Gertrude Stein

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

Admirers called her a genius, sceptics a charlatan.


Gertrude Stein remains one of the most confounding - and contested - writers of the twentieth century. The host of glamorous salons at 27 rue de Fleurus, brushing shoulders with Picasso and Hemingway in her long brown robe, Stein never ceased plotting her own legacy. She would be known as the literary innovator of her time. And her enigmatic partner, Alice B. Toklas, would make sure of it.

A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE GUARDIAN THE SPECTATOR THE TELEGRAPH THE INDEPENDENT ARTFORUM WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD NPR'S FRESH AIR