The Artist by Lucy Steeds

Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month for August 2025

Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025

Provence, 1920.

conditions that make her uncle’s artistic genius possible. Joseph, an aspiring journalist, has been invited to the house. He believes he’ll make his name by interviewing the reclusive painter, the great Edouard Tartuffe.

But everyone has their secrets. And, under the cover of darkness, Ettie has spent years cultivating hers.

Over this sweltering summer, everyone’s true colours will be revealed. Because Ettie is ready to be seen. Even if it means setting her world on fire.

An intoxicating tale of art, love and secrets set across a sun-drenched Provençal summer in 1920, Steeds’ masterly debut revolves around a fabled, reclusive painter, an aspiring British journalist set on penning a piece on him, and the artist’s seemingly unworldly niece Ettie who harbours an explosive secret.

Blending mystery and slow-burning romance with lush, cinematic prose and exquisite characterisation, The Artist is an absorbing study in monstrous egos, self-discovery and the power of art, filled with dextrous detail for the senses.

Hardback / 304 Pages