Picasso's Lovers
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4.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“A complex, absorbing portrait”—People
A tangled and vivid portrait of the women caught in Picasso’s charismatic orbit through the affairs, the scandals, and the art—only this time, they hold the brush.
The women of Picasso’s life are glamorous and elusive, existing in the shadow of his fame—until 1950s aspiring journalist Alana Olson determines to bring one into the light. Unsure of what to expect but bent on uncovering what really lies beneath the canvas, Alana steps into Sara Murphy’s well-guarded home to discover a past complicated by secrets and intrigue.
Sara paints a luxurious picture of the French Riviera in 1923, but also a tragic one. The more Sara reveals, the more cracks emerge in Picasso’s once-vibrant social circle—and the more Alana feels a disturbing convergence with her own life. Who are these other muses? What became of them? What will become of her?
Desperate to trace the threads, Alana dives into the glittering lives of the past. But to do so she must contend with her own reality, including a strained engagement, the male-dominated world of art journalism, and the rising threat to civil rights in America. With hard truths peeling apart around her, it turns out that the most extraordinary portrait Alana encounters is her own.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this vibrant historical from Mackin (The Beautiful American), a young journalist investigates the personal life of Pablo Picasso. Alana Olsen wants desperately to cover the art world. The price of doing so, according to her editor in 1953 New York City, is getting an exclusive on Picasso. So, Alana tracks down one of the artist's muses, Sara Murphy, who posed for an early painting and now lives in New York. Sara agrees to share a story about Picasso's former lover, Anna. Much later, Mackin reveals the details of Anna's story along with Sara's motivation to share her secret and a surprising connection between Alana and Anna. First, though, Mackin ramps up the stakes for her intrepid reporter when Alana's former professor is dragged before Senator Joseph McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee on suspicion of being a communist. It turns out the FBI is after Alana, too, since she once marched with her professor for a civil rights cause. She flees to France with her editor's blessing, having procured a lead on Picasso's whereabouts from Sara. Mackin's clever plot delivers well-timed bombshells, and her characterizations of various women in Picasso's life—such as Irene Lagut, who is blasé about her roles as lover and muse but nothing more—ring true. Thanks to Mackin, the women who loved and inspired Picasso get their turn in the spotlight.
