October 23, 2023
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.
December 1, 2023
The art and life of Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) have long been a source of fascination, and Mackin's (The Last Collection) novel is a fine addition to the historical fiction about him. The story opens with 1950s aspiring art journalist Alana Olson attempting to unearth aspects of Picasso's life that haven't been written about before. Her quest leads her to Sara Murphy, who spent time with Picasso in the 1920s in the French Riviera. Most of the novel is about the experiences of these two women, with the setting moving back and forth between France and the States. Mackin fleshes out the primary story with many memorable minor characters. Picasso himself makes a brief appearance when Alana interviews him, but most of the story is about the people in his orbit. The novel also makes clear how sexism constrained opportunities for women artists as well as women journalists. VERDICT Mackin's absorbing story does a skillful job of weaving together different timelines and bringing in social issues. Suggest to art lovers and readers interested in 20th-century history.--Susan Cox
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December 1, 2023
A notorious womanizer as well as a legendary artist, Pablo Picasso immortalized the likenesses of his wives and mistresses in his paintings, but their voices were overshadowed by his. In 1953, aspiring art journalist Alana Olsen hopes to break into the male-dominated field with an article about the artist. Seeking a new twist on his much-publicized work, Alana visits Sara Murphy, a Lost Generation expatriate and contemporary of Picasso's who now lives a quiet life in rural New York. Sara reluctantly agrees to the interview and finds herself opening up to Alana about her relationship with Picasso during the summer of 1923 in the French Riviera. As the story unfolds, Alana discovers a personal connection to these long-ago events that sends her to Paris in search of answers from the artist himself. What she finds will change the direction of her professional and personal life. Mackin's (The Last Collection, 2019) descriptions of the Murphys' decadent parties and Riviera lifestyle are closely drawn from the historical record, but the narrative veers into speculation. Recommend to fans of Fiona Davis and Natasha Lester.
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