating the unique factors in Lizzies case the book once again choses the cliches used in many a romance books, she loves him too much and without him her reputation is ruined forever. While both of these were almost certainly factors in why the real Lizzie stayed what we know about her point to there being other factors as well, most obvious that Lizzie did have her own friends in the pre-raphaelite community for example one of the other poets in the movement, a person who’s absence is felt throughout most of the story. But in this book the only person who is allowed to be the connection to the world of art and poetry is Rosetti, once again something that feels more like a cliché from a book with a half naked man on the cover, than something taken from the life of an actual woman. Another factor this book ignores is the fact that Lizzie Siddal had been dreaming about being part of that world since long before Rosetti, so saying goodbye to the relationship also meant saying goodbye to her childhood dreams. The frustrating part is that these dreams play a big part in the beginning of the story, but as the focus becomes more and more on the relationship between Siddal and Rosetti this aspect of her life fades more and more into the background. It is used to paint her as the wide eyed heroine and give her an excuse to fall for Rosetti, but when that goal is achieved it seems Cameron sees no use for this detail, even though it would logically have been part of Siddals choice to stay with Rosetti. To ignore these potential factors in Lizzies decision to stay feels not only like a failure in showing Lizzie as she is but reducing her to the sexist stereotype of a woman who lets her emotions rule her when it comes to decision making rather that using any once of logic. The sort of depictions of women Cameron was trying to avoid as she writes in the q&a section of the book that ”scholarly literature on [Lizzie] depends on the written opinion of the higher-class men who knew her as an artists model […] I wanted to give a voice to a woman who had the power not only to inspire great men, but also to work alongside them”.
That is not to say that the book is entirely devoid of attempts at feminist critiques on the male artists Lizzie Sidall was surrounded by, most notably the way they used the idea of worshiping a muse as an excuse to objectify women and the way they could play at being ”free” and bohemian in a way that women never could, as that is one of the main reasons in Camerons versions of events that Siddal stayed with Rosetti. But even when it comes to these subjects the conversation feels forced and parts of Lizzies life that could be used to illustrate the point more subtly or complexly are ignored. In the first case a great example would be the poem ”The lust of the eyes” that Sidall wrote which goes:
”I care not for my Lady’s soul'
Though I worship before her smile;
I care not where be my Lady’s goal
When her beauty shall lose its wile.
Low sit I down at my Lady’s feet
Gazing through her wild eyes
Smiling to think how my love will fleet
When their starlike beauty dies.
I care not if my Lady pray
To our Father which is in Heaven
But for joy my heart’s quick pulses play
For to me her love is given.
Then who shall close my Lady’s eyes
And who shall fold her hands?
Will any hearken if she cries
Up to the unknown lands?”
This poem quite clearly critiques just the sort of objectification Cameron strives to critique, but yet it is not one of the poems she includes in her novel, which strikes me as odd as this is so clearly Lizzie telling her version of events and trying to take the narrative back. While I do not know Camerons reasons for not including this poem I cannot help but think that her commentary in weaker for it. When it comes to the way women like Lizzy were trapped due to societies expectations, expectations not placed on men, an interesting part of Lizzies life is omitted, namely that she tried to escape from being dependent on Rosetti, by 1857 attending art school in Sheffield. (She also left Rosetti for a period in 1856 and lived in Bath, before reconciling when he joins her there in December of that year) This period in her life and the reasons she once again went back to Rosetti and London are another mystery in her biography and exploring this through fiction might be the only way for us to get answers. This in once again a golden opportunity for Cameron to show what her book can bring to the table, and yet she does not take it, instead ignoring these events all together.
Maybe that is the best symbol of my feelings towards this book, with its noble goal and attempts to lift interesting themes, but continually falling short by omitting or changing the details in order to better suit an expected or preconceived narrative. The most flattering thing I can say is that somewhere inside this book there is a good one, a great one even, but unfortunately it was not allowed to blossom. The finished result is instead a boring, conventional mess of a book that succeeds neither as an exploration of a singular woman’s life and the ways societal expectations affected her or as a historical romance that only has to concern itself with telling a good story.
September 21, 2023
Elizabeth Sidal sasvim slučajno postaje model mladom slikaru, iako to zvanje nije za pohvalu, i daleko je od onog čime se ona ili njena porodica ponose. Međutim, vremenom Elizabeth biva uvučena u neobični i živopisni svijet umjetnika, zbog ljubavi prema istom biva protjerana iz rodne kuće, a utjehu pronađe u naručju i slikarskom ateljeu Dantea Rosetija. Elizabeth ispočetka naivno vjeuje kako uz Dantea ima sve, međutim vrijeme će pokazati kako mu ne može biti i ljubav života ,a ujedno i muza te neiscrpan izvor inspiracije,.Elizabeth mora donijeti odluku o tome šta od to dvoje više želi biti , i čega će se u životu odreći.
May 17, 2022
A hauntingly beautiful debut...
In Ophelia’s Muse, the light of inspiration falls on the coppery-red crown of Elizabeth “Lizzie” Siddal and Victorian London’s unconventional world of art, beauty and romance. Although sometimes outside the lines of facts and record, this was a hauntingly beautiful novel that swept me back to a crucial time of the 19th century when restraints of culture were just beginning to loosen and discoveries in nature, advancements of industry, literature and art were all in fashion. It is here that one wants to dream and hope for a better tomorrow and it was here that this story captivated me with its poetic vibrant descriptions and stunners of characters. Romance blooms in these pages and there were beautiful scenes that appealed to my old-fashioned sense of love and devotion but there were also sharp jagged thorns of anguish and misfortune framing the corners of the chapters fascinating me at the same time and keeping me turning the pages wanting to learn more about everything presented. In the end, Ophelia’s Muse is one memorable title that I would recommend to those readers who love elegantly crafted stories that can at times remind you of beloved classics set around this era (that you still can’t stop thinking about and you hope to find similar toned books) or novels that can beautifully capture the poignant shifting light of romance, art and ominous twists of reality.
