Edited For Clarity

L'Origine: The Secret Life of the World's Most Erotic Masterpiece by Lilianne Milgrom
Length: 288 Pages
Genres: Historical Fiction
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

"There, at last, was an image that encapsulated the female paradox - Creator of Life and Seductress. Holy and Profane."

Trigger Warnings for Mild Antisemitism in the WWII passages

Firstly I would like to thank Emma at France Book Tours and the author, Lilianne Milgrom, for sending me a copy of this book to review in exchange for an honest review! Thank you both so much for the opportunity.

I've always loved art, ever since I was little when I still thought I myself might make it big as some sort of artist! But, much to my embarrassment, I had never heard of Gustave Courbet or his most controversial piece - L'Origine du monde or "The Origin of the World" - which is startling even to this day. I can only imagine the scandal it caused in 1866! It depicts the lower half of a naked woman, legs spread, her genitals the main focus of the piece.

Lilianne Milgrom set out to tell the story of L'Origine, and throughout this novel you come to understand that it is indeed the protagonist of the book. It reminded me a lot of a favorite movie of mine, "The Red Violin", which follows this amazing instrument from its inception all the through the centuries, focusing a little segment on each of the owners all the way up to modern times. Unfortunately, I felt that "L'Origine" suffers much from the same faults as the movie, where some characters were far more interesting than others. I wished we had more time with each of them, specifically the artist himself, or the actress Sylvia Bataille, who after the death of her psychoanalyst husband, Jacques Lacan, wishes to see the painting fall into female hands. I also feel like that method of storytelling works slightly better on film, as I struggled to keep up with and remember the names of so many characters whom we usually only get a couple of chapters with!

Milgrom's descriptions were wonderful, and I felt I could really see, smell, and hear what it could have been like in 19th century France or war-torn Hungary or post-war Paris.

My least favorite portion was the prologue, which is based on the author's (who is an artist herself) experiences travelling to France and being granted permission to reproduce L'Origine. I thought the style in which it was told (sort of immature, trying to be relatable and funny but not quite succeeding), didn't fit with the rest of the rather serious tone of the historical parts. Another issue I had was the portrayal of the Turkish characters. Khalil Bey, the Ottoman Diplomat who commissions L'Origine, using his lover Constance Quéniaux, a dancer at the Paris opera, as the model, is in his very first description noted for his "Oriental" eyes. Although that would have been the term used at the time, it still left me feeling uneasy, as did the rest of the scenes involving Turkish people. To some extent the Jewish characters suffer this same hint of "otherness" or "exoticism", but it shouldn't impede one's enjoyment in the slightest!

Overall, I think "L'Origine" is a very interesting book, and will best be appreciated by art and history lovers, or perhaps someone who wants a glimpse of a secret side of France.

Lilianne Milgrom

on Tour January 18-29 with      

L’Origine: The Secret Life Of The World’s Most Erotic Masterpiece

(historical fiction) Release date: July 28, 2020 at Little French Girl Press 255 pages

2020 Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion Award

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SYNOPSIS

‘L’Origine‘ traces the extraordinary, clandestine odyssey of an iconic 19th century painting that shook up the author’s world and continues to scandalize all who set eyes upon it. Gustave Courbet’s portrait of a woman’s exposed torso and sex – audaciously entitled ‘L’Origine du monde’ (The Origin of the World) – was so shocking it was kept hidden for a century and a half, surviving revolution, Nazi plunder and the foibles of its eccentric owners. Today it draws millions of visitors to Paris’ Orsay Museum. Lilianne Milgrom brings a fresh, feminine perspective to an iconic work of art created specifically for the male gaze. ‘L’Origine‘ offers readers more than a riveting romp through history–it also reflects society’s complex attitude towards female nudity.

NB: this is a historical novel, no explicit scenes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lilianne Milgrom
Paris-born Lilianne Milgrom is an award-winning international artist, writer on the arts and author. Her art can be found in both private and institutional collections around the world and her articles have been published in Huffington Post, Daily Art Magazine, Ceramics Now and Bonjour Paris. Her 5-star, bestselling novel ‘L’Origine‘ is the result of ten years of research and was accepted into the Historical Novel Society. Lilianne lives in Washington DC with her husband. Follow the author on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Join her mailing list

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Book Review: Possession by A.S. Byatt

Possession by A.S. Byatt
Length: 555 Pages
Genres: Literary Fiction
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

"I cannot let you burn me up, nor can I resist you. No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed."

Trigger Warnings in this book for Attempted Sexual Assault, Lesbophobia and Biphobia

(This review, like all of mine, contains spoilers!)

I honestly cannot tell you how long this book has been not only on my TBR, but in my own possession. What I can tell you was that I was afraid to start it. I worried I wouldn't be smart enough to understand, or enjoy it, when I had such high expectations. But I'm so proud that I finally tackled this monster (more in the style of the prose vs. the length!), and made it my second book, of 2021.

"Possession" is complicated. It is incredibly dense, sometimes meandering, certainly for a specific kind of person with specific kinds of interests. We follow a plethora of characters, with our main focus being Dr. Maud Bailey, a Feminist expert on Christabel LaMotte, and Roland Michell, a man adrift in the world of Academia, harboring an obsession with Randolph Henry Ash, another poet. And through letters we learn the story of the two mysterious poets, LaMotte and Ash, and of a secret and all-consuming affair between the two, which will change what was thought of them - forever.

