Book Review: L’Origine

Jan 27

Since the curfew still looms over us and topics for interesting blog entries are elusive, I have agreed to, upon occasion, review books involving French themes for France Book Tours. The first novel is an historical work based on a controversial painting by Gustave Courbet. I will be honest in assessing the merits of any book I am asked to review. L’Origine is unusual in that the story focuses on a famous work of art rather than a central character and the scene is played out over many decades. More information is available at francebooktours.com. I received a copy of the book from the publisher and I will receive no compensation for the comments, which are entirely my own.

I also remind you that my second collection, Thinking Just Thinking is available in both Kindle and paperback at Amazon and Amazon.fr.

BOOK REVIEW: L’ORIGINE

The first novel of Lilianne Milgrom, L’Origine, is a sweeping historical enterprise tracing the life of the main character, an erotic painting by Gustave Courbet, a controversial figure in the Parisian nineteenth century art scene. Characters, some historical others fictional, appear, assume significant roles and then fade as the decades quickly roll by. The background of the novel itself can best be described as the society of artists and their patrons in the ever changing landscape of Paris during the city’s evolution.

The author assumes the role in the prologue of both narrator and main character. An accomplished artist herself, she traces the development from mild curiosity to consumed passion as a copyist of the erotic masterpiece which hangs in the D’Orsay Museum in Paris. The painting features not the traditional nude female depiction, but rather Courbet’s interpretation, that the female sex organ should be the entire focus of study. He therefore presents only the bare torso with previously unheard of detail. The author’s fascination with the work itself and the controversial subject is a precursor to the reaction of those who view it, study it in detail or possess it throughout its existence. Personally, The Kiss in the Rodin Museum in Paris elicited such a reaction and became the foundation of my first foray into writing a novel. The passion flowing from cold stone captures the love affair between Paolo and Francesca and is both beautiful and stimulating. I find a statue of the whole woman much more sensuous than the painting of the vagina in isolation from the whole. It is not repulsive, just needs the other critical parts to be scintillating.

Of the dozens of characters who appear in critical roles within the saga’s vast timeframe, Courbet himself is the most difficult to feel attachment to. He is cold and manipulative. His creative genius and strong personality draw many into his circle of admirers. As his reputation and influence grow, he becomes an outspoken critic of governmental policies and his fall is humiliating. It’s difficult to sympathize with his undoing; one feels it’s almost poetic justice.

Another character who emerges during the tumultuous era of the mid twentieth century is Ferenc, a shrewd Hungarian Jewish collector who must sacrifice to protect the painting from the Nazis. If it weren’t for his heroic acts to prevent the painting from falling into Nazi hands, it would be difficult to sympathize with his plight. The brutality of the Nazi soldiers causes a warming toward his endeavors and he wins over the reader’s loyalty as he risks much to regain possession from the Russians after the fall of Germany.

Ironically, the character who draws the most favorable reaction is a woman, Sylvia, a former budding starlet whose career was short circuited by the Nazi invasion of France. The story follows her steadfast dedication to her husband and to the secret of the L’Origine. Her great strength is apparent in dealing with her husband’s notoriety and his philandering and the dogged protection of the painting. Upon his death Sylvia is approached about lending the picture for display in the United States. “The timing of Ms. Nochlin’s request was uncanny. Sylvia liked the idea of involving women in L’Origine’s future-the painting really belonged to women rather than the handful of male collectors who had selfishly kept it for themselves. After living with the painting for thirty years, Sylvia was eager to hear fresh impressions and interpretations.” Her belief that the painting deserved to be displayed resulted in its prominent place in the D’Orsay.

In a final chapter of the tale, a young woman stages a demonstration in front of the painting by baring her sex organ in the manner painted decades earlier by Courbet. A crowd forms to witness the event. This manipulative gesture served a purpose much different than the artist’s original plan. He wished to honor women through L’Origine not too politicize it. Hers was merely a cheap stunt for notoriety.

The novel is definitely worth a read. I personally enjoyed it from the perspective of the history it represents, Paris from the eighteenth century to the present. Other readers certainly might find the sociological or psychological elements of the book fascinating. Enhanced by the backdrop of Parisian life, the characters, though never the full focus of the author, are a fascinating lot. I found it interesting that the only museum visitors enraged by the painting were American. Must have been right wing religious zealots from Arkansas.

Lilianne Milgrom
on Tour
January 18-19
with

L’Origine: The Secret Life of the World’s Most Erotic Masterpiece

(historical fiction)

Release Date: July 28, 2020 at Little French Girl Press
255 pages
2020 Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion Award

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Buy it Here:
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See the book on Goodreads

SYNOPSIS

L’Oirigne traces the extraordinary, clandestine odyssey of an iconic 19th century painting that shook up the author’s world and continues to scandalize all who set eyes upon it.

Gustave Courbet’s portrait of a woman’s exposed torso and sex – audaciously entitled ‘L’Origine du monde’ (The Origin of the World) – was so shocking it was kept hidden for a century and a half, surviving revolution, Nazi plunder and the foibles of its eccentric owners.

Today it draws millions of visitors to Paris’ Orsay Museum. Lilianne Milgrom brings a fresh, feminine perspective to an iconic work of art created specifically for the male gaze.

L’Oirigne offers readers more than a riveting romp through history–it also reflects society’s complex attitude towards female nudity.

NB: this is a historical novel, no explicit scenes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paris-born Lilianne Milgrom is an award-winning international artist, writer on the arts and author. Her art can be found in both private and institutional collections around the world and her articles have been published in Huffington Post, Daily Art Magazine, Ceramics Now and Bonjour Paris. Her 5-star, bestselling novel L’Origine is the result of ten years of research and was accepted into the Historical Novel Society. Lilianne lives in Washington DC with her husband.

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