* I would like to thank Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and enjoy Ophelia’s Muse
~*~for more reviews see: http://www.asthefinalpageturns.blogspot.com
In Ophelia’s Muse, the light of inspiration falls on the coppery-red crown of Elizabeth “Lizzie” Siddal and Victorian London’s unconventional world of art, beauty and romance. Although sometimes outside the lines of facts and record, this was a hauntingly beautiful novel that swept me back to a crucial time of the 19th century when restraints of culture were just beginning to loosen and discoveries in nature, advancements of industry, literature and art were all in fashion. It is here that one wants to dream and hope for a better tomorrow and it was here that this story captivated me with its poetic vibrant descriptions and stunners of characters. Romance blooms in these pages and there were beautiful scenes that appealed to my old-fashioned sense of love and devotion but there were also sharp jagged thorns of anguish and misfortune framing the corners of the chapters fascinating me at the same time and keeping me turning the pages wanting to learn more about everything presented. In the end, Ophelia’s Muse is one memorable title that I would recommend to those readers who love elegantly crafted stories that can at times remind you of beloved classics set around this era (that you still can’t stop thinking about and you hope to find similar toned books) or novels that can beautifully capture the poignant shifting light of romance, art and ominous twists of reality.
* I would like to thank Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and enjoy Ophelia’s Muse
~*~for more reviews see: http://www.asthefinalpageturns.blogspot.com
January 13, 2016
4.5 stars...but I might up it to 5 stars
I loved this book! Cameron's writing was so beautiful and descriptive. I ended up liking both of the main characters for who they were. Neither was perfect, but they were written so well that they were like real people, with both good traits and some (quite) bad traits.
I was curious if Elizabeth Siddal was a real person and like a dork I googled her and then read her wikipedia page. I recommend that you do NOT do that. I'll just tell you that everyone in the book was real and as far as I could tell Cameron told an historically accurate tale about them.
I don't quite know what it was about this book, but it was just lovely and delightful. The writing, the characters, the historical details...but maybe it was Cameron's take on what Lizzie and Rossetti felt and thought. You could believe it all being true. Anywaaays, I really enjoyed this book and I'm now curious to learn a little more about the characters and art movements from the book.
Totally recommend this puppy!! :D
I loved this book! Cameron's writing was so beautiful and descriptive. I ended up liking both of the main characters for who they were. Neither was perfect, but they were written so well that they were like real people, with both good traits and some (quite) bad traits.
I was curious if Elizabeth Siddal was a real person and like a dork I googled her and then read her wikipedia page. I recommend that you do NOT do that. I'll just tell you that everyone in the book was real and as far as I could tell Cameron told an historically accurate tale about them.
I don't quite know what it was about this book, but it was just lovely and delightful. The writing, the characters, the historical details...but maybe it was Cameron's take on what Lizzie and Rossetti felt and thought. You could believe it all being true. Anywaaays, I really enjoyed this book and I'm now curious to learn a little more about the characters and art movements from the book.
Totally recommend this puppy!! :D
February 27, 2016
Ophelia's Muse by Rita Cameron was an enriching five star book about the artist Gabriel Rossetti & his model Elizabeth Siddal.
The fact that he postponed marrying her for so long was a reflection on the selfishness of his character. He was too involved in establishing his art & organization, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
I found it interesting to read a fictional account about the artist's works that have lasted since the mid-1800's.
I would like to thank Kensington Books & NetGalley for the complimentary kindle copy of this book in exchange for a fair review. This did not influence my opinion.
Link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R...
The fact that he postponed marrying her for so long was a reflection on the selfishness of his character. He was too involved in establishing his art & organization, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
I found it interesting to read a fictional account about the artist's works that have lasted since the mid-1800's.
I would like to thank Kensington Books & NetGalley for the complimentary kindle copy of this book in exchange for a fair review. This did not influence my opinion.
Link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R...
September 30, 2015
While I do not often read biographies or other non-fiction, I am frequently intrigued by historical fiction. Knowing vague facts about Lizzie Siddal and the Pre-Raphelite Brotherhood, I had to give this a shot. It is definitely more fiction than historical, but still and all a good read. Do not go into it thinking that it will be of the highest factual accuracy, or you will just skim over it with disapproval. Take it for what it is: an interesting interpretation of some very fascinating people.
I received this book from NetGalley.
I received this book from NetGalley.
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June 22, 2018Rating: 3 stars
This debut historical fiction novel by Rita Cameron tells the tale of the romance between Gabriel Dante Rossetti and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Siddall. (Note, Rossetti usually spelled Lizzie’s last name as ‘Siddal’ on his artwork, but her proper last name was Siddall.) Lizzie had started to garner attention when she began working as an artist’s model in 1849. She was twenty at the time, and was working part-time in a milliner’s shop to help supplement her earnings as a model. Rossetti wasn’t the first artist to use her, but once he discovered her he soon became obsessed with her.
By 1851, put a stop to her working with any other Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood artists, and required that she only pose for him. He reportedly made thousands of paintings of her over the course of their life together. They married in 1860. Theirs was a tumultuous relationship as Lizzie worked hard to become an artist (painting and poetry) in her own right she never achieved the acclaim that Rossetti did.
Cameron tells a good tale, and sets the scene for the era and the mores of the time really well. This was a well-written book that I enjoyed and would recommend to other readers looking to learn more about rarely told period in art history.
Thank-you to NetGalley; Kensington Publishing; and the author, Rita Cameron; for providing a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This debut historical fiction novel by Rita Cameron tells the tale of the romance between Gabriel Dante Rossetti and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Siddall. (Note, Rossetti usually spelled Lizzie’s last name as ‘Siddal’ on his artwork, but her proper last name was Siddall.) Lizzie had started to garner attention when she began working as an artist’s model in 1849. She was twenty at the time, and was working part-time in a milliner’s shop to help supplement her earnings as a model. Rossetti wasn’t the first artist to use her, but once he discovered her he soon became obsessed with her.
By 1851, put a stop to her working with any other Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood artists, and required that she only pose for him. He reportedly made thousands of paintings of her over the course of their life together. They married in 1860. Theirs was a tumultuous relationship as Lizzie worked hard to become an artist (painting and poetry) in her own right she never achieved the acclaim that Rossetti did.
Cameron tells a good tale, and sets the scene for the era and the mores of the time really well. This was a well-written book that I enjoyed and would recommend to other readers looking to learn more about rarely told period in art history.
