Michael Saxton

SUZANNE
A novel of art, ambition and scandal in Belle Époque Paris

Painted by the great men of Paris, a teenage model secretly teaches herself to paint, determined to step out of the frame even as poverty, motherhood, and scandal conspire to push her back in..

Step into Belle Époque Paris

Suzanne follows a young Suzanne Valadon through the studios, cafés and scandals of Belle Époque Paris as she moves from model and muse to artist in her own right.Born into poverty and drawn into the orbit of painters, poets and performers, Suzanne learns by watching. While others paint her, she studies them: their technique, their ambition, their assumptions about women and art. But talent is only part of the struggle. Motherhood, desire, reputation and survival all threaten to pull her back into the frame others have made for her.Inspired by real lives and events, Suzanne is a work of historical fiction about the cost of becoming oneself.

  • Suzanne Valadon, c. 1890

  • Family Portrait (1912), painted by Suzanne, placing herself at the heart of her unconventional family, surrounded by her young lover Dédé, her mother Madeleine, and her son, the artist Maurice Utrillo.

  • The Future Unveiled (1912), The cartomancer’s cards spread: diamonds and hearts, luck and love laid out by Suzanne in quiet defiance of fate.

  • Black Venus (1919), the first representation of a non-primitivised black female nude in western art. Suzanne's painting has a title worthy of the model's beauty, her confidence, her strength.

  • Adam and Eve (1909), Suzanne's scandalous image of herself as Eve and her lover Dédé as Adam.

Also by Michael Saxton

ALL FRIENDSHIP BRINGS
Two boys. One dangerous friendship. A country on edge.

Set in September 1975, All Friendship Brings follows Giles Ashworth and Hugh Burton, two nine-year-old boys whose intense friendship unsettles the fragile order of a traditional English boarding school — just as the violence of the IRA’s mainland campaign draws terrifyingly close to one boy’s family.

A Carrd Template Made With ❤️By Zite

About The Author

Michael Saxton writes historical fiction inspired by real lives, private loyalties and the choices that shape a life.His first novel, All Friendship Brings, explores two families unexpectedly caught up in the IRA’s war on Britain. His second novel, Suzanne, follows Suzanne Valadon through the studios, cafés and scandals of Belle Époque Paris as she fights to become an artist in her own right.He lives in London.