Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for this free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have to admit I requested this book solely because of the cover; I read this book as pure fiction, I know the author took liberties, I didn't know how much was the truth or close to the truth until I took it upon myself to furiously google the people in this book. Luckily Sophie Haydock tells you herself all the things she added in the end. I really appreciated that and I have a new appreciation for these people who I had no idea existed before reading this book... Not the artist, not the artwork and certainly not the muses.

What Sophie does with this debut book truly is beautiful. Written through the eyes of the women affected and used by an idealistic artist you see the women who lived outside the confines of those drawings. In the end, this book does leave you sad for lives cut short and the knowledge that we just won't ever truly know how these women truly felt but at least they will never be forgotten.

The models of great artists are seldom known or remembered but this book uses what is known about 4 of schiele’s models and weaves it into a fascinating story of love and obsession

‘Under all those layers of the artist’s pencil and paint are wild, blazing hearts, longing to be known’.

The Flames is Sophie Haydock’s debut novel, for which she won the Impress Prize for New Writers. It’s easy to see why - this is highly readable, accomplished and well-researched. It is a reimagining of four real women who were muses for the Austrian Expressionist artist Egon Schiele, in early 20th century Vienna.

Each woman’s story is brought to life in a separate section covering a different, sometimes overlapping, period of the artist’s life. The sections are framed by moving interludes set in 1968. The structure works well, giving the reader time to invest in the detail of each story, while pulling it all together into one picture.

Although Schiele is the driving force that the women have in common, this is very much their stories. Their inner passions and individual spirits shine out from the pages, as strongly as from the artist’s paintings of them. I was fascinated by the author’s exploration of their different relationships to posing and their engagement with the external gaze, both of the artist and that of the viewer. Schiele’s fiery sister Gertrude feels a ‘stabbing desire’ for him ‘to record how her body transforms itself across time’. Reckless Adele ‘wants to be preserved, held for eternity’, while her determined but guarded sister Edith moves from feeling ‘forgettable, impermanent’ to believing that ‘she will be remembered’. Impoverished and independent Vally wants to be ‘nobody’s muse but her own’, yet feels powerful while posing.

I loved discovering the stories of these strong and passionate women. In her evocative, often heart-breaking, novel, Sophie Haydock gives voice to the images hanging on the gallery wall. Recommended.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers.

The Flames refers to the four women who each played a major role in the life of the early 20th century Austrian Expressionist artist, Egon Schiele, a protege of Gustav Klimt.

When Eve accidentally cycles into an elderly lady, Adele Harms, she learns that, as a young woman, Adele once knew Schiele while growing up in Vienna. She harboured a crush on him, but her love remained unrequited. As the narrative progresses we are introduced to Adele's sister, Edith. The other two women are Schiele's own possessive sister, Gertrude, and one of his models, Vally.

Sophie Haydock creates a vivid impression of Vienna just before the First World War as well as events that affected the characters during the war itself. It is obvious that a lot of research has gone into this story but this is handled lightly. I've always liked Schiele's art and this book makes me admire it even more. The Flames is a compelling read and gives an insight into Schiele himself as well as the women who loved him. The only weak spot for me was the book ended sections in the present day with Eve. Many thanks to NetGalley and Transworld/Random House UK for the opportunity to read and review it.

The Flames was an engaging and emotional read which I believe will stand the test of time.

The book begins when Eve has a bicycle accident crashing into an elderly woman. We are taken back to 1912 when Adele was a young woman. It was interesting to follow her relationship with her sister, Edith through times of unconditional love, jealousy and hatred. I was so engrossed in Adele's story, that I was disappointed to find the author changed perspective. However, as the story progressed it was clear why she had done this. Each of these women deserved to have their story told.

The artist, Egon Schiele, is the link to each woman. Adele and Edith Harms, Gertrude (his sister) and Vally (one of his models) The author does a great job of showing details of the same events through different eyes. I thought the intimate scenes were sensitively handled, although one description did make me smile. The final chapters had me in tears, as I had become so attached to the characters and invested in their story.

The details were authentic in relation to the war and attitudes towards class at the time. I noted the reference to Gustav Klimt as the artist's mentor but I thought the novel was fictional until I saw the notes at the end. This gives me even more respect for the author since she has obviously spent time researching historical facts. The inclusion of the paintings is a nice touch. I felt compelled to research the artist and his work and I'm sure others will do the same.

I would highly recommend this read and will look out for more work by the author.