Thank-you to NetGalley; Kensington Publishing; and the author, Rita Cameron; for providing a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
March 9, 2019
The story is about a woman’s pursuit to find happiness, love, and security. It is wonderfully written, and the characters are very flawed. I liked how the author portrays Victorian society and how society impacted the characters. Ophelia’s Muse is a haunting, lyrical, and tragic tale reminiscent of Shakespeare.
May 21, 2022
I learned allot about the pre Raphaelite movement and some of its more famous members and was entertained while doing so. The story focuses on Elizabeth Siddal who was a painter and poet in her own right as well as being the main muse of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The book veers towards tedium at the end as it is a never ending cycle of him declaring his love and devotion but not actually marrying her and in general being a selfish, moron. But overall well researched and written and enjoyable.
December 11, 2015
Enchanting. Romantic. Lovely. Those words only begin to describe what a beautiful novel Ophelia’s Muse was. This told about Lizzie Siddal, a woman who posed for several renowned artists in the 1850s. Lizzie not only appeared as the woman in the book’s cover art, but also as the main figure in many more famous works. Although many authors have told the story of a naive woman becoming the muse and lover to an artist, this tale really stood out.
Lizzie’s red hair caught the eye of a young painter, and his offer to pay her to be his model elevated her from her position as a seamstress in a shop. Lizzie’s desire to mingle with a higher level of society and find a husband who wouldn’t look down on her family’s misfortune and their simple lives prompted her to accept the offer. I really began to like Lizzie once I realized that despite those dreams, she was not a social climber or a man hunter. Instead, her love affair with the painter Rosetti led her down a path of promises, lies, and heartbreak. The male artists Lizzie encountered were driven by lust and fame, but still harbored a deep need to contribute to the world through paints and canvases. Every character was motivated by such emotion that it was easy to become invested in them.
The most striking thing about Ophelia’s Muse was the language use by Rita Cameron to tell this romantic tale. Each sentence read like a line of poetry, and the words evoked detailed settings that enhanced the characters. After a few chapters, I realized I was reading more to continue experiencing the wonderfully full world Cameron imagined and less to see who would happen to Lizzie. Not the plot was dull, but this was not what I would call a plot driven novel. Instead, it was a romantic, sensual love story complimented with art that offered an insightful glimpse into the Pre-Raphael artist community. I kept googling the paintings discussed to get the full experience of Lizzie’s life as a model.
The events took place over several years, which allowed Lizzie to morph from an artist’s muse to an artist. This story was so creative and entertaining. This is a book I gushed over as I was reading. Lovers of literature, fine art, and poetry would absolutely love this book as much as I did. Here’s a link to a copy: Ophelia’s Muse.
Please read more of my reviews on my blog: http://fastpageturner.wordpress.com
or follow me on twitter at @dana_heyde
Lizzie’s red hair caught the eye of a young painter, and his offer to pay her to be his model elevated her from her position as a seamstress in a shop. Lizzie’s desire to mingle with a higher level of society and find a husband who wouldn’t look down on her family’s misfortune and their simple lives prompted her to accept the offer. I really began to like Lizzie once I realized that despite those dreams, she was not a social climber or a man hunter. Instead, her love affair with the painter Rosetti led her down a path of promises, lies, and heartbreak. The male artists Lizzie encountered were driven by lust and fame, but still harbored a deep need to contribute to the world through paints and canvases. Every character was motivated by such emotion that it was easy to become invested in them.
The most striking thing about Ophelia’s Muse was the language use by Rita Cameron to tell this romantic tale. Each sentence read like a line of poetry, and the words evoked detailed settings that enhanced the characters. After a few chapters, I realized I was reading more to continue experiencing the wonderfully full world Cameron imagined and less to see who would happen to Lizzie. Not the plot was dull, but this was not what I would call a plot driven novel. Instead, it was a romantic, sensual love story complimented with art that offered an insightful glimpse into the Pre-Raphael artist community. I kept googling the paintings discussed to get the full experience of Lizzie’s life as a model.
The events took place over several years, which allowed Lizzie to morph from an artist’s muse to an artist. This story was so creative and entertaining. This is a book I gushed over as I was reading. Lovers of literature, fine art, and poetry would absolutely love this book as much as I did. Here’s a link to a copy: Ophelia’s Muse.
Please read more of my reviews on my blog: http://fastpageturner.wordpress.com
or follow me on twitter at @dana_heyde
July 17, 2015
Ophelia's Muse is the beautifully written story of shopgirl Lizzie Siddal and her passionate love affair with artist Dante Rossetti.
Lizzie comes from a well bred but impoverished family, forcing her to work as a shopgirl making and selling bonnets in a fashionable store in order to help make ends meet. Lizzie is a reserved but beautiful young woman, and she is noticed by an artist, who falls for her unusual good looks and asks her to pose for him. Lizzie is reluctant to do so at first, because it's not something that well bred young women do, but the money her offers and the assurances that she will not be compromised overcome her fears, and she poses for Walter Deverell. Walter is a member of a group of artists (all men of course!) that call themselves the pre Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), hoping to steer the British art scene in a new direction. Dante Rossetti is a member of the group as well. Walter paints Lizzie as Viola in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and has dreams of painting her, feeling that she is his muse. But after a chance meeting in Walter's studio, Dante convinces Lizzie to sit for him, and she becomes Dante's muse instead.
The book is primarily about Dante and Lizzie's relationship over several year, through misunderstanding, unfaithfulness, addiction and illness. Although the pair are deeply in love, they have very different needs and expectations. Dante is focused on his career, jealous of anyone else who might want to paint Lizzie, and controlling of her. Lizzie wants marriage, and a career as an artist in her own right. The push and pull of their relationship sends them both to artistic heights and personal lows.
Most exciting about this book is the fact that Dante, Lizzie and the others in the book are real! While the book reads as dramatic fiction, the story itself is fact, historical fiction at its best. I hadn't even heard of these people, but Ophelia's Muse brings them all to brilliant, colorful, breathtaking life!
