Claire Berest – författare

'The portrait of a fascinating, eccentric, and indomitable woman . . . an incandescent novel' Elle'No author has yet captured Frida's tragic life in words as sensually and passionately as this' Grazia'Claire Berest writes as captivatingly and vividly as Frida Kahlo painted' Paris MatchWINNER OF ELLE FRANCE'S GRAND PRIX DES LECTRICES*This is the story of Diego and Frida who couldn't live without each other.They meet at a party. She knows everything about him, about his mythology, and he knows nothing of her, she is nobody.He is Mexico's greatest artist. She drinks like a sailor, wears flowers in her hair, talks openly about sex, loves attending protests and parties to wake the dead. She is from Coyoacán, twenty years his junior and with a broken spine to boot.Even when her body is wracked with pain, she paints.There were two great accidents in her life. The first was when that streetcar hit her . . . but by far the worst was meeting him.Translated into English for the first time, Claire Berest's award-winning novel is a striking and lyrical fictional imagining of the vibrant life and tumultuous marriage of one of the world's most enigmatic and beloved artists: Frida Kahlo. Perfect for fans of The Artist, The Safekeep, Tracy Chevalier and Ali Smith.

'The portrait of a fascinating, eccentric, and indomitable woman . . . an incandescent novel' Elle'No author has yet captured Frida's tragic life in words as sensually and passionately as this' Grazia'Claire Berest writes as captivatingly and vividly as Frida Kahlo painted' Paris MatchWINNER OF ELLE FRANCE'S GRAND PRIX DES LECTRICES*This is the story of Diego and Frida who couldn't live without each other.They meet at a party. She knows everything about him, about his mythology, and he knows nothing of her, she is nobody.He is Mexico's greatest artist. She drinks like a sailor, wears flowers in her hair, talks openly about sex, loves attending protests and parties to wake the dead. She is from Coyoacán, twenty years his junior and with a broken spine to boot.Even when her body is wracked with pain, she paints.There were two great accidents in her life. The first was when that streetcar hit her . . . but by far the worst was meeting him.Translated into English for the first time, Claire Berest's award-winning novel is a striking and lyrical fictional imagining of the vibrant life and tumultuous marriage of one of the world's most enigmatic and beloved artists: Frida Kahlo. Perfect for fans of The Artist, The Safekeep, Tracy Chevalier and Ali Smith.

'The portrait of a fascinating, eccentric, and indomitable woman . . . an incandescent novel' Elle'No author has yet captured Frida's tragic life in words as sensually and passionately as this' Grazia'Claire Berest writes as captivatingly and vividly as Frida Kahlo painted' Paris MatchWINNER OF ELLE FRANCE'S GRAND PRIX DES LECTRICES*This is the story of Diego and Frida who couldn't live without each other.They meet at a party. She knows everything about him, about his mythology, and he knows nothing of her, she is nobody.He is Mexico's greatest artist. She drinks like a sailor, wears flowers in her hair, talks openly about sex, loves attending protests and parties to wake the dead. She is from Coyoac n, twenty years his junior and with a broken spine to boot.Even when her body is wracked with pain, she paints.There were two great accidents in her life. The first was when that streetcar hit her . . . but by far the worst was meeting him.Translated into English for the first time, Claire Berest's award-winning novel is a striking and lyrical fictional imagining of the vibrant life and tumultuous marriage of one of the world's most enigmatic and beloved artists: Frida Kahlo. Perfect for fans of The Artist, The Safekeep, Tracy Chevalier and Ali Smith.

'A breathtaking book confirming Claire Berest's inexhaustible talent as a storyteller' Elle'An astonishing thriller' LibérationSomething strange is happening in museums across Paris.A white horse appears in the library of the Pompidou Centre. Then stuffed wolves are displayed in a gallery, dressed in fine garments and drinking champagne.The authorities are baffled - particularly when investigations lead to suspended police officer Abel Bac. Since being dismissed for unknown reasons, Abel has been wandering the streets of Paris, haunted by a recurring nightmare and hoping to lose himself in the city.But following Abel leads to Mila, the mysterious artist at the heart of this enigma - and to a hidden darkness rising to the surface of the city.As soon becomes clear, nothing about this chain of events has been a coincidence...Translated by Sophie Lewis.'Terrific! Set in modern Paris, this literary thriller invigoratingly combines questions of identity, shenanigans in the art world, love and murder' MICHÈLE ROBERTS'Deliciously unique and unpredictable ... this novel blossoms like a poisonous flower' Le Journal du Dimanche

An atmospheric, exuberant novel about love and sex, art and revolution, experimentation and creativity from the best-selling author of The Postcard, Anne Berest, and her sister, the acclaimed novelist Claire Berest, based on the life of their great grandmother.  The year is 1908, the height of the Belle Epoque, and a brilliant, young French woman named Gabriële, newly graduated from the most elite music school in Europe, meets a volcanic Spanish artist named Francis. Following a whirlwind romance, they marry and fall headlong into a Paris that is experimenting with new forms of living, thinking, and creating. Soon after marrying Francis, Gabriële meets Marcel, another young artist, five years her junior. Soon, Francis, Marcel, and Gabriële are all three involved in a fervent affair that will change the course of art history and redefine the avant-garde. Surrealism, Dada, and Abstraction are among the new artistic practices and new ideas that emerge from this electric love triangle in the following decade, during which the Belle Epoque sours and the world descends into the devastation of World War I. Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp, and Gabriele Buffet—the protagonists of this brilliantly imagined “true novel”—are vividly reimagined by the Berests. Moving between Paris, New York, Berlin, Zurich, Barcelona, and Saint-Tropez, Gabriële is as audacious, uninhibited, and unforgettable as its central character, the mercurial, pioneering Gabriële Buffet.

'Terrific! Set in modern Paris, this literary thriller invigoratingly combines questions of identity, shenanigans in the art world, love and murder' MICHÈLE ROBERTS'A breathtaking book confirming Claire Berest's inexhaustible talent as a storyteller' Elle'Deliciously unique and unpredictable ... this novel blossoms like a poisonous flower' Le Journal du Dimanche'An astonishing thriller' LibérationAbel Bac, a police officer, has been suspended from duty for unknown reasons. Haunted by a recurring nightmare, he walks the streets of Paris hoping to lose himself in the city, but somehow, he always finds his way home. All that gives Abel comfort are the ninety-four orchids which populate his small apartment. In museums across Paris something strange is happening. A white horse appears in the library of the Pompidou Centre. Then stuffed wolves are displayed in a gallery, dressed in fine garments and drinking champagne. The police are baffled and Abel, who is somehow linked to it all, is becoming more and more unnerved. Soon, the hidden darkness of his life will rise to the surface and lead him to Mila, the mysterious artist at the heart of this enigma. And then he discovers that nothing about these events is coincidental . . .Translated by Sophie Lewis.