I loved the medium this story was told in, with us following Maud and Roland in the present, and with letters, pages from books, poetry, diaries, etc., interspersed, giving us tantalizing glimpses of the past and the fascinating people at its center. A.S. Byatt's writing was incredible. I loved how descriptive she was, in a way that was somehow both floral and matter of fact, and the accuracy in which she wrote Victorian love-letters from two brilliant minds was such an enjoyment. There are so many threads and so many topics broached, from feminism (which gets a bad rap, but is probably just an unfortunate product of its time), to relationships between men and women, to Religion and bugs and sea-anemones, and more.

This book suffered from what I think most 400+ books do, a sagging in the middle, and I couldn't help but feel it could have been cut down about a hundred pages to make it more concise. I was expecting to give this book four stars, however several things knocked half a star off of it. Firstly, the character of Leonora Stern. I actually think Leonora could have been a really interesting character if it was not for the handling of her sexuality. She is a bisexual Professor from America, who has a close friendship with Dr. Bailey. While staying with her, she attempts to sexually assault Maud. It smacked of "bisexual/lesbian women are predators" and left a very bad taste in my mouth. Leonora is also described as having a "touch of Africa" about the lips, which was just another thing that left me cringing. Lastly, and continuing on with the previous theme, Christabel has a very close, some believe romantic, relationship with a woman she lived with. This woman does everything to keep her from being with Randolph, going so far as to rips up the letters he sends before she can read them, going to his wife with proof of their affair, and in the end, committing suicide. A.S. Byatt seemed to have a real bias against Sapphic women, portraying them predatory and unhinged and I really, really wasn't a fan.

If you can get past those aspects, there is really a gem of a story here, and an excellent choice for history and poetry lovers, for English majors, or for someone, who like me, wants a challenge.

Book Review: Fierce Dreamer by Linda Lafferty

Fierce Dreamer by Linda Lafferty
Length: 315 Pages
Genres: Historical Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

"'Artemisia. Boys will be jealous of you for the rest of your life. You have a gift they would kill for. Yes, you have the promise of physical beauty, but there are plenty of pretty girls in Rome. You possess something much more rare. You have God-given talent. You will be a great painter. And many will hate you for your art.'"

Trigger Warnings in this book for Rape, Sexual Assault, and Violence

My first book of 2021, and oh, how wonderful it was! I picked this up solely because I am participating in this year's Buzzword Readathon, hosted by Kayla at BooksandLala. This month's buzzword was dream, or dreamer or dreaming, anything along those lines. Honestly, I have to thank the Readathon for pushing it to the top of my TBR!

I have always had a fascination with Artemisia Gentileschi, a woman who became an accomplished painter, and so much more, in a time when women were nothing more than wives, mothers, servants, or even prostitutes. Born to the artist Orazio Gentileschi, a follower of Caravaggio's, and Prudenzia di Ottaviano Montoni, we follow Artemisia through her hard but sheltered childhood, constantly at her father's feet, until her early adulthood and through the trial that would shadow the rest of her life.

Artemisia is exceptionally gifted, headstrong and passionate, of her father's "Tuscan blood", as is remarked by others. She is Orazio's pride and joy, and as a child and remarkable protégé, she is allowed to come and go as she pleases, visiting various bottegas to learn from the masters themselves. She is even taken to the execution of Beatrice Cenci, a woman who killed her father who was raping her, something that sticks with her and even goes on to mimic her own life, only with a different outcome. But, as she matures, her father's love turns to control, especially as she comes into undeniable beauty. She is soon kept inside like a caged bird, only allowed to paint still lifes at her father's instruction. Artemisia longs to be free, to paint the dark and dramatic works she dreams of, like her idol Caravaggio.

I absolutely adored Artemisia, her strength, her conviction, her refusal to let those more powerful than her win. When the horrible day of her rape by her tutor, Agostino Tassi, comes, as anyone who knows her story will anticipate, her emotions were my own. Her outrage, her fear and broken heart. She understands immediately that she has lost, perhaps, her only ticket to freedom via her virginity and a chance for marriage. This quote, from one of her first conversations with Tassi, sums up her personality perfectly:

"The maestro studied the nude and then shifted his gaze to her. 'I think it will be a challenge and a pleasure to teach you, Sinorina,' he said. 'You have tremendous potential.'
She looked at him coldly. "I have tremendous skill, Maestro Tassi.'"

Every man in this story I hated at least once, from Agostino to the loathsome Cosimo Quorli to Artemisia's eldest brother, and even, and maybe in particular, her mercurial father who only suggests she bring her rapist to trial when he fears for his own reputation. The strongest characters in this book were of course the women, especially how they interacted with one another, including the fleeting and loving moments with Prudenzia before her untimely death, and Tuzia, the neighbor who would later become Orazio's lover, and eventually, be tried at court for involvement in the rape. 

Artemisia, who overcame so much, is brought wonderfully to life in "Fierce Dreamer". I'm excited to pick up another book by Lafferty, and if they are anything like this one, she will surely become a favorite of mine! I just adored this book, and I think you will, too.