Cut Out

by Michèle Roberts

Denis is searching for his mother’s past, knowing she had secrets. In Nice, he finds her friends, Monique and Clemence. In the 1950s, they were Matisse’s assistants when he was old and ill, pinning up his coloured paper shapes, putting the great cut out works together. Monique inspired his great designs in the chapel at Vence; Clemence, in pursuit of love, was caught in an affair that led to violence and disaster. So they have their own intense and colourful past – but they hold the key to Denis’s past too. He’s about to face the greatest challenge of his life.

Genres: Art

272 pages, Hardcover

Published August 12, 2021

About the author

Michèle Brigitte Roberts is the author of fifteen novels, including Ignorance which was nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction and Daughters of the House which won the W.H. Smith Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Her memoir Paper Houses was BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in June 2007. She has also published poetry and short stories, most recently collected in Mud: Stories of Sex and Love. Half-English and half-French, Roberts lives in London and in the Mayenne, France. She is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.

Reviews

[Nicholas Perez]

Did not know that one of the authors that got me back into reading had a new book out.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) Vivid descriptions and sense of place; London and France settings; reminiscent of Julian Barnes and A.S. Byatt, two of my favourite authors. A teensy bit low on plot - Matisse and his work end up being less of a major element than expected, perhaps - but I liked the toggling between historical and contemporary strands, especially Denis’s voice, and the consideration of art and various forms of devotion (religious, parental, altruistic). I also appreciated that a number of key characters just happen to be queer.

[Laura Spira · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was keen to read this, having see the Matisse exhibition mentioned in the book and having been especially interested in the film and photos of Matisse at work which are described in the book. Michele Roberts' excellent writing evokes scenes and clothing in an almost painterly way but for me this was not enough to bring the characters to life and Clemence, Berthe and Monique remained two dimensional while Camille and her husband were simply irritating and just vehicles for the plot. The plot itself was very clunky, especially the present day parts, and the ending puzzling.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book jacket is the only good part of this book.

[Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dreamy, lyrical and free flowing novel that beguiles and captivates once you get used to its painterly rhythm and constantly shifting time frames. It's intelligently and sensitively written as it flits between between the present day and post-war period in Provence as the stories of some fringe characters in Henri Matisse's later years are revealed.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lyrical story revolving around the assistants that worked for Henri Matisse during his later years. The story is told from the alternating points of view of Denis and his godmother, Clemence.
The first person narratives are very free flowing, flitting between actual events and the characters memories. The lack of speech marks and the constant shifting of the time frame produces a confusing text that is not an easy read.
I didn't find the characters very appealing. In addition, the plot was painfully slow moving, resulting in me completely losing interest in the story.
A disappointing read.
I received a free review copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest and unedited review.

[Jo Birkett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written as always, characters distinct & credible, French background nice, dual story line worked ok. Matisse turned out to be not very key however & quite predictable story for Denis re parentage.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really what I expected. I kind of hate the trend in fiction to not use speech marks of any kind, it made it really difficult to work out what was dialogue and what was story. The ending was pretty unexpected though and the cover is beautiful.

[Ceris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear goodness, Michèle Roberts knows how to write a sentence. The prose is absolutely stunning. Definitely a book to be savoured rather than rushed through.

[Helen Walton · Rating 5 out of 5]

For some of the reviewers here I think the fact that Roberts was writing an imaginative response to Matisse (rather than a lightly fictionalised biography) was disappointing. But if you leave aside all the things you do or don't know about Matisse and simply lose yourself in the writing and the story, you'll see how much there is to enjoy in this book!

While the book has a loose plot about Matisse's two assistants and Denis who is travelling to uncover his past, for me the book was really about different kinds of artist. There's the angry, selfish and driven artist (The Brush), the ageing Matisse finding new forms of expression, the assistants who both discover their own creativity and also sublimate it in another's art, and the many other types of 'assistant', the carers and family of artists who enable them and are thus part creators of the work. Roberts isn't telling some preachy story either about this - it's a much more subtle and nuanced view of how we create our own lives through art, through caring, through loving - and a gentle look at the ways we fail as well. So - if you want to think about art and ways of creating in a lyrical and moving story - read this!

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Roberts writing, and after reading some thin stuff in recent weeks, this was such a delight to get into. She always writes with real precision, evoking place and individuals' internal mental landscapes with a confident yet sensitive touch.

It took me a while to settle into the rhythm of the dial narratives, but once I did, I really enjoyed the repetitions, echos and reflections between them.

The ending was just a bit less stellar than almost all of the rest, hence the four rather than five stars, but I'd read more like this any day of the week, if it meant I could avoid the drivel churned out by "celebrity" authors and hailed as masterpieces ever again.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was full of such beautiful writing and thoughtful remembrances that I forgave the constantly annoying time changes. And I liked that the references to Matisse were only a side issue and so not confusing for the non-art aficionado that I am. Although all the photo descriptions and book cover and title did make me expect there would be more art and painters involved.

I was pleased to have found that listening to an audiobook had me avoid a book lacking punctuation which is another extremely annoying book feature for me. But I do wonder if I missed out on actually seeing photographs of Matisse and his work which could have added some depth to the story.

There was not a strong plot, made all the more flimsy by the jumping backwards and forwards 60 years. And then the ending was just off line and, quite frankly, totally incomprehensible. I am still trying to construct a more reasonable ending in my mind which likes to see stories resolved.

[Ciara H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this while in Nice around the time I visited the Matisse Museum.
I do like the mixing of fact and fiction.
I don't really get the adoration of Matisse as a character (nor Hubert Martin, if I'm honest).
There are clever observations about social life, status, and the treatment of women within.
Clever and well written.

[Adele · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps one of the reasons I didn’t enjoy this book was because I began it during a long wait with lots of disturbances, but I’ve given up just over half way through. The characters seem stereotyped & unbelievable. The plot a bit far fetched & cliché. It just seemed like a lot of flimsy titillation trying hard to be evocatively interesting from an art history point of view.

[Emma Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somme really poignant and thoughtful moments in this. Lots of short punchy chapters which I liked and love the scene setting with Matisse in particular. Great descriptions.