Lizzie comes from a well bred but impoverished family, forcing her to work as a shopgirl making and selling bonnets in a fashionable store in order to help make ends meet. Lizzie is a reserved but beautiful young woman, and she is noticed by an artist, who falls for her unusual good looks and asks her to pose for him. Lizzie is reluctant to do so at first, because it's not something that well bred young women do, but the money her offers and the assurances that she will not be compromised overcome her fears, and she poses for Walter Deverell. Walter is a member of a group of artists (all men of course!) that call themselves the pre Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), hoping to steer the British art scene in a new direction. Dante Rossetti is a member of the group as well. Walter paints Lizzie as Viola in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and has dreams of painting her, feeling that she is his muse. But after a chance meeting in Walter's studio, Dante convinces Lizzie to sit for him, and she becomes Dante's muse instead.
The book is primarily about Dante and Lizzie's relationship over several year, through misunderstanding, unfaithfulness, addiction and illness. Although the pair are deeply in love, they have very different needs and expectations. Dante is focused on his career, jealous of anyone else who might want to paint Lizzie, and controlling of her. Lizzie wants marriage, and a career as an artist in her own right. The push and pull of their relationship sends them both to artistic heights and personal lows.
Most exciting about this book is the fact that Dante, Lizzie and the others in the book are real! While the book reads as dramatic fiction, the story itself is fact, historical fiction at its best. I hadn't even heard of these people, but Ophelia's Muse brings them all to brilliant, colorful, breathtaking life!
July 27, 2015
I have never been able to shake off the gruesome indian giver vibe I get when I hear the name Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Sending someone off to the hereafter with poetry as a tribute loses it's luster when they are later exhumed. All that aside, this story follows the life of Lizzie Siddal whose beauty was vastly different from what was 'en vogue' so to speak, during that period. She was Dante's muse, his lover and a woman whose choices were limited by poverty and prejudices. As happened to many artists throughout all times (and I am a talking about the female of the species) she struggled to be an artist in her own right but her biggest contribution is her own image.
This is a love story of the real sort, with pain and loss, the sort of love story those of us not living in a fictional world can relate to. It is heartbreaking and soul-crushing and while there is beauty, the end.. of how I focus on the sad sad ending of a life.
It's hard to imagine the obstacle marrying into a wealthy family during their time, while there is still a great divide between the priveledged and the poor, it was a much colder, ocean wide distance back then. The 'entitled' expected so much, and Lizzie suffered much alienation for her love of Rossetti. I read with a heavy heart, while her image is captured and gazed upon still today, it's Dante who is beloved. Why is it women always seem to fade and never get to stand on the pedestal of success, remembered only for their beauty, sexuality?
Without a muse, where is the artist? It bewilders me that amazing women are lost in history, until a voice is given to them. Cameron has transported the reader to Rossetti's time with her detailed descriptions, allowing an immersion in Lizzie's heart. While the ending may be known to many, the emotional journey and Lizzie's struggles loving Rossetti may not be. Wonderfully done.
This is a love story of the real sort, with pain and loss, the sort of love story those of us not living in a fictional world can relate to. It is heartbreaking and soul-crushing and while there is beauty, the end.. of how I focus on the sad sad ending of a life.
It's hard to imagine the obstacle marrying into a wealthy family during their time, while there is still a great divide between the priveledged and the poor, it was a much colder, ocean wide distance back then. The 'entitled' expected so much, and Lizzie suffered much alienation for her love of Rossetti. I read with a heavy heart, while her image is captured and gazed upon still today, it's Dante who is beloved. Why is it women always seem to fade and never get to stand on the pedestal of success, remembered only for their beauty, sexuality?
Without a muse, where is the artist? It bewilders me that amazing women are lost in history, until a voice is given to them. Cameron has transported the reader to Rossetti's time with her detailed descriptions, allowing an immersion in Lizzie's heart. While the ending may be known to many, the emotional journey and Lizzie's struggles loving Rossetti may not be. Wonderfully done.
July 5, 2015
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. A version of this review is on Netgalley.
The heroine of Ophelia’s Muse is artists’ model Lizzie Siddal, a sort of 1850’s It Girl. Her pale complexion, red hair and lack of marriage prospects makes her a hit amongst the pre-Raphaelite painters of London and draws the attention of poet and artist Dante Rossetti. This is the guy you hope to God your daughter doesn’t bring home. He’s brilliant, flaky, self-absorbed – the boyfriend the sad sack chick in your office is forever breaking up and getting back together with.
Lizzie isn’t bringing Rossetti home because she can’t unless he puts a ring on it. The literate, art-loving dreamer is supposed to stick to stitching fascinators 12 hours a day and guarding her reputation. Reputations, artist problems, relationship troubles, and addictions are at the center of this novel written by first-timer Rita Cameron. The author’s work is based on real people. Siddal’s art work is on display at Tate Britain and her poetry is woven into the novel. Rossetti is the better known of the two and his nurturing of Lizzie’s talents – and jealously of her successes – offers another rich plotline.
While the book is engrossing, the author struggles a bit with who to aim the novel at. The first couple of chapters spend a bit too much time setting the stage, going into almost academic like discussions of Rossetti’s membership in something called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. But she has a knack for weaving the real into fictitious like her scene where Rossetti reads aloud Charles Dicken’s nasty review of one of his works. I wanted Cameron to have a little bit more fun with Rossetti, but she wants us to see him for not just the clownish cad he is, but the guy that Lizzie desperately loves. And she succeeds. Lizzie’s pain will make you want to sip some laudanum with her.
The heroine of Ophelia’s Muse is artists’ model Lizzie Siddal, a sort of 1850’s It Girl. Her pale complexion, red hair and lack of marriage prospects makes her a hit amongst the pre-Raphaelite painters of London and draws the attention of poet and artist Dante Rossetti. This is the guy you hope to God your daughter doesn’t bring home. He’s brilliant, flaky, self-absorbed – the boyfriend the sad sack chick in your office is forever breaking up and getting back together with.
Lizzie isn’t bringing Rossetti home because she can’t unless he puts a ring on it. The literate, art-loving dreamer is supposed to stick to stitching fascinators 12 hours a day and guarding her reputation. Reputations, artist problems, relationship troubles, and addictions are at the center of this novel written by first-timer Rita Cameron. The author’s work is based on real people. Siddal’s art work is on display at Tate Britain and her poetry is woven into the novel. Rossetti is the better known of the two and his nurturing of Lizzie’s talents – and jealously of her successes – offers another rich plotline.
