Title: The Lady and the Unicorn
Author: Tracy Chevalier
Time/Place: France, 1490-2
Teaser: ‘The messenger said that I was to come at once. That’s how Jean le Viste is – he expects everyone to do what he says immediately.’
Summary: Commissioned to paint tapestry designs depicting a battle for nobleman, artist Nicolas is enchanted by the man’s wild daughter Claude and instead creates scenes of fantasy and seduction. The family of Brussels weavers hired to complete the work are drawn a complex tableau of desire alongside him in a story of ambition and forbidden love.
My Thoughts:
I picked this book up not long after reading Burning Bright, as Chevalier’s fluid style interested me and I hadn’t read much set in the fifteenth century that didn’t involve a battlefield.
The history: The 1400s are era I always find strange, partly because they’re a gap in my own knowledge, and partly because it’s an in-between time, before the Tudors and after the plague, sitting awkwardly at the end of the middle ages. I especially don’t know much about the period outside of England, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. Chevalier presents an atmospheric two-year snapshot of urban and rural living, which is not nearly as bustling as it is today and works well with her small number of tight-knit characters. Although I didn’t learn much about the worldly events of the late 1400s, I got a fantastic feel for the views on religion, art and business that shaped everyday French life. This was also the first Chevalier work I read that truly honed in on a piece of art – although Burning Bright touches on William Blake’s illustrated writing, Nicolas’s tapestry is in much greater focus, and the exploration of the unusual ‘Lady and the Unicorn’ work is an interesting lens for the past. Chevalier has a skilled way of pairing history and art so that they feed off and inform each other, and although I started the book without having much thought about how a tapestry was commissioned, designed and weaved in this era, I certainly didn’t finish that way.
The story: The Lady and the Unicorn feels much more mature than Burning Bright, though some of its narrators are young – the plot is tightened by its artistic focus, and is less meandering than the mystery of Burning Bright. If you’re looking for something action-packed then this probably isn’t for you, but Chevalier has a way of making a story with very little traditional plot a fascinating read, and I always wanted to turn the next page. Themes of jealously, money and passion add tension to the historical atmosphere in an exploration of human desire – for art, for each other, for power – and although I’m not a big fan of romance, the relationships are often painful and twisted, far from sweet or modern. The narration is definitely the highlight, with distinct and engaging voices that run almost into monologues. Chevalier’s strength is usually in her characters, and here she makes people into an artform to be viewed by a reader almost as much as ‘The Lady and the Unicorn’ tapestry. There are several different points of view, but spaced them widely apart, so that some narrators don’t take up the story more than once or twice in a short work. This has an interesting effect, almost like the weaving of a tapestry in itself – you never see the whole picture until it is complete.
My favourite character was Christine, the weaver’s wife. Although all the perspectives are skillful and engaging, hers spoke to me as one of the most earthly and practical.
Recommended: For people who like multiple first-person narration, as it’s done extremely well here. Also for anyone who wants a quick read that keeps its historical detail – this book is short, but it packs a punch.
My Rating: 4/5
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