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Boyd is brilliant at evoking historical settings and this picaresque novel is similar to some of his other books in some ways such as the main character’s romantic entanglements and European settings.
Romantic by William Boyd | Goodreads The Romantic by William Boyd | Goodreads
Had any other writer come up with The Romantic, it might be called a magnum opus , but longstanding admirers of Boyd have come to expect, and delight in, his generous, maximalist approach to both storyline and character. So perhaps it is inevitable that his prose, usually so elegant, occasionally tips over into overripe melodrama. It is understandable that Ross, discovering his true paternity, might curse his real mother as “you whore from hell”, but few writers could get away with a sentence such as the one that has his protagonist vowing to “ruin Shay Corcoran utterly, rescue [my] daughters from his evil influence, and marry Fannie Broome”. Finally the influence of Cézanne is considered on a number of British artists, with Roger Fry having appreciated in 1906 an artist “whose work fully satisfied his demand for an architectonic sense of underlying design.”
We made our way up to the piano nobile where LB greeted us. He is quite short and, not to put too fine a point on it, very plump. His face is plump, his hands are plump, his fingers are plump. Hair receding, also. He introduced us to his mistress, Contessa Guiccioli, very young, 18–20, I’d say, who matches her paramour in plumpness but, however, is very beautiful with it, speaking hardly a word of English but, looking at her very ample figure, let’s say its noticeable prominences, it is not her anglophony that explains her attraction to LB, I would venture. The fictional biography is my favourite genre. I suppose that's why I somewhat surprisingly enjoyed reading Daniel Defoe. And it's good to see the genre is now getting some popular traction; The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a whole life novel. But the first modern example I read was Boyd's Any Human Heart, a book which must be in my lifetime top ten. If I hadn't been so excited about Boyd writing another, set this time in the 19th century, I wouldn't be so disappointed now. If there is a flaw it lies in the author being primarily a biographer of art (Roger Fry, Vanessa Bell, John Minton, Duncan Grant, Gwen Raverat and the Pipers have all been covered by her in the past) so the image of the era is 'coloured' by an anecdotal approach which does not always enlighten. All biography is fiction, but fiction that has to fit the documented facts.’ - Donald Rayfield, Anton Chekhov: A Life.
The Real and the Romantic: English Art Between - Waterstones The Real and the Romantic: English Art Between - Waterstones
Spalding brings new insights to familiar names … a layering and interweaving of ideas bring increasing depth and nuance to our understanding … alongside the revision and expansion of art historical narratives of the period, precisely what you expect from a writer of Spalding’s calibre, come nuggets of fascinating detail' The 21st century has seen a surge of interest in English art of the interwar years. Women artists, such as Winifred Knights, Frances Hodgkins and Evelyn Dunbar, have come to the fore, while familiar names – Paul Nash, Eric Ravilious and Stanley Spencer – have reached new audiences. High-profile exhibitions have attracted recordbreaking visitor numbers and challenged received opinion. In The Real and the Romantic, Frances Spalding, one of Britain’s leading art historians and critics, takes a fresh and timely look at this rich period in English art. Cashel’s relationships with women tend to be interrupted by either his roving nature or his impetuosity. But there is one woman in particular with whom he becomes so besotted that their eventual parting becomes something that forever haunts him. This is a key theme that becomes a focus of his thoughts and actions as he reaches an age where he increasingly starts to reflect on his life. Can he eventually find happiness, or at least closure? This becomes something that I found had an emotional impact on me as I neared the end of this tale. I’d enjoyed it to this point but now I was somewhat obsessed about knowing how this would all conclude. Boyd spent eight years in academia, during which time his first film, Good and Bad at Games, was made. When he was offered a college lecturership, which would mean spending more time teaching, he was forced to choose between teaching and writing.The Romantic is one of the books on the longlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2023 but it had been on my RADAR long before that. The Romantic has been compared by other readers to one of William Boyd’s earlier books, Any Human Heart, which is also a ‘whole life’ story, albeit set in a different period. I haven’t read that book although it is on my virtual TBR pile. Engaging and illuminating … a perfect aid to those interested in the influences, painting methods and lives of well-known artists, but also anyone who wishes to discover less famous artists working in a variety of styles'
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