While the book is engrossing, the author struggles a bit with who to aim the novel at. The first couple of chapters spend a bit too much time setting the stage, going into almost academic like discussions of Rossetti’s membership in something called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. But she has a knack for weaving the real into fictitious like her scene where Rossetti reads aloud Charles Dicken’s nasty review of one of his works. I wanted Cameron to have a little bit more fun with Rossetti, but she wants us to see him for not just the clownish cad he is, but the guy that Lizzie desperately loves. And she succeeds. Lizzie’s pain will make you want to sip some laudanum with her.
September 2, 2015
Rita Cameron's prose demonstrates that she is a talented artist just like the characters in her beautifully written novel about the Pre-Raphaelite era. The author's language provides a visually sumptuous look into the world of Lizzie Siddal, the main character and muse of many artists in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. With each page, the reader is drawn further and further into Lizzie's dramatic and turbulent life. Although sad in many ways, the story is amazingly addictive and difficult to put down.
July 1, 2015
Thanks Kensington Books and netgalley for this arc.
There are many books to read on the pre-raphite brotherhood, but not quite enough that tell the woman's side of view like this. thank the stars we have more rights now than back then. Beautiful and emotional book
There are many books to read on the pre-raphite brotherhood, but not quite enough that tell the woman's side of view like this. thank the stars we have more rights now than back then. Beautiful and emotional book
December 13, 2018
I’m a bit conflicted about this book, as I found the style overblown and very romanticised, with a tendency towards melodrama rather than drama. I was also a bit concerned about the facts – although I could see that the author had done a lot of research. Did, for example, Rossetti actually exhibit at the Royal Academy? Did he harangue his fellow artists about his views on art in that way? And yet I soon found myself caught up in the tragic love affair between Lizzie Siddall and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and I enjoyed meeting the others from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. So I decided to put aside my pernickety nature, to not fact-check, and just go along for the ride. For it’s a truly fascinating story – a group of young idealistic artists, their womenfolk, John Ruskin stepping in like a deus ex machina at times, heartbreak, romance, London society, the great and the good (and not so good). Rita Cameron has combined all these elements into a satisfying fictionalised biography of Lizzie Siddall, and if sometime the emphasis was on the fiction rather than the biography (there was a lot of dialogue which had to have been invented, and much speculation about what Lizzie and Rossetti were actually feeling) overall I found it convincing, enjoyable and a compelling read.
April 16, 2017
I usually don't like it when authors take liberties with history but this tale was so captivating that I can easily forgive Cameron for it. Here, she brings to life the love story between Dante Gabriel Rossetti, founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and his tragic model Lizzie Siddal.
Lizzie came from a poor family who had known better days. When she was offered the opportunity to model for Deverell, another member of the Brotherhood, she quickly took it, hoping it would give her the chance to make a good marriage and escape poverty. But the man who won her heart, Dante, was too obsessed with his art and his bachelor pleasures to make an honest woman out of her. The difficult position Dante's refusal to marry her put her in in puritanical Victorian society and her ill health pained her so much, she became addicted to laudanum. Eventually, it would lead to her death.
Both Lizzie and Dante are portrayed so well, they seem real. At the beginning, I could feel the love and passion they felt for each other ooze from every page. But, slowly, their feelings changed. As pressure mounted on Dante to do the right thing and hopelessness about her situation engulfed Lizzie, the two lovers began to resent each other, growing further and further apart. Unfortunately, the rigid rules of Victorian society meant they were stuck together, for better or worse. Death was the only way out.
Beautifully written, the book vividly brings to life one of the most tragic love stories of the Victorian era. It'll also give you a new-found appreciation for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Highly recommended.
Lizzie came from a poor family who had known better days. When she was offered the opportunity to model for Deverell, another member of the Brotherhood, she quickly took it, hoping it would give her the chance to make a good marriage and escape poverty. But the man who won her heart, Dante, was too obsessed with his art and his bachelor pleasures to make an honest woman out of her. The difficult position Dante's refusal to marry her put her in in puritanical Victorian society and her ill health pained her so much, she became addicted to laudanum. Eventually, it would lead to her death.
Both Lizzie and Dante are portrayed so well, they seem real. At the beginning, I could feel the love and passion they felt for each other ooze from every page. But, slowly, their feelings changed. As pressure mounted on Dante to do the right thing and hopelessness about her situation engulfed Lizzie, the two lovers began to resent each other, growing further and further apart. Unfortunately, the rigid rules of Victorian society meant they were stuck together, for better or worse. Death was the only way out.
Beautifully written, the book vividly brings to life one of the most tragic love stories of the Victorian era. It'll also give you a new-found appreciation for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Highly recommended.
April 25, 2023
An interesting introduction to the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, especially if you look up the paintings that I mentioned as I did. However, the writing style and the characters are really not well done. There’s too much telling no showing.
Also the way that Lizzie constantly looks down on her class and constantly describes ever way she sees them (subsequently her family) as deficient is quite unbecoming. One could argue that it doesn’t make a lot of sense for her to have these notions, especially at the beginning of the book, since she did not have a lot of exposure to a other circles and other education. So where did she get these notions from? It seems to me that these are the opinions of author rather than those of the protagonist.
Also the endless repetition of the same opinions, observations, etc. was quite exhausting.
If you want a simple introduction into the movement and be introduced to a lot of the movements artists in a natural manner (outside of an art history book), this could be something worth reading. However, I find the execution of the book rather lacking and thus was frequently irritated by that lack while reading.
Also the way that Lizzie constantly looks down on her class and constantly describes ever way she sees them (subsequently her family) as deficient is quite unbecoming. One could argue that it doesn’t make a lot of sense for her to have these notions, especially at the beginning of the book, since she did not have a lot of exposure to a other circles and other education. So where did she get these notions from? It seems to me that these are the opinions of author rather than those of the protagonist.
Also the endless repetition of the same opinions, observations, etc. was quite exhausting.
If you want a simple introduction into the movement and be introduced to a lot of the movements artists in a natural manner (outside of an art history book), this could be something worth reading. However, I find the execution of the book rather lacking and thus was frequently irritated by that lack while reading.
