The Flames set in Vienna by Sophie Haydock

Submitted: 11th March 2022

Flames of controversial artist Egon Schiele

This is impressive. For a debut, this is particularly impressive. A fictional tale torn from the real life pages of history. Just my kind of book. On top of the great story, characters and plot, there is some gorgeous writing and excellent scene setting. If this book were a cake I would EAT IT.

BookTrail the locations in The Flames

Boarding Pass Information : The Flames

Destination : Vienna

Author guide: Sophie Haydock

Genre: the world of controversial artist Egon Schiele

Food and drink to accompany: a cocktail and something artistic

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BookTrail the locations in The Flames

The book centres around the women who were muses of the artist Egon Schiele, a protege of Gustav Klimt, the artist who painted The Kiss. Egon is himself a controversial artist and his love for painting nude portraits leads to him becoming famous for all the wrong reasons. He is hounded and called every name under the sun. People judge him and the women he paints. Scandal follows him everywhere.

The novel cleverly doesn’t just look at him but in particulary at the women he painted.This is where Sophie Haydock has been particularly brilliantly clever. We meet four women in turn who speak and tell their story. Each one is unique, expertly drawn so they come to life both off the oage and the artist’s palette.

We have Adele and her sister Edith who are upper class. They spot Egon moving into the house opposite theirs and their fascination or is it obsession with him begins. Tragedy is just around the corner however and this was the thread I found the most interesting. The dynamic between the sisters and what happens when a man enters into their closed world.

BookTrail the locations in The Flames

Next we meet Egon’s sster Gertie who has a very controversial relationship with her brother. Then there’s Vally who in in a relationship with Egon for years and who is constantly by his side when others leave him. He avoids marrying her though and tends to keep her at arms length. At a time when marriage and women’s prospects were linked with men, this is hard to bear.

The title The Flames must surely refer to the inflammatory role this artist played in society at the time. It describes the women who are burnt by him, and scared. However it also looks the fire of unrequited love, of passion, betrayal and the inflamaotory way Schiele’s art lit up the art world.

This book made me go wow. I want to read more about this artist now and the author has written a lovely little guide at the end detailing more information about the man and his art. I love worlds where fact and fction mix and this is a great and atmospheric read.