Radical Woman: Gwen John & Rodin: A Novel

This major new novel by the best-selling Maggie Humm is the story of artist Gwen John's tumultuous affair with the French sculptor Auguste Rodin.This historical romance literary fiction is told in the first-person present tense. It explores Gwen's journey from a naive young woman to a self-confident and celebrated artist. Both Rodin and Gwen John were radical artists who challenged the conventions of art and respectability in the early years of the twentieth century. Here Gwen steps out from the shadows cast first by her brother Augustus John the painter, and then by Rodin, to play her part in the furthering the cause of female artists to be treated as equals by their male counterparts. The novel is largely set in London and Paris between 1897 and 1917, and focusses on pivotal moments which transform Gwen's life. As a Slade student in London in 1897, she mixes in an artistic coterie, drinking together in Fitzrovia, dining at the Cafe Royal, and learning from all the famous artists of t