Gertrude Stein
An Afterlife – 'Strikingly accomplished . . . utterly compelling.'
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- $26.99
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE AMERICAN LIBRARY IN PARIS BOOK AWARD 2025
'Strikingly accomplished . . . utterly compelling.' SUNDAY TIMES
'A masterpiece of biography.' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'A total joy to read.' SARAH BAKEWELL
'I feel like I've been waiting for this book my whole life.' SHEILA HETI
A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN:
THE GUARDIAN
THE SPECTATOR
THE TELEGRAPH
THE INDEPENDENT
ARTFORUM
WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
NPR'S FRESH AIR
From the celebrated author of Square Haunting comes a biography as unconventional and surprising as the life it tells.
'Think of the Bible and Homer think of Shakespeare and think of me,' wrote Gertrude Stein in 1936. Admirers called her a genius, sceptics a charlatan: she remains one of the most confounding - and contested - writers of the twentieth century.
In this literary detective story, Francesca Wade delves into the creation of the Stein myth. We see her posing for Picasso's portrait; at the centre of Bohemian Parisian life hosting the likes of Matisse and Hemingway; racing through the French countryside with her enigmatic companion Alice B. Toklas; dazzling American crowds on her sell-out tour for her sensational Autobiography - a veritable celebrity.
Yet Stein hoped to be remembered not for her personality but for her work. From her deathbed, she charged her partner with securing her place in literary history. How would her legend shift once it was Toklas's turn to tell the stories - especially when uncomfortable aspects of their past emerged from the archive? Using astonishing never-before-seen material, Wade uncovers the origins of Stein's radical writing, and reveals new depths to the storied relationship which made it possible.
This is Gertrude Stein as she was when nobody was watching: captivating, complex and human.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This innovative biography of Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) from Square Haunting author Wade assesses the influential writer's life and legacy. Believing that truly groundbreaking artists were not appreciated in their lifetimes, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas author was obsessed with her own legacy, Wade explains, and sent her manuscripts, letters, and notebooks to the Yale University Library before her death. The first half of the book chronicles Stein's childhood in California, her move to Paris, and her keen eye for modern art, the principles of which she tried to translate into her writing. The second half, however, is what makes the biography so distinctive; in it, Wade explores how scholars constructed Stein's posthumous legacy. In particular, she draws on notes from literary scholar Leon Katz, who interviewed Stein's life partner Alice B. Toklas in 1952. Wade, who believes she was the first researcher to examine these notes, explains how they elucidate Toklas's commitment to Stein but also reveal Toklas as "a woman with her own private past, negotiating her position in a life devoted to another." Toklas found herself in the ultimate conundrum: intensely private, she did not want to talk about her life with Stein, yet she was desperate for Stein to receive the plaudits Toklas felt she deserved. Wade's knowledgeable insights and clear affection for her subject, warts and all, make this a thoroughly captivating portrait. Anyone intrigued by the legend of Stein and Toklas will find this a windfall.
