In this supposedly 'fictional retelling' of Dora Maar's relationship with Pablo Picasso there doesn't appear to be much fiction (besides some made up dialogue, perhaps). It reads more like a biography. This is an observation, not a criticism per se. I'm just a little confused about the author's precise intent, since her narrative 'feels' like neither one thing or the other. That said, it reads well enough in terms of writing quality and style but, in this reader's mind at least, there is an uneasiness about what to believe and may or may not be based on Treger's research and what is downright invention.

Many thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for the ARC.

I was kindly gifted a copy of this novel via Netgalley thanks to the author herself.

I loved her previous book Madwoman so I was looking forward to seeing what Louisa had conjured up next.

This is a historical novel like no other.

Based on yet another remarkable woman in history, I found it absolutely fascinating.

Mixed in with the events of the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War, we follow Dora Maar as she navigates her way through a truly turbulent journey of love and life.

Dora's not so typical romance with Pablo Picasso was one that I found to be both passionate and disturbing all at the same time. This was a man that commanded attention and knew just how to manipulate both men and women to get what he wanted.

There were times throughout this tale that I simply wanted to shake Dora and make her see sense.

Her relationship with Pablo was volatile but strangely also necessary at times.

Emotional.

It was clear throughout that Dora was on a long journey of self discovery both for herself personally and for her career. If mental health was recognised back then like it is now then I'm sure Dora's path would have been completely different.

An intense read, I'm glad yet another woman in history that was overshadowed by a man gets another chance to be seen.