The Flames by Sophie Haydock
EVERY PAINTING TELLS A STORY, BUT WHAT IF THE WOMEN ON THE CANVAS COULD TALK…
Vienna, at the beginning of the 20th century, is an exhilarating social whirl, a city of ideas, of music, of ground-breaking art, led by Gustav Klimt until the arrival of his scandalous protegee, Egon Schiele. Into this world come four women, each with their own story to tell:
ADELE: passionate, fierce, obstinate. The daughter of a bourgeois family, she rails against the strictures of her class and harbours her own wild fantasies.
GERTRUDE: spirited, single-minded, possessive. The sister to budding artist Egon Schiele, she longs for an exciting life away from their tempestuous family home.
VALLY: determined, independent, proud. A model for celebrated artist Gustav Klimt, she has carved her way out of poverty and is now forging a brave new path for herself.
EDITH: quiet, conventional, loyal. Or is she? Younger sister to Adele, Edith is overlooked and wonders if there is another version of the woman she might become.
Four flames, four wild, blazing hearts, longing to be known. In an elegant bohemian city like Vienna, everything seems possible - until an act of betrayal changes everything. For just as a flame has the power to mesmerize, it can also destroy everything in its path.
About the author
SOPHIE HAYDOCK is an award-winning author living in east London. The Flames, is her debut novel. She is the winner of the Impress Prize for New Writers. Sophie trained as a journalist at City University, London, and has worked at the Sunday Times Magazine, Tatler and BBC Three, as well as freelancing for publications including the Financial Times, Guardian Weekend magazine, and organisations such as the Arts Council, Royal Academy and Sotheby's. Passionate about short stories, Sophie also works for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award and is associate director of the Word Factory literary organisation. Her Instagram account @egonschieleswomen - dedicated to the women who posed for Egon Schiele - has a community of over 110,000 followers, and continues to grow. For more information, visit: sophie-haydock.com.
Review
‘The Flames’ is as evocative and enticing and enthralling as Egon Schiele’s art. I adore historical fiction that is based on truth and this is one of the best I have read recently. I also loved my time in Vienna surrounded by all the art and this book manages to transport the reader back in time and makes you feel as if you are part of that era. Klimt is one of my favourite artists and I grew up with a poster of ‘The Kiss’ on my mum's bedroom wall. But seeing it in person - it's the most I have ever been mesmerised by a piece of art. I could have stared at that one piece for hours. Therefore, I was very excited when I saw the premise for this book and I was not disappointed at all!
‘The Flames’ is about Egon Schiele’s women, his muses, his inspirations and his loves. It follows Gertrude (his sister), Edith (his wife), Adele (his sister in law) and Vally (one of his models) through his short life. Egon is a talented artist and an apprentice to Gustav Klimt who says his talent is ‘much too much’. However, we see this story from the perspective of the four most important women in his life, from his childhood to his death in 1918. Obviously, this is a piece of fiction but it's clear that Sarah has partaken in a huge amount of research for this book and I trust her to have the details correctly! You only need to follow the Instagram account @egonschieleswomen to know she has an intense passion for this artist. Again, this book sucked me in by this rich historical details, as this was my speciality as a historian - women in the first half of the 20th century, albeit in the UK but you can see many of the same themes and changes in this book as well. Increased freedoms for women, suffrage, leisure habits etc and then the devastating effect that war had on society.
I don't actually want to say to much about this book in regards to the narrative etc as I loved going into this one blind and not knowing what to expect. Therefore, let it's magic can flow over you and embrace you! I devoured this over my Sunday and it was a joy to read. Simply stunning writing and emotive to the end. I even shed a tear. I also then spent nearly an hour looking through Sarah’s Instagram account enchanted by Egon’s work.
This is a very easy recommendation from me! Beautiful!
