The Artist and the Feast
Lucy Steeds
(Author)
Description
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.
Product Details
| Publisher | Union Square & Co. |
| Publish Date | May 06, 2025 |
| Pages | 352 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781454960522 |
| Dimensions | 9.1 X 6.4 X 1.4 inches | 1.4 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
"Lucy Steeds transports the reader with her sensuous depictions of food, art, and landscape . . . an assured and atmospheric debut about creativity, female agency, and the legacy of war."
--Sarah Perry, international bestselling author of The Essex Serpent
"A furiously romantic, sun-drenched mystery about the violent power of good art. The Artist and the Feast will leave you yearning in every sense of the word."
--Yael van der Wouden, Booker Prize finalist and author of The Safekeep
"The Artist and the Feast is an intoxicating tale of creativity, possession and freedom told by the alternate voices of a young English writer and a French woman who have been drawn into the orbit of a celebrated but reclusive artist. As they circle around him during one hot summer in Provence, both his secrets and theirs slowly come into the light. This is a compelling, beautifully textured and impressively assured debut about the risks we take to get what we want, a novel which asks questions about all those who are painted over by history."
--Joanna Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Whalebone Theatre
"Gorgeous . . . Steeped in the heat and atmosphere of 1920s Provence, this novel brims with intrigue, hope and yearning. The questions it asks will linger with me: about authenticity, about what it means to be an artist and to long to leave a mark on the world."
--Elizabeth Macneal, international bestselling author of The Doll Factory and The Burial Plot
"Phenomenal . . . beautiful, pacey historical fiction, vividly realized. 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
"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
"The Artist and the Feast 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, a graduate of the Faber Academy, is one to watch."
--The Times, Best Historical Fiction of 2025
"The stifling Provence landscape and the visceral nature of creating and consuming art are evoked beautifully . . . Steeds command of language is dexterous and powerful . . . a hugely accomplished portrait of ambition and self-fulfillment."
--Observer
"A sultry, headily perfumed portrait of monstrous male egos and oppressed overlooked women . . . The Artist and the Feast uncovers its secrets by stealth."
--Telegraph
"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
"A blaze of a book, poetic, passionate and quietly powerful."
--Daily Mail
"Beautiful . . . Steeds uses vivid, sensory language to evoke the sultriness of a summer in Provence and the tyranny of living with a genius artist . . . A thought-provoking book whose characters will stay with you long after you've finished reading it."
--Historical Novel Society
"Sensuous and brooding."
--Bookseller
"A vivid and atmospheric literary novel, rich in observational detail, that explores and transcends the oppressive power dynamics of artistic creation."
--Sydney Morning Herald
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