Madame Picasso
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Madame Picasso
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Leslie Carroll
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By:
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Anne Girard
About this listen
The mesmerizing and untold story of Eva Gouel, the unforgettable woman who stole the heart of the greatest artist of our time.
When Eva Gouel moves to Paris from the countryside, she is full of ambition and dreams of stardom. Though young and inexperienced, she manages to find work as a costumer at the famous Moulin Rouge, and it is here that she first catches the attention of Pablo Picasso, a rising star in the art world. A brilliant but eccentric artist, Picasso sets his sights on Eva, and Eva can't help but be drawn into his web. But what starts as a torrid affair soon evolves into what will become the first great love of Picasso's life.
With sparkling insight and passion, Madame Picasso introduces us to a dazzling heroine, taking us from the salon of Gertrude Stein to the glamorous Moulin Rouge and inside the studio and heart of one of the most enigmatic and iconic artists of the 20th century.
©2014 Diane Haeger (P)2014 Recorded BooksWhilst I understand that the book is written in English and narrated by an American, I found it difficult to understand why the only character narrated with an accent was Picasso, and that the accent used was a deep, extremely off-putting Russian accent. If the narrator is unable to do a Spanish accent,a Russian one will not do as a substitute. Furthermore the two characters who were Polish, in whom a Slavic accent may have been forgivable were narrated with an American accent. Liberties were also taken with Picasso's character, particularly around the story-line involving Louis having struck Eva, and Picasso's disgust and fury. Picasso himself was known to have been violent towards women, Fernande in particular.
As well as this, Fernande seemed to be presented as a drawling, sarcastic Southern Belle, which was unfair and not at all representative of how she was.
Similarly, there is much literature that gives a clear picture of the characters of Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas which the writer seems to have entirely ignored.
All in all I quite enjoyed the book, but it's a shame the writer and/or the narrator seemed to have little understanding of Europeans and seemed to have failed to capture the true characters of many of the key players.
Interpretation of characters
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