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The Artist
Winner of the Waterstones Book of the Year 2025
Brief Description
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT PRIZE 2025 LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025 A RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME A TELEGRAPH AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A furiously romantic, sun-drenched mystery . . . The Artist will leave you yearning in every...
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The Artist
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See moreAn intense summer of love, lies and the promise of freedom, set in Provence in 1920.
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Description
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT PRIZE 2025
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025
A RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
A TELEGRAPH AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025
A RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
A TELEGRAPH AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
'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
'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' — Sunday Times, BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Beautiful' — Daily Telegraph, BOOK OF THE YEAR
'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
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.
'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
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781399819589
Publisher: John Murray Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 07 May 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 320
About the Author
Lucy Steed's debut novel, The Artist was a Sunday Times bestseller, was longlisted for the Women's Prize and won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Award and the Waterstones Book of the Year Award. Lucy herself has synaesthesia and uses this to play with ways of translating images into words. She has a BA in English Literature, a Masters in World Literatures from the University of Oxford, and is a graduate of both the Faber Academy and the London Library Emerging Writers Programme. She currently splits her time between London and Amsterdam.
Also by Lucy Steeds
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The Artist
All Joseph wants is to be let into Tartuffe's world. All Ettie wants is to escape it.The year is 1920. The place is a remote farmhouse in Provence, home to the reclusive painter Edouard Tartuffe and his niece, Ettie. Into this strange, silent house walks Joseph: a young journalist hoping to write an article about Tartuffe. But the more he...Paperback$3000Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday
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