A Woman with No Clothes on [Hardcover]

VR Main plays with identity, examining the interplay between freely adopted roles and forced roles. Gender, class, ethnicity, age, nationality, sexuality, profession, etc. are all shown within the context of the 19th century Parisian art world. In doing this Main scrutinizes the paradoxes, the strengths and the impact of modernity and its aesthetics. Yet, despite such a subject matter Main's novel is not burdened by monological authorial intrusion; the narrative is not weighed down by the writer's instrumental purpose. Rather, each concern is unobtrusively melded to the story as a whole so that `A Woman with No Clothes On' is an impressively subtle work that encourages the reader to engage fully with its ideas.

As with all historical novels a lot of the author's onus is on capturing the time, people and place, which Main does with adept skill. From the violent absinthe selling bars and poverty stricken desperate to the extravagant lifestyles of the wealthy artistic elite there is always a sense of brutal authenticity; most pertinently of all is the realism with which Main shows the collision of these contrasting, concomitant worlds. In the characters too Main is superbly genuine; from the ambitious and complex protagonist Victorine to Manet and his companion Baudelaire. Victorine Meurent makes for a fascinating focus and is perfect for Main's thematic concerns.

If I have a criticism it is with the plot, which at certain points could do with more momentum. It is not a major complaint, but at intervals it felt like there could be more pushing the reader through the narrative. That it could be less laborious. However, the occasional intensity of the story considerably makes up for this minor fault. Main's novel may intermittently lack flow, but it has isolated scenes of extreme tension that are perfect managed.

The descriptive detailing particularly stood out. Main uses the perspective of two artists to give a painters view of the world. Scrutinizing and observant Victorine and Manet, who narrate different portions of the book in first person, reveal the similarities between the way a writer and a painter must examine their environments and reveal what they see through their art. Main uses this device frequently, evocatively and to great aesthetic impact; her protagonists always imagining how this detail or that character could be rendered in painting.

I would recommend `A Woman with No Clothes On' to anyone.

This is a curiously entertaining book. Curious because, for the first time, we see the Parisian art world from the perspective of a budding female artist, something unheard of in the high strata of Manet and his circle of Impressionists.

Initially, I was slightly put off by the method of telling the same story from the girl's view interspersed with Manet's own take on the situation. Once you come to terms with this, it works well.

Of course, the story itself is a work of fictional supposition but there is plenty of fact, making the life and times of Victorine Meurent seem real enough. That she goes on to become a successful, though not well-known artist in her own right, does not spoil the story. You know from the outset that this girl will stop at very little to achieve her goal. Her emotional side would indicate that she has, shall we say, a liberated lifestyle though certainly in real life she resolved that successfully also. That Manet plays no less a strong role in helping her achieve this is a credit to the way the author has portrayed the pair of them.

The novel does have one or two niggling proof-reading errors and it does move jerkily in parts but these minor issues should not prevent great enjoyment in the story itself.

If this is a debut novel, then maybe we can await further takes on what have been deemed, up to now, as supporting roles in the art world of 19th. century Paris - after all, there is plenty of subject matter just waiting to be unravelled.

I saw Manet's 'Déjeuner sur l'herbe' at the Musée d'Orsay on a trip to Paris a few years ago and was struck by the visual composition and the presence of a naked woman amongst three clothed men. Main's portrayal of Victorine as an artist in her own right as opposed to the traditional representation of her as a prostitute was truly insightful. The writing itself was lucid, controlled, intelligent. A very impressive first novel; I bought it for several friends this Christmas, two of whom have already finished.