Thanks indeed to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The life and times of disposable artists’ muses and Egon Schiele. 3.5 rating, raised

I both appreciated – and at times felt frustrated by – Sophie Haydock’s The Flames, which imagines the thoughts, feelings and personalities of 4 women who were models and even muses for the Austrian Expressionist artist Egon Schiele. Haydock has taken the known life events of the 4 – the two sisters Adele and Edith Harms, from a well to do family, Walburga Neuzil, (Wally, or, as pronounced, Vally) l, was a poor young woman, with not many opportunities to earn a living, and Gertrude Schiele, younger sister of the artist

I appreciated the book for the way Haydock put flesh onto the bare bones of what is known about these women’s lives, and for the fact that it gives the reader much to think about, and to contrast the fame of the male artist and his gaze, with the women gazed upon, but often unremembered and unrecorded outside the ‘fame’ given to their faces, not to mention, particularly in the case of Schiele, parts which might otherwise be more private

I was however frustrated by various ‘gaps’ in real (or imagined) events where there are questions the reader wants answered.

For example, the oldest Harms sister, dying impoverished and unmarried in the late sixties, but buried in Schiele’s own plot, though without any headstone identification. An event transpires where, as a young woman, she is sexually assaulted at a party but this is never really explored further, except that she and her sister seem to find some amusement. Her sister Edith fortuitously appears to prevent what looked as if it could be rape about to happen.

And then, even more inexplicably omitted. Haydock imagines quite serious mental and emotional instability for Adele, who is strongly attracted to the artist. The sisters parents are vehemently opposed to any social or other connection with Schiele, who, though of growing painterly fame was also hounded out of a couple of places where he lived as his work was judged pornographic. Despite this, there is apparent acquiescence and even celebration when Schiele proposes to Edith. The shift in parental viewpoint is never really satisfactorily dealt with

I found myself most engaged with Vally’s story : she stood by Schiele for several years, and must have been a woman quite strong and determined in character, given some of the known facts. Though she figures in more of the paintings than others, she is summarily dismissed, when Schiele made his somewhat advantageous marriage to Edith. Vally went off and trained as a nurse in the First World War, dying young. She was only 20 or 21 when she was let go as ‘muse’

And then, particularly for a modern reader, there is the unsettled fact of Gertrude, Schiele’s younger sister. The last of the ‘muses’ to die, aged 86, in 1981, she had married another artist, a friend of Schiele’s Anton Peschka. In her early young womanhood she posed nude for her brother, and, apparently, late in life, in conversation with a Schiele scholar, said that their relationship had at times, crossed a line

Final muse, the woman he married, Edith, who was also pulled into being displayed for public view. Edith died in pregnancy, closely followed by Scheile himself, in that post First World War, virulent twentieth century pandamic, the Spanish Flu

I was not really taken by the bookend device of a completely imaginary woman, Eva, who accidentally crashes into Adele a few days before her death, and ‘hears’ some of Adele’s story, part of which mirrors something in her own life. This felt (as it inevitably was) to obviously plotty.

Nonetheless, I was absorbed in the lives of these four women, as imagined by Haydock, from the scant biographical evidence and what appears to suggest itself from the known canvases of each, as model.

I was pleased to have been offered this, and read it, as a digital arc from the publishers, Transworld/Penguin, via NetGalley

This historical tale is based primarily in WW1 Vienna and centers around the 4 muses of artist Egon Schiele, who was a protégée of Gustav Klimt. The book is made up of 4 sections, each from the different perspective of each woman; the artist's wife Edith, her sister Adele, his sister Gerti and his primary model Valle. Overall a good read and a good writing style. As often happens with multiple protagonist books I connected better with some characters than others and at parts I found it hard to keep my concentration, especially in Gerti's story. I liked that it was largely based in fact and how the author took creative licence to bring a story to these historical figures and fill in the blanks. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book.

Egon Schiele’s art has attracted every sort of reaction. In his short life he created a unique style, completely different from anything else at the time. His life seems to have been led with an uncompromising attitude to mores, and to everyone around him. This book explores the obsessive nature of his personality, art, and his models.

It’s an ambitious project, to breathe life into these women, so badly treated by society or war or illness. Ms Haydock manages to do this, as well as portray two different time settings, while giving them the agency usually denied models, mistresses and wives.

As other reviewers have said, you need to have patience to let the book settle in to its own rhythm, to make sense of the characters. Schiele himself is a complex, manipulative, attractive, driven character and seems pretty true to life.

