Three delightful stories inspired by a painting of Henri Matisse—from the Booker Prize-winning author of Possession and “a writer of dazzling inventiveness" (Time).
"[An] exquisite triptych.... Richly drawn and touches upon things that matter to people." —People
These stories celebrate the eye even as they reveal its unexpected proximity to the heart. For if each of A.S. Byatt's narratives is in some way inspired by a painting of Henri Matisse, each is also about the intimate connection between seeing and feeling—about the ways in which a glance we meant to be casual may suddenly call forth the deepest reserves of our being. Beautifully written, intensely observed, The Matisse Stories is fiction of spellbinding authority.
"Full of delight and humor.... The Matisse Stories is studded with brilliantly apt images and a fine sense for subtleties of conversation and emotion." —San Francisco Chronicle
"An elegant collection [filled with] richly resonant prose, which evokes the look and feel of bodies and paintings.... Luminous." —The New York Times Book Review
"A. S. Byatt's three-tale sequence hits the imagination's retina with all the vibrant splatter of an exploding paintbox.... Everywhere, scenes sizzle with chromatic intensity." —Sunday Times
"Full of delight and humor ... The Matisse Stories is studded with brilliantly apt images and a fine sense for subtleties of conversation and emotion." —San Francisco Chronicle
"A writer of dazzling inventiveness." —Time
"Brilliant... Byatt's fiction, like Matisse's art, pays close attention to colours and contours of surfaces, then probes beneath them to reveal further suprises." —Newsday
"Exquisite triptych... The Matisse Stories is richly drawn and touches upon things that matter to people." —People
Three delightful stories inspired by a painting of Henri Matisse—from the Booker Prize-winning author of Possession and “a writer of dazzling inventiveness" (Time).
"[An] exquisite triptych.... Richly drawn and touches upon things that matter to people." —People
These stories celebrate the eye even as they reveal its unexpected proximity to the heart. For if each of A.S. Byatt's narratives is in some way inspired by a painting of Henri Matisse, each is also about the intimate connection between seeing and feeling—about the ways in which a glance we meant to be casual may suddenly call forth the deepest reserves of our being. Beautifully written, intensely observed, The Matisse Stories is fiction of spellbinding authority.
"Full of delight and humor.... The Matisse Stories is studded with brilliantly apt images and a fine sense for subtleties of conversation and emotion." —San Francisco Chronicle
Praise
"An elegant collection [filled with] richly resonant prose, which evokes the look and feel of bodies and paintings.... Luminous." —The New York Times Book Review
"A. S. Byatt's three-tale sequence hits the imagination's retina with all the vibrant splatter of an exploding paintbox.... Everywhere, scenes sizzle with chromatic intensity." —Sunday Times
"Full of delight and humor ... The Matisse Stories is studded with brilliantly apt images and a fine sense for subtleties of conversation and emotion." —San Francisco Chronicle
"A writer of dazzling inventiveness." —Time
"Brilliant... Byatt's fiction, like Matisse's art, pays close attention to colours and contours of surfaces, then probes beneath them to reveal further suprises." —Newsday
"Exquisite triptych... The Matisse Stories is richly drawn and touches upon things that matter to people." —People
