The Artist and the Feast
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The Artist and the Feast
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Narrated by:
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Tanya Reynolds
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By:
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Lucy Steeds
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.
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It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel! The prose is absolutely stunning, yet effortless and exact. Absolutely no sentence is wasted. It is vivid and lyrical without ever tipping into excess, striking that rare balance that makes you assume this author has been mastering her craft for decades. Steeds not only captures the art, food and landscape in full-color cinematic fashion — she captures the emotions: longing, repression, uncertainty and hope.
Though the structure is dual narrative, it’s the emotional growth of Ettie that steals the show. Her journey is the heart of the book. The relationship between Ettie and Joseph (the young journalist) unfolds with such restraint — the slowest of burns, built more on respect and discovery than romance.
The scope of the novel is quite expansive. It’s about art, food, love, family, control… but also touches on the legacy of war, the weight of abusive relationships, the status of women in the 20th century, and the often invisible labor that supports genius. It explores the nature of fame, the price of artistic brilliance and the complexities of human connection.
The Artist and the Feast is more than a novel; it’s an experience. In a single debut, Lucy Steeds has secured her place among the greats of her genre.
Simply put, this book was both beautiful and unforgettable.
A masterpiece!
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