Title: Madame Matisse

Author: Sophie Haydock

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Doubleday

Publication Date: 6th March 2025

Rating: 4/5

Cover:

Summary:

This is the story of three women – one an orphan and refugee who finds a place in the studio of a famous French artist, the other a wife and mother who has stood by her husband for nearly forty years. The third is his daughter, caught in the crossfire between her mother and a father she adores.

Amelie is first drawn to Henri Matisse as a way of escaping the conventional life expected of her. A free spirit, she sees in this budding young artist a glorious future for them both. Ambitious and driven, she gives everything for her husband’s art, ploughing her own desires, her time, her money into sustaining them both, even through years of struggle and disappointment.

Lydia Delectorskaya is a young Russian emigree, who fled her homeland following the death of her mother. After a fractured childhood, she is trying to make a place for herself on France’s golden Riviera, amid the artists, film stars and dazzling elite. Eventually she finds employment with the Matisse family. From this point on, their lives are set on a collision course….

Marguerite is Matisse’s eldest daughter. When the life of her family implodes, she must find her own way to make her mark and to navigate divided loyalties.

Based on a true story, Madame Matisse is a stunning novel about drama and betrayal; emotion and sex; glamour and tragedy, all set in the hotbed of the 1930s art movement in France. In art, as in life, this a time when the rules were made to be broken…

Review:

I love stories set in the art world, especially those that bring to the forefront women who have been set aside, overlooked or forgotten. Madame Matisse looks at three women that are central to the life of Henri Matisse, one of the most famous artists of the early twentieth century. They all play a crucial part in his work and yet his is the name that art history primarily remembers. The narrative is split into three, one part for each woman – the wife, Amélie, the assistant, Lydia and the daughter, Marguerite. Each of them is very different, and yet in many ways they are inextricably linked together by their connection to the same man. Madame Matisse is a fictionalised version of the truth of these characters but feels incredibly well researched and sensitively written which I really appreciated throughout. As in many cases, the truth is often more dramatic and unexpected than fiction could ever be. This is a fascinating story and each of these women is utterly compelling in their own right. Madame Matisse is also beautifully evocative of time and place, with the 1930’s in particular coming to life perfectly. I’m an artist myself and consequently loved the artistic elements of this absorbing and elegant story of loyalty, betrayal, love, creativity and passion. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and art alike. 

★★★★

Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.

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