The Painted Kiss - by Elizabeth Hickey (Paperback)

About the Book

In the tradition of "The Girl with the Pearl Earring," a beautiful, atmospheric, and sensual debut re-imagines the tempestuous relationship between painter Gustav Klimt and Emilie Floege, the youngest daughter of a bourgeois businessman.

Book Synopsis

Gustav Klimt, one of the great painters of fin de siècle Austria--and the subject of the film Woman in Gold starring Helen Mirren--takes center stage in this passionate and atmospheric historical novel, which reimagines the tumultuous relationship between the Viennese painter and Emilie Flöge, the woman who posed for his masterpiece The Kiss, and whose name he uttered with his dying breath.

Vienna in 1886 was a city of elegant cafés, grand opera houses, and a thriving and adventurous artistic community. It is here where the twelve-year-old Emilie meets the controversial libertine and painter. Hired by her bourgeois father for basic drawing lessons, Klimt introduces Emilie to a subculture of dissolute artists, wanton models, and decadent patrons that both terrifies and inspires her. The Painted Kiss follows Emilie as she blossoms from a naïve young girl to one of Europe's most exclusive couturiers--and Klimt's most beloved model and mistress. A provocative love story that brings to life Vienna's cultural milieu, The Painted Kiss is as compelling as a work by Klimt himself.

Review Quotes

"[A] decorous...investigation of art and artifice...The Painted Kiss throws [the Klimt] mystery into stark relief."

-- The New York Times

"[R]ichly atmospheric and haunting."

-- Lauren Belfer, author of City of Light

"A graceful imagining."

-- Kirkus Reviews

"Hickey's language is sensual, lush, and unhurried...[an] expressively written debut."

-- Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Elizabeth Hickey is the author of The Painted Kiss. She earned an MFA from Columbia University and lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and son.