Please join Heather Webb as she tours the blogosphere with HF Virtual Book Tours for Rodin's Lover, from January 19-February 13.
Publication Date: January 27, 2015
Plume
Formats: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 320
Genre: Historical Fiction
A mesmerizing tale of art and passion in Belle Époque France.As a woman, aspiring sculptor Camille Claudel has plenty of critics, especially her ultra-traditional mother. But when Auguste Rodin makes Camille his apprentice—and his muse—their passion inspires groundbreaking works. Yet, Camille’s success is overshadowed by her lover’s rising star, and her obsessions cross the line into madness.
Rodin’s Lover brings to life the volatile love affair between one of the era’s greatest artists and a woman entwined in a tragic dilemma she cannot escape.
*****REVIEW*****
I had heard the name Camille Claudel before reading Rodin’s Lover, but knew nothing about
her. Women artists interest me, but I
had never previously read anything about a sculptor. This means that I was completely uneducated
about the methods and traditions of sculpture.
So I learned a great deal from this book about Camille Claudel, Auguste
Rodin and sculpture in general. Yet I
felt that the Wikipedia article on Camille Claudel caused me to understand the
general outline of her life better than Heather Webb’s novel, much of which is
written from Claudel’s own perspective.
To say that Claudel was an unreliable narrator is to put it
rather mildly. She was diagnosed with
schizophrenia. Schizophrenia covers a
great many types of mental disease. I
consider it a vague catch-all diagnosis.
Camille Claudel had bouts of severe paranoia. I noticed in the novel that she became much
worse later in her life, and that hormones appeared to have an influence. I know that hormone fluctuation is an
important factor in the lives of bipolar women.
It seems likely, for example, that hormonal changes in the aftermath of
pregnancy were probably the primary cause of the suicide of Chinese American
writer Iris Chang. I wondered if women’s hormones had a similar effect on
schizophrenia. So I ran a search on schizophrenia
and estrogen, and found the Wikipedia article that I’ve linked here. The article does confirm the idea that lower
levels of estrogen aggravate the condition.
Yet Claudel was a brilliant sculptor. There is a sample of Camille Claudel’s work
and work by Rodin that the author of the article linked thought was influenced
by Claudel at The Art of
Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin.
You can click on the images to get a larger version. I really liked The Waltz which was considered
indecent in Webb’s novel, so she created a clothed version which is the one
that survives.
I appreciated Camille Claudel’s conflict between love and
independence from a feminist perspective.
It was not paranoid to want to have her own identity as an artist and
not be considered an imitator of Rodin.
This is a problem that many people in the arts have had. Literary critic Harold Bloom called it “the
anxiety of influence”. I felt that
Heather Webb was portraying it as part of her pathology because she wavered so
much between being primarily focused on art and being primarily focused on her
relationship with Rodin. She was
continually breaking up with him, but I didn’t think it was always due to
mental instability. There were some legitimate reasons why being
with Rodin wasn’t the best thing for her.
He helped her to get commissions and exhibit space, but Webb also shows
him as having engaged in some stalker type behavior which was the real basis
for her later paranoia about Rodin spying on her. The
lines between Claudel’s feminism and Claudel’s insanity seemed blurred in Rodin’s Lover, and it made reading this emotionally intense
book an uncomfortable experience for me.
I found Rodin's Lover to be highly reminiscent of I Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira about the ambivalent relationship between artists Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas. I reviewed it on Book Babe here. I wish that Camille Claudel and Mary Cassatt could have met. I think they would have understood and supported each other as woman artists.
I received this book from the publisher via both First to Read and Net Galley in return for this honest review.
I found Rodin's Lover to be highly reminiscent of I Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira about the ambivalent relationship between artists Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas. I reviewed it on Book Babe here. I wish that Camille Claudel and Mary Cassatt could have met. I think they would have understood and supported each other as woman artists.
I received this book from the publisher via both First to Read and Net Galley in return for this honest review.
Buy the Book
About the Author
Heather Webb grew up a military brat and naturally became obsessed with travel, culture, and languages. She put her degrees to good use teaching high school French for nearly a decade before turning to full time novel writing and freelance editing. Her debut, BECOMING JOSEPHINE, released January 2014 from Plume/Penguin. Her forthcoming novel, RODIN'S LOVER, will release in winter of 2015.When not writing, Heather flexes her foodie skills or looks for excuses to head to the other side of the world.
For more information, please visit Heather's website. She loves to chitchat on Twitter with new reader friends or writers (@msheatherwebb), on Facebook, or via her blog. Stop on by!
Rodin's Lover Blog Tour Schedule
Monday, January 19
Review & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books
Review & Interview at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book
Tuesday, January 20
Review at Broken Teepee
Spotlight at Boom Baby Reviews
Wednesday, January 21
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!
Thursday, January 22
Review at History From a Woman's Perspective
Interview at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!
Friday, January 23
Review at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More
Monday, January 26
Review at Poof Books
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews
Tuesday, January 27
Review at Library Educated
Spotlight at The Lit Bitch
Wednesday, January 28
Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages
Thursday, January 29
Review at Book Babe
Review at The Book Binder's Daughter
Friday, January 30
Review at Book Drunkard
Monday, February 2
Review at Unabridged Chick
Tuesday, February 3
Review at Caroline Wilson Writes
Interview at Unabridged Chick
Wednesday, February 4
Review at Brooke Blogs
Thursday, February 5
Review at A Book Geek
Friday, February 6
Review at The True Book Addict
Monday, February 9
Review at A Literary Vacation
Review at CelticLady's Reviews
Tuesday, February 10
Spotlight at Historical Fiction Connection
Wednesday, February 11
Thursday, February 12
Review at Flashlight Commentary
Spotlight at Historical Readings & Reviews
Friday, February 13
Review at The Maiden's Court
Fast-paced and filled with raw emotion, Rodin's Lover is an impressive achievement, and a reminder of the power of great stories about great lives, whenever they were lived.
ReplyDeleteThis book about art is a piece of art. As I neared the end, I read more and more slowly in an effort to avoid the last page. This is a beautifully written story about two tortured souls and the time in which they live. I loved every word and wonder how many readers began Googling as I did after reading the final page.
ReplyDeleteMariz
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