Lucy Steeds

Kuka todella saa tulla nähdyksi ja kenet jätetään varjoihin? Joseph haluaa kiivaasti päästä sisään valon mestarina tunnetun Tartuffen maailmaan. Juuri sieltä Ettie etsii ulospääsyä. Eletään vuotta 1920 syrjäisessä maalaistalossa Provencessa, jossa asuu erakoitunut taidemaalari Edouard Tartuffe ja hänen veljentyttärensä Ettie. Tähän outoon, hiljaiseen taloon saapuu nuori toimittaja Joseph, joka haluaa kirjoittaa artikkelin Tartuffesta. Mutta mitä enemmän Joseph tutustuu erikoiseen kaksikkoon, sitä uteliaammaksi hän tulee. Ettie ei ole koskaan käynyt lähikylää kauempana, ja hänen tehtävänsä on hoitaa kotia, pitää huolta Tartuffen ateljeesta ja luoda maalaamiselle täydelliset puitteet. Joseph kuitenkin aistii, että hänen viileän ulkokuorensa alla kytee jotain suurempaa. Ettie, Joseph ja Tartuffe pyörivät toistensa ympärillä koko helteisen, räiskyvän kesän ajan, kunnes kaikkien salaisuudet väistämättä paljastuvat. Ettie on valmis tulemaan nähdyksi. Vaikka se vaatisi koko entisen elämän polttamista. Lucy Steeds on valmistunut Faberin akatemiasta ja Lontoon kirjaston Emerging Writers Programme -ohjelmasta. Hän on suorittanut englantilaisen kirjallisuuden kandidaatin tutkinnon ja maisterin tutkinnon Oxfordin yliopistossa. Provencen polttava valo on hänen esikoisromaaninsa.

I ett ensligt hus på landsbygden i Provence har den berömde konstnären Édouard Tartuffe dragit sig tillbaka från världen. Hans systerdotter Ettie sköter hemmet och ateljén och skapar i tysthet förutsättningarna för hans konst – men inom henne pyr en längtan efter frihet. Sommaren 1920 anländer en ung journalist till detta underliga, tysta hus i hopp om att få skriva en artikel om Tartuffe. Han försöker förgäves få den store konstnären att öppna sig, kommer istället allt närmare hans gåtfulla systerdotter och inser till slut att både Tartuffe och Ettie har hemligheter som de vill dölja. "Konstnären" är en mästerlig debut om begär, frigörelse och skapande. Poetisk och passionerad och med en lågmäld dramatik.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2025 LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025 A RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME IN APRIL 'The Artist is a lush, impressive debut; the writing is rich and sensuous, especially in descriptions of food, the landscape and the act of creation. Lucy Steeds is one to watch' The Times 'Dextrous and powerful . . . a hugely accomplished portrait of ambition and self-fulfilment' Guardian 'The year's most lauded debut novelist . . . A sultry, headily perfumed portrait of monstrous male egos and oppressed overlooked women . . . The Artist uncovers its secrets by stealth' Telegraph 'A blaze of a book, poetic, passionate and quietly powerful' Daily Mail 'This compelling, evocative debut will transport you to idyllic, sun-drenched Provence in 1920 . . . An absorbing, poetic read' Mail on Sunday 'Captivating . . . with imagery as lush as an oil painting' Washington Post 'Enthralling . . . the descriptions of the landscape, the meals they eat and the art created are so rich and evocative it's as if you're there' Good Housekeeping **BEST BOOKS FOR 2025 from Stylist and Good Housekeeping** PROVENCE, 1920 Ettie moves through the remote farmhouse, silently creating the conditions that make her uncle's artistic genius possible. Joseph, an aspiring journalist, has been invited to the house. He believes he'll make his name by interviewing the reclusive painter, the great Edouard Tartuffe. But everyone has their secrets. And, under the cover of darkness, Ettie has spent years cultivating hers. Over this sweltering summer, everyone's true colours will be revealed. Because Ettie is ready to be seen. Even if it means setting her world on fire. 'A furiously romantic, sun-drenched mystery . . . The Artist will leave you yearning in every sense of the word' Yael van der Wouden, author of The Safekeep 'Lucy Steeds transports the reader with her sensuous depictions of food, art, and landscape . . . an assured and atmospheric debut' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent 'An intoxicating tale of creativity, possession and freedom. An impressively assured debut which asks questions about all those who are painted over by history' Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre 'I could not love this beautiful novel more . . . the final chapters left me with that delicious heart-bursting feeling, full of hope and delight' Florence Knapp, author of The Names 'Gorgeous . . . Steeped in the heat and atmosphere of 1920s Provence, this novel brims with intrigue, hope and yearning' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory and The Burial Plot 'Phenomenal . . . beautiful, pacey historical fiction, vividly realised. It drifts with the scent of summer, the land lit up and throbbing, the food piled high and richly painted, the paint as thick and buttery as food. I wanted to eat it. Yes, I even wanted to eat the paint. Read this book!' Seth Insua, author of Human, Animal

Longlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction, The Artist and the Feast is a captivating novel of love, art, food, desire and thwarted ambition, which builds propulsively over one scorching French summer in 1920s Provence. During a scorching summer in 1920s Provence, a young journalist, Joseph Adelaide, turns up at the farmhouse of reclusive artist Edouard Tartuffe, hoping to write an article about him. There, he meets Ettie, Tartuffe's niece, who appears to do everything for her uncle--from cooking and cleaning to catering to his maniacal moods. Joseph is beguiled by where he finds himself, not just by this foreign place or Tartuffe himself, but by Ettie, who watches everything so quietly from the periphery. Both Joseph and Ettie carry scars from their pasts and it's as they get to know each other that they start to lay bare those scars to themselves and to each other.​ ​ As the summer wears on, and as new ideas and passions are explored, Joseph, Ettie, and Tartuffe are propelled toward a finale that reveals long-held secrets and sets the world on fire. Fans of Sarah Winman's Still Life and Paula McClain's The Paris Wife will be enchanted by this compelling novel.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025 A RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME IN APRIL'The Artist is a lush, impressive debut; the writing is rich and sensuous, especially in descriptions of food, the landscape and the act of creation. Lucy Steeds is one to watch' The Times'Dextrous and powerful . . . a hugely accomplished portrait of ambition and self-fulfilment' Guardian'The year's most lauded debut novelist . . . A sultry, headily perfumed portrait of monstrous male egos and oppressed overlooked women . . . The Artist uncovers its secrets by stealth' Telegraph'A blaze of a book, poetic, passionate and quietly powerful' Daily Mail'This compelling, evocative debut will transport you to idyllic, sun-drenched Provence in 1920 . . . An absorbing, poetic read' Mail on Sunday'Captivating . . . with imagery as lush as an oil painting' Washington Post'Enthralling . . . the descriptions of the landscape, the meals they eat and the art created are so rich and evocative it's as if you're there' Good Housekeeping**BEST BOOKS FOR 2025 from Stylist and Good Housekeeping**PROVENCE, 1920Ettie moves through the remote farmhouse, silently creating the conditions that make her uncle's artistic genius possible.Joseph, an aspiring journalist, has been invited to the house. He believes he'll make his name by interviewing the reclusive painter, the great Edouard Tartuffe.But everyone has their secrets. And, under the cover of darkness, Ettie has spent years cultivating hers.Over this sweltering summer, everyone's true colours will be revealed.Because Ettie is ready to be seen.Even if it means setting her world on fire.'A furiously romantic, sun-drenched mystery . . . The Artist will leave you yearning in every sense of the word' Yael van der Wouden, author of The Safekeep'Lucy Steeds transports the reader with her sensuous depictions of food, art, and landscape . . . an assured and atmospheric debut' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent'An intoxicating tale of creativity, possession and freedom. An impressively assured debut which asks questions about all those who are painted over by history' Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre'I could not love this beautiful novel more . . . the final chapters left me with that delicious heart-bursting feeling, full of hope and delight' Florence Knapp, author of The Names'Gorgeous . . . Steeped in the heat and atmosphere of 1920s Provence, this novel brims with intrigue, hope and yearning' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory and The Burial Plot 'Phenomenal . . . beautiful, pacey historical fiction, vividly realised. It drifts with the scent of summer, the land lit up and throbbing, the food piled high and richly painted, the paint as thick and buttery as food. I wanted to eat it. Yes, I even wanted to eat the paint. Read this book!' Seth Insua, author of Human, Animal