December 9, 2021
This took me forever to read and admittedly I am not a fan of historical romance/fiction, especially when it’s based around real people. But the story was very well written and I did manage to finish it, even if I’m sad some stuff was left out.
May 27, 2025
j'ai beaucoup aimé
February 28, 2023
I thought I was good at making Shakespeare references and parallels in my writing— It's nothing compared to this. Absolutely amazing book, I couldn't put it down. Rosetti is a SLUT.
September 4, 2015
***ARC for honest review***
4.5 stars
SPOILERS
Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Siddal is working in a milliner’s shop to help support her struggling family when she catches the eye one of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) artists. Convinced to sit for him as an artist’s model, Lizzie quickly becomes the darling of the PRB movement and especially that of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the charming and charismatic co-founder of the PRB. Throughout their tumultuous affair, Lizzie struggles with depression, drug addiction, and Rossetti’s infidelity to find her own identity.
Rita Cameron weaves a heart-wrenchingly tragic love story full of rich detail and texture. Through the use of existing paintings, poetry, and letters Ophelia’s Muse imagines the intricate details of lives of several renowned artists of the PRB movement. This is a luxuriously written historical fiction that draws heavily from history as well as the author’s imagination. I both loved and disliked this book for it is a real love story, full of ecstasy and heartbreak.
Lizzie did not fit the mold of the ideal Victorian woman. Her height, slight figure, and pale complexion were not within the fashion of the times. She was also well-read, a bit of a day dreamer, and reserved in her manner. She is concerned for her reputation and the propriety of being an artist’s model as they did not have the best of reputations. However, she is convinced by her employer that sitting for gentlemen painters might introduce her to more polite society and open her prospects for marriage. This might have been true had she not met Rossetti and been drawn into his life.
As a young artist Rossetti imagined himself to be chivalrous and imbued with the ideals of courtly love. His fascination with Dante Alighieri, and Alighieri’s muse Beatrice, bordered on obsession. Upon discovering Lizzie, Rossetti transfers that obsession to her imagining her to be his own Beatrice. He pulls her into his social circle and life to the detriment of Lizzie’s reputation in polite society and her mental well being. Emotionally manipulative, Rossetti strings Lizzie along for years, jealously guarding his artistic muse while exploring his own artistic proclivities elsewhere. “He wanted to savor what they had, and was in no rush to change it. He desired the Lizzie who walked among other women like a goddess, who fed upon nothing more than love and poetry, and demanded nothing more, or less, than worship.”
Lizzie finds herself in a precarious situation. Her unorthodox relationship with Rossetti results in her family disowning her and she is forced to rely on Rossetti, regardless of his resistance to marrying her. She spends years trying to make sense of his feelings for her. “How could she have pinned her hopes on a man who seemed to create his reality to meet his needs as easily, and often, as he created new worlds in his paintings? She would never be sure where she stood with him, what version of her he wanted at any moment-whether he wanted the woman or the muse; the collaborator in his art or merely the silent beauty in his paintings?” It is only when she appears to be upon her deathbed that Rossetti finally marries her.
Reading this book from the perspective of 2015, it is easy to see that Lizzie suffers from depression and drug addiction. Rita Cameron does a wonderful job of not spelling this out for the reader. She describes the emotional rollercoaster Lizzie rides through her entire relationship with Rossetti - her hopes, her dreams, her disappointment - In a way that draws on the reader’s empathy, allowing the reader to make their own judgment and determination. Cameron provides Rossetti’s perspective as well and it is easy to imagine him as a modern-day rock star telling Lizzie, ‘I have to be free to be me, babe.’
I am by no means an art connoisseur and my knowledge of art is limited to the art appreciation class I took in college. I found myself on many occasions finding pictures of the paintings on the internet while reading Ophelia’s Muse - being able to see the art and to imagine the artist’s perspective while reading added so much to the experience of the book. I don’t recommend doing this if you are not already familiar with the particulars of Rossetti and Lizzie’s lives - it will give the story away.
4.5 stars
SPOILERS
Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Siddal is working in a milliner’s shop to help support her struggling family when she catches the eye one of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) artists. Convinced to sit for him as an artist’s model, Lizzie quickly becomes the darling of the PRB movement and especially that of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the charming and charismatic co-founder of the PRB. Throughout their tumultuous affair, Lizzie struggles with depression, drug addiction, and Rossetti’s infidelity to find her own identity.
Rita Cameron weaves a heart-wrenchingly tragic love story full of rich detail and texture. Through the use of existing paintings, poetry, and letters Ophelia’s Muse imagines the intricate details of lives of several renowned artists of the PRB movement. This is a luxuriously written historical fiction that draws heavily from history as well as the author’s imagination. I both loved and disliked this book for it is a real love story, full of ecstasy and heartbreak.
Lizzie did not fit the mold of the ideal Victorian woman. Her height, slight figure, and pale complexion were not within the fashion of the times. She was also well-read, a bit of a day dreamer, and reserved in her manner. She is concerned for her reputation and the propriety of being an artist’s model as they did not have the best of reputations. However, she is convinced by her employer that sitting for gentlemen painters might introduce her to more polite society and open her prospects for marriage. This might have been true had she not met Rossetti and been drawn into his life.
As a young artist Rossetti imagined himself to be chivalrous and imbued with the ideals of courtly love. His fascination with Dante Alighieri, and Alighieri’s muse Beatrice, bordered on obsession. Upon discovering Lizzie, Rossetti transfers that obsession to her imagining her to be his own Beatrice. He pulls her into his social circle and life to the detriment of Lizzie’s reputation in polite society and her mental well being. Emotionally manipulative, Rossetti strings Lizzie along for years, jealously guarding his artistic muse while exploring his own artistic proclivities elsewhere. “He wanted to savor what they had, and was in no rush to change it. He desired the Lizzie who walked among other women like a goddess, who fed upon nothing more than love and poetry, and demanded nothing more, or less, than worship.”
