Monday, August 28, 2017

Review: The Artist's Muse by Kerry Postle

Title: The Artist's Muse
Author: Kerry Postle

Publication: August 25th 2017 by HQ Digital
Genre: Historical Fiction
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 4.5/5

Vienna 1907

Wally Neuzil must find a way to feed her family. Having failed in many vocations, Wally has one last shot: esteemed artist Gustav Klimt needs a muse, and Wally could be the girl he’s been waiting for. But Wally soon discovers that there is much more to her role than just sitting looking pretty. And while she had hoped to establish herself as an emerging lady, the upper classes see her as no more than a prostitute.

With her society dreams dashed Wally finds herself at rock bottom. So when young artist, Egon Schiele, shows her how different life can be Wally grabs hold of the new start she’s been desperately seeking. As a passionate love affair ensues will he be the making of her or her undoing?


I didn't quite know what to expect when I started The Artist's Muse. To be honest, I figured it would be a light historical book but it ended up being so much more. Starting the book I wasn't actually sure that I knew about the major characters of the book, Wally Neuzil or Egan Schiele but somewhere along the way I started remembering that I saw a short documentary about Wally once because some events in the story were familiar to me. I loved this, of course.

What I noticed right from the start was how beautiful the writing was. The writing style was actually really unique and I loved how Wally ometimes spoke to the reader. That, together with the elegant writing made the story even more stunning to me.

For those who don't know, this is the story of Wally Neuzil who was the muse (hence the title) of the controversial artist Egon Schiele. They had their ups and downs together but overall you could call it a pretty toxic relationship. But I thought this only made the end so much better, in my opinion. It was all written very well.

Lately I've been feeling drawn to books set in the early 1900's and The Artist's Muse ended up being so damn good that I definitely want to continue reading books in this era. I loved it all.

Overall, The Artist's Muse by Kerry Postle was simple a work of art. It was poignant, stunning and I could barely put the book down. It's definitely one of my favorite books of the year! 




If you want to find out more about this book or the author you can find more info at:
Website | Twitter


13 comments:

  1. I love books with beautiful writing. This is one I will have to check out. I don't usually read books circa 1900 I tend to like books just post world war two or during but I am really interested in artists muse as the story as well as the writing sounds intriguing.

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  2. Huh. I don't know anything about his artist or the Muse. :D I don't typically read too many books set in the 1900s - somehow, the 1900s aren't as interesting to me as past centuries. It sounds like this book was really well-written and worked for you. That's awesome! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.

    Have a great day, Stephanie! =)

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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    1. I probably should've mentioned in the review that Gustav Klimt is also featured in it. Just slipped my mind I guess. He's more well known than Schiele. But I was pleasantly surprised by this book in general. ^_^

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  3. This sounds like such an interesting story! I love historical fiction, so this sounds right up my alley. Thanks for sharing and great review!

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  4. So glad that you enjoyed this one, it sounds really interesting! Also the cover looks really wistful and romantic... which makes sense with the theme, I'm so smart xD

    Thanks for sharing,
    ~Brittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles

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  5. I like books set in the early 1900's, so this is right up my alley. Great review!

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    1. It's definitely turned into one of my favrite eras to read about!

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  6. The cover looks so gorgeous! I should really read more historical fiction so I'll be checking this out!

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  7. I am very curious about this author's style of writing now -- you don't often hear writing described as beautiful like this.

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  8. I remember hearing about this one on twitter! And yes, if you're loving the era than definitely do keep reading around it. It sounds like the writing style was definitely a seller for this one.

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