I found this fascinating. I knew so little about Egon Shiele, let alone the controversary around his art, which I can understand considering the times in which he was working. I loved that it was told from the point of view of his sitters, each one tragic in their own way.

I have thought about this book after reading it, which is unusual for me, but shows how much these women's stories touched me. It maybe helps that I visited Vienna a few years ago and saw Schiele's art and I remember reading a little about his models at the time, thinking that it must have been an amazing time as he was such a 'modern' artist in so many ways and so talented. This puts more flesh on the bones of that and I was entranced, I have to say. The women's stories overlap and start in different places, so you hardly realise what the timeline is at times, then suddenly realise that some things happened concurrently. I had to go and look at some of the paintings and drawings online as there are very few in the book, but the women shine through them all. I don't want to say what happens in the end, but anyone who knows about the artist will probably know. Having said that, you don't especially have to have an interest in Vienna, Art or painting to enjoy the story of complicated relationships. This rescues and reinstates the women at the heart of the story and I must say the insight into what it was like to be a woman in those times really struck me. Anyway, I loved it and I will recommend it to others.

Unfortunately, I find myself unable to fully get into The Flames. I find it rather fluffy and without deeper richness, despite the subject matter. There are some wonderful descriptions of Vienna, the Opera, clothes etc., but I didn't feel I was engaging with it on any deep level. I suppose I was expecting a book about Schiele to be a bit more gritty. that there would be more conflict. Of course, there is conflict when the 'event' occurs, but this event comes out of the blue - yes, I know it's meant to be a surprise but the protagonists haven't even been seen to meet for a year! Also parents etc who were antagonistic suddenly became accepting without any reason being given for their change of heart. It was at this point that I lost patience.

Now, I hate giving books bad reveiws, and others seem to love it. So I will try again in a week or two and see if my mood is different. For the moment 3 stars.

Fans of Tracy Chevalier and Laura Vaughan will enjoy this read. Mainly set in Vienna in the early 1900s filled with muses, betrayal, love, and lust, I absolutely loved the art and history woven throughout the book and the way the author brought the characters to life. It is a fantastic way to bring added depth to art and I look forward to reading more of Haydock’s work.

I love books about women who have throughout history become a footnote despite, for example, being the subjects of famous works of art. In her debut novel Haydock brings to life Adele, Gertrude, Vally, and Edith, the four women who have inspired and modelled some of Egon Schiele''s most famous works, and through them we pice together Schiele's life.

Haydock has a very easy to read writing style which, combined with a compelling story, meant I finished the book in three sittings. I did, however, have a hard time getting into the book. I thought the opening scene was brilliant, hooking me immediately, but as soon as we got to Adele's flashback, I was struggling to connect with both the characters and the book. There are many time jumps, not just between chapters but also between scenes, and it's especially noticeable at the start with Adele and Gertrude's perspectives. It made the narrative feel stunted. The time jumps between chapters do start to make sense later on as the story evolves and we put together Schiele's timeline through the different women's perspectives and experiences, however within the chapters I felt that the scenes could be expanded upon and even connected by including more background and insight into the characters and setting.

Which brings me to the second thing that made it harder for me to connect with the book. I felt the start was very plot-driven with very little introspection. For example, at one point, a man grabs Adele's arm, preventing her from leaving, and although she says something angrily to him, two sentences later, it's like nothing happened to her. This lack of introspection continued throughout Gertrude's perspective as well, but thankfully by the time we reached Vally, the narrative does start to include her (and later Edith's) thoughts and reactions to the events happening to and around them. I am very much a lover of character driven books, so I am aware that this is more of a personal preference rather than a comment on the book itself.

What I enjoyed most about the book is the interconnectedness between the women -how each was affected by the other women's presence and influence on Schiele. However, with the exception of Adele and Edith (who are sisters), we don't really see much interaction between the women when their presence in Schiele's life overlapped, which I thought was a shame. It would have brought a richness to the story beyond just learning about how the women felt about one another from a distance.

All of the above notwithstanding, and as a massive credit to Haydock's writing, I really enjoyed this book. It was reminiscent in some way of the Song of Achilles, especially because I found myself staring into space while I processed the ending (not the epilogue, even though I loved how that tied everything up nicely, but the end to Schiele's section). My heart ached for the characters though I was comforted knowing that Adele got some closure.

Many thanks to NetGally, and especially Random House U.K., Transworld, Doubleday for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Final Rating: 3.5⭐️

I enjoyed this book much more than I had expected to. It centres around the four women who quite literally made the artist. Usually I find that you learn little about those depicted in art but this gives the women life and how interesting it was. Based on real people but beautifully filled out to make the novel readable.