Lizzie finds herself in a precarious situation. Her unorthodox relationship with Rossetti results in her family disowning her and she is forced to rely on Rossetti, regardless of his resistance to marrying her. She spends years trying to make sense of his feelings for her. “How could she have pinned her hopes on a man who seemed to create his reality to meet his needs as easily, and often, as he created new worlds in his paintings? She would never be sure where she stood with him, what version of her he wanted at any moment-whether he wanted the woman or the muse; the collaborator in his art or merely the silent beauty in his paintings?” It is only when she appears to be upon her deathbed that Rossetti finally marries her.
Reading this book from the perspective of 2015, it is easy to see that Lizzie suffers from depression and drug addiction. Rita Cameron does a wonderful job of not spelling this out for the reader. She describes the emotional rollercoaster Lizzie rides through her entire relationship with Rossetti - her hopes, her dreams, her disappointment - In a way that draws on the reader’s empathy, allowing the reader to make their own judgment and determination. Cameron provides Rossetti’s perspective as well and it is easy to imagine him as a modern-day rock star telling Lizzie, ‘I have to be free to be me, babe.’
I am by no means an art connoisseur and my knowledge of art is limited to the art appreciation class I took in college. I found myself on many occasions finding pictures of the paintings on the internet while reading Ophelia’s Muse - being able to see the art and to imagine the artist’s perspective while reading added so much to the experience of the book. I don’t recommend doing this if you are not already familiar with the particulars of Rossetti and Lizzie’s lives - it will give the story away.
April 23, 2020
Ophelia’s Muse by Rita Cameron as reviewed by Gail M. Murray
Rita Cameron’s penchant for Pre-Raphaelite painting evokes a vivid story of love and loss set against conventional Victorian society. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, along with William Hunt and John Millais, founded the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 rejecting the mannered approach of Raphael taught at the Royal Academy. “True art should celebrate vibrant color, the beauty of light, the romance of the imagination and the truth of nature.” (p 14)
They idealized beauty. Though most of their models were working class, these upper class gentlemen portrayed them as great heroines of myth and history. Rossetti particularly following in the footsteps of his namesake Dante Alighieri sought to paint the saintly Beatrice and memorialized LizziSiddal, his wife and main model as Beata Beatrix.
Cameron’s novel focuses on the relationship entre Rossetti and Lizzie Siddal his muse and first love that he immortalized in portrait and poetry (A Lost Confession).
Lizzie was “tall for a woman and at nineteen she stood as tall as many men…carried herself with a graceful gait and was often called striking…Her skin was pale and she had large grey eyes…most remarkable feature was her thick red hair, which glinted like gold.” (p2)
Rossetti meets Lizzie while she poses for his colleague, Walter Deverall, as Viola in his portrait Twelfth Night. “Her hair, a great wealth of copper strands laced through with gold threads, caught Deverell’s eye.” (p 27) Lizzie and Deverall continue a respectful and platonic relationship throughout her life.
The moment he meets Lizzie, Rossetti feels destined to paint her. “Rossetti was completely unprepared for the glorious woman before him. She seemed from another age as if she had sprung to life from an antique painting of an Italian saint….Rossetti vowed to paint her as a queen……he would claim her for himself.”(p58)
Rossetti romanticized Lizzie in real life as well as on his canvas. Sketches of Lizzie lined his studio. They spent countless time together painting, reading poetry, as he encouraged both her writing and her painting. When Lizzie spent hours in a cold bath posing for John Millais’ Ophelia, she took a chill becoming ill for many days. Her frail constitution was further weakened by her growing dependency on the opiate laudanum.
Early on Rossetti had professed his love and promised to marry her but the wait was ten long years and Lizzie almost died. They made great art but could they provide for each other’s emotional needs? In the Victorian Era, once Lizzie became linked with her poet, spending unchaperoned time in his studio, she needed to marry; otherwise face social suicide.
Unfortunately the articulate and charismatic Rossetti regarded her more as a muse. His art came first. Although Rossetti possessed great talent; he also had feet of clay. Her ill health, coupled with his feeling of entitlement for experiences led to late nights in salons and affairs most noticeably with lusty, raucous Annie Miller – his latest model. Infidelity seems to run high amongst artists, painters, writers; their lust for the new can lead to affairs. Think Picasso, Byron, Hemingway.
Rossetti spun his glittering web. “You are so much like her. No true Beatrice would be vain. She was the ideal woman – a queen of virtue, blessed in every way. Dante’s love for her was entirely pure. To Dante she was everything: love, art, salvation. If he had known her as wife, he might never have known her as his divine muse.” (p87) Therein lays the crux of their relationship. Beware of falling of the pedestal.
The beginning and middle of the novel engage the reader as we become caught up in learning about Rossetti as a painter and their relationship grows along with Lizzie’s sense of self-worth. In the sad final chapters, Cameron creates empathy for our hapless heroine as she sinks further into depression after the loss of her child. Cameron has breathed life into the beauty, made her a living entity; one who died too soon.
I trust this tender yet dynamic novel will inspire readers to locate the paintings, read and learn more of these two artists. There is an excellent author interview and list of Discussion Questions at the back.
August 26, 2015
The book is about Lizzie Siddal, a muse and model for several members of the PRB or Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in England, in the middle of the nineteenth century. She starts out as a hat-maker’s assistant and shop girl, supporting her family who used to upper middle class but have since fallen on hard times. It is there that she is first discovered by a PRB member named William Deverell, who uses her as his model for Viola (dressed as a red-haired pageboy in his Twelfth Night painting). He falls in love with her only to have his friend Dante Gabriel Rossetti come over to see his fabulous new model, and become smitten with her himself. The difference is that Rossetti hold her up as an ideal, his Beatrice, and does not really plan on marrying her. She, of course being a young woman in the nineteenth century, is well aware of women who become models and how society perceives them and their reputation, and does not paint a pretty picture. The title alludes to one of the most famous paintings she was part of, namely Ophelia by John Everett Millias. It is with this painting that she becomes well-known, and is able to secure a patron in art critic John Ruskin, who also helps to publicize her own artwork. Her tempestuous relationship with Rossetti will eventually lead to her downfall though. 4 stars.
The artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (which I have also posted about on my previous blog here) are some of my favorites and have been since I was about sixteen and first saw an exhibition of their work. I love the style and subject matter of their art. I actually have a bit of an obsession over Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s work in particular, and his relationship with Lizzie Siddal. So naturally, when I discovered this book on Netgalley, I had to get a copy. I felt sorry for Lizzie, who was stuck in a bit of a sticky situation. Honor was such a bit part of Victorian life and while men could be total whores and get away with it (got to love those double standards), but women who got the slightest whiff of impropriety were deemed “loose women” and shunned (regardless if they actually did anything or not). Lizzie had a very tempetuous relationship with DG Rossetti, who had a very roving eye for all “stunners” as he called them, and probably slept with most of his models. I do kind of wonder what would have happened if she and William Deverell had been allowed to marry. She would’ve had a proper marriage, but it would’ve been really short because of his bad health and she probably would’ve have become as famous as she later did because of her relationship with Rossetti and her association with Ruskin. I would’ve liked to see color plates of the paintings named in the book or links to the paintings on the internet because it is sometimes hard to visualize the paintings if you haven’t seen them before. I will say that the reader really feels like they are part of the world of the 19th century with the sights, sounds and descriptions of the artwork.
Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book from Kensington Books on Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
The artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (which I have also posted about on my previous blog here) are some of my favorites and have been since I was about sixteen and first saw an exhibition of their work. I love the style and subject matter of their art. I actually have a bit of an obsession over Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s work in particular, and his relationship with Lizzie Siddal. So naturally, when I discovered this book on Netgalley, I had to get a copy. I felt sorry for Lizzie, who was stuck in a bit of a sticky situation. Honor was such a bit part of Victorian life and while men could be total whores and get away with it (got to love those double standards), but women who got the slightest whiff of impropriety were deemed “loose women” and shunned (regardless if they actually did anything or not). Lizzie had a very tempetuous relationship with DG Rossetti, who had a very roving eye for all “stunners” as he called them, and probably slept with most of his models. I do kind of wonder what would have happened if she and William Deverell had been allowed to marry. She would’ve had a proper marriage, but it would’ve been really short because of his bad health and she probably would’ve have become as famous as she later did because of her relationship with Rossetti and her association with Ruskin. I would’ve liked to see color plates of the paintings named in the book or links to the paintings on the internet because it is sometimes hard to visualize the paintings if you haven’t seen them before. I will say that the reader really feels like they are part of the world of the 19th century with the sights, sounds and descriptions of the artwork.
Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book from Kensington Books on Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
October 31, 2015
Ophelia's Muse is a gentle, but passionate love story between Lizzie Siddal and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Set in the mid 1800's it is based on the true story of the tangled and fraught relationship between the artist and his muse. Having met Lizzie in 1849 through Walter Deverell, Rossetti became almost obsessed with her and initially painted her almost exclusively, not wanting her to model for the other pre-Raphaelite artists.
The story is full of coming together and pulling apart, Lizzie has given herself over to Gabriel on the promise that they will marry, but Gabriel always has an excuse not to do so. She has given up her work at Mrs. Tozer's milliner's shop and her family have cast her aside, so she has no one but Gabriel for protection, but in Gabriel's life as a bohemian painter he does not see the urgency for marriage, which he fears would change his muse into a wife and homemaker. He is feckless in his care of Lizzie and leaves her to the care of the laudanum bottle, while he becomes enthralled with other models both before the easel and in his bed.
Rita Cameron has embroidered this story with Victorian detail, and leads you through the desperation felt by Lizzie and her need to calm her nerves with laudanum, and her subsequent dependence on it. I'm a big fan of the pre-Raphaelite's and in my opinion there's not enough PRB fiction out there, it seems as if this area has been seriously overlooked, especially when you consider the wealth of information we have of them and none of it dull. However, it should be noted that this story is not a true depiction, and only based on the historical facts, but it's enjoyable all the same.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.
The story is full of coming together and pulling apart, Lizzie has given herself over to Gabriel on the promise that they will marry, but Gabriel always has an excuse not to do so. She has given up her work at Mrs. Tozer's milliner's shop and her family have cast her aside, so she has no one but Gabriel for protection, but in Gabriel's life as a bohemian painter he does not see the urgency for marriage, which he fears would change his muse into a wife and homemaker. He is feckless in his care of Lizzie and leaves her to the care of the laudanum bottle, while he becomes enthralled with other models both before the easel and in his bed.
Rita Cameron has embroidered this story with Victorian detail, and leads you through the desperation felt by Lizzie and her need to calm her nerves with laudanum, and her subsequent dependence on it. I'm a big fan of the pre-Raphaelite's and in my opinion there's not enough PRB fiction out there, it seems as if this area has been seriously overlooked, especially when you consider the wealth of information we have of them and none of it dull. However, it should be noted that this story is not a true depiction, and only based on the historical facts, but it's enjoyable all the same.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.
June 10, 2018
At one time we owned a reproduction of this piece but passed it on when we had a house full of small children who weren't thrilled to see this haunting image hanging in the house. After reading this book, and now having a house full of older kids, I am going to add it back into our lives. As a fellow redhead I felt a special attachment to Lizzie and understand what it feels like to be pale and ethereal instead of bursting with life, health, and vigor. The story is as tragic as the painting itself and I'm glad to have read it and gained a new appreciation for the woman who modeled Ophelia.
September 6, 2022
It’s possible my love for Dante Gabriel Rossetti colours my judgement, but I found this quite fun. Solid historical fiction. 3.5 stars
December 8, 2019
I loved this book. It is an art world historical fiction following the life of Lizzie Siddal, model of the PreRaphaelite Brootherhood, mostly focusing around her relationship to Dante Rossetti, artist. It was an engrossing read, well done. I was actually sad to read the last page, because I didn’t want it to be over. I love the beautiful (although still a tragedy) story of Lizzie Siddal, and I thought this book did her justice.
I read it while a huge PreRaphaelite Brotherhood exhibit was in town and visited the exhibit several times. I was a little disappointed to see there were no Siddal works (as an artist, not a model) in the art exhibit I went to, but there were some that by Rossetti that connected well.
I read it while a huge PreRaphaelite Brotherhood exhibit was in town and visited the exhibit several times. I was a little disappointed to see there were no Siddal works (as an artist, not a model) in the art exhibit I went to, but there were some that by Rossetti that connected well.
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