The Artist (A Debut Novel) by Lucy Steeds

📖 Read:   July 2026

Chosen by: Alison

Discussed:   Wednesday 29th July 2026

Our book club's July read was The Artist, the award-winning debut novel by Lucy Steeds. Set in the sun-drenched landscape of 1920s Provence, this historical novel seemed the perfect choice for the glorious hot, balmy weather we were enjoying in Yorkshire. Rich in atmosphere and beautifully observed, it transported us to a world of art, ambition and hidden secrets, making it an ideal summer read. But did it live up to our expectations?

To Read or Not to Read reviews:

Angela

The Artist is a beautifully written debut novel.  You can really feel the claustrophobic heat of a summer in the French countryside, smell the stench of the rotting food, imagine the colours and textures of the paintings.

The Artist is for me a novel about two young people struggling in isolation, loneliness and grief.  Joseph’s grief is for a brother ‘lost’ in war, and Ettie’s grief is for a mother ‘lost’ in a secretive past.

The novel starts with Joseph seemingly as the main character, but this perspective changes as the story unfolds, and Ettie becomes the central character.  This gradual change matches the slow burn pacing of the novel.  A little too slow burn in the middle of the novel, in my humble opinion.

The aftermath of the Great War really grounds Joseph as a character, whilst the mysterious nature of Ettie adds to the intrigue of her character, and to the suspenseful nature of the novel.  It is a page turner.

Whilst on an obvious level this is a novel about a romance between the two, it is more to me a novel about female freedom and in this way was very reminiscent of many of our other reads:  By Any Other Name, The Names, Butter, Lessons in Chemistry.

In this novel, Ettie finds her freedom through art and it is her art which allows her to escape from her Uncle and the love-hate relationship they had with each other.

She essentially escapes by allowing herself to be creative.  At the end of the novel it is this creativity that gives her the life as an artist, and her love, Joseph, that she yearned.

For Joseph, his love for Ettie enables him to heal from the horrors of the Great War and to finally move forward.

Heather (reviewed whilst on holiday in South West France, in 42 degrees heat)

I really enjoyed this debut novel.  It was a fabulous sensory read.  I could feel the heat of the Provencal summer through the pages as well as actually being sat in it!

The descriptions of the food and paintings were so real you could picture and almost smell everything.  

It was interesting only hearing the voices of Joseph and Ettie and not Tata.  At times I did want to know why he acted like he did, as I felt it was more than just his experience with his sister.  

I loved the character of Ettie and she showed how you can be more than just your upbringing and your experiences.  Despite being stuck in one place she was very mature.  I really felt for her when she was describing how she had never been touched.  

A great book for the summer - fabulous choice.

Conclusion

These reviews echoed the sentiments of all the bookclub group - a good read and lush descriptions set in a heat drenched landscape.  A story that is full of sound, light, flavour, colour and temperature, evoking all the senses.