I very much enjoyed this, being only a fringe fan of the artist's work and not at all educated about his life aside from the Klimt association. Muses can be forgotten, discarded once inspiration has struck so I appreciated the author's notes on returning agency to women brushed aside in the face of genius. I was moved that despite being a work of fiction the ideas are clearly a passion project as well, with even an initiative to purchase a posthumous headstone for Adele Harms, sitter for arguably one of the best known and loved Schiele work.

I was drawn in from the beginning of this story, beginning with Adele in her old age and going back in time several times to the early lives of Egor, Geraldine, Vally and Edith. All of the characters were strongly portrayed and the background of each and how their lives entwined was well plotted. I was intrigued to find the inclusion of Gustav Klimt in the narrative as he is one of my favorite artists, but I was even more surprised to find that the other characters were based on real people. The author's writing style is accomplished for a debut novel, and flows well. I may even read this again, which is unusual for me. (So many books, so little time!)

An interestingly embellished story of the women in the artist egon schieles life. From his early childhood through to his lovers, marriage, models and untimely death. An accumulation of research of the artist and embellishment of the times he lived in. How he developed a style that was both controversial and sometimes considered obscene, and how the women in his life interacted with him and his unique take on his portraits of them.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this.

In short - I absolutely loved this book! It follows four of the women attached to Egon Schiele - or, as I should maybe say, four of the women who made him. I knew next to nothing of Schiele before this book, but it's completely ignited me with a passion to learn more and, mostly, go and see some of his work in person!

Sophie brilliantly and powerfully imagines the stories as told by the women, for once. The book is split into 4 sections - Adele, Gertrude, Vally, and Edith - and masterfully time-hops between them. It's an excellent call to arms to always look beneath the surface, and really think about the portraits we see and who they portray. If you're worried that writing about art could possibly be stuffy or pretentious, you've no need to worry: Sophie's prose and characters burst with life, and the energy fizzes off the page.

As the kind of person who always goes onto google how much is fact and how much is fiction - whether it a book or on TV - I also really loved the author's notes afterwards, explaining her inspiration for the book, and which elements are fact and which were fiction.

I always like books based on real people and events even if there is a lot of filling in of details. This is a very readable account of four women who are the muses for a charismatic man.

This novel transports you to Vienna at the start of the 20th century, the city being a cultural hub, a city of music and art especially the innovative art of Gustav Klimt. It’s centres around Klimt’s scandalous and shocking protégée Egon Shiele whose art at this time is regarded as pornographic. It’s divided into four parts for the four women who are at various times his flames or Muses. It starts with Adele Harms who regards Egon with eyes full of longing, then a jealous and deluded eye. Secondly, his sister Gertrude Shiele, whose portraits show her as coquettish but also defiant. Thirdly, Vally (Walburga) Neuzil whose portraits demonstrate a distinct air of challenge and intelligence but are also mournful in tone. Finally, Edith Harms whom Egon marries and she is portrayed as sweet but also seems uncomfortable. If you look at her portraits you could understand why! How does Egon emerge from this? I think I’d suggest not that well! Certainly no one escapes an encounter with him unscathed.

This is a debut novel and I really like the way the author weaves fact with fiction to bring these characters to life. I especially enjoyed the way she explores the potential dynamics between the flames/muses to create a fascinating narrative throughout. The triangle between Egon and the two sisters is especially intriguing but also how Vally fits into the jigsaw. The one that especially fascinates me is the relationship between Egon and Gertrude and here you learn much about the man.

Throughout it all these dynamics create flames but also there are external flames you cannot control. For example, flames of inspiration and talent, of fame and infamy passion, jealousy and so on. The external flames are of war and destruction and slightly later the encroaching flames of a devastating pandemic.

Vienna at the start of the book is described beautifully with all its magnificent opulence. The theatricality, extravagance, the glitz and glamour of the dying embers of the Hapsburg empire. The contrast by 1918 is a stark one and impacts all the characters and in most cases disastrously.

The quality of the writing is very good, in places it’s almost sensual as you might expect given the nature of Shiele’s work but the author cleverly changes the tone to suit the four very different women and how they interact with him and impact on his life.

I enjoyed this book very much as it’s very different. I knew a bit about Egon Schiele and his art but it’s neither necessary to know of him or know anything about art as this is a portrait of human beings, of human nature and their various interactions. A very impressive debut.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House U.K., Transworld, Doubleday for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.