The Artist

An intense summer of love, lies and the promise of freedom, set in Provence in 1920.

WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT PRIZE 2025

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025

A RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME

A TELEGRAPH AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

'A furiously romantic, sun-drenched mystery . . . The Artist will leave you yearning in every sense of the word' Yael van der Wouden, author of The Safekeep

'The Artist is a lush, impressive debut; the writing is rich and sensuous, especially in descriptions of food, the landscape and the act of creation. Lucy Steeds is one to watch' Sunday Times, BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Beautiful' Daily Telegraph, BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Dextrous and powerful . . . a hugely accomplished portrait of ambition and self-fulfilment' Guardian

'The year's most lauded debut novelist . . . A sultry, headily perfumed portrait of monstrous male egos and oppressed overlooked women . . . The Artist uncovers its secrets by stealth' Telegraph

'A blaze of a book, poetic, passionate and quietly powerful' Daily Mail

'This compelling, evocative debut will transport you to idyllic, sun-drenched Provence in 1920 . . . An absorbing, poetic read' Mail on Sunday

'Captivating . . . with imagery as lush as an oil painting' Washington Post

'Enthralling . . . the descriptions of the landscape, the meals they eat and the art created are so rich and evocative it's as if you're there' Good Housekeeping

PROVENCE, 1920

Ettie moves through the remote farmhouse, silently creating the 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.

'Lucy Steeds transports the reader with her sensuous depictions of food, art, and landscape . . . an assured and atmospheric debut' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent

'An intoxicating tale of creativity, possession and freedom. An impressively assured debut which asks questions about all those who are painted over by history' Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre

'I could not love this beautiful novel more . . . the final chapters left me with that delicious heart-bursting feeling, full of hope and delight' Florence Knapp, author of The Names

'Gorgeous . . . Steeped in the heat and atmosphere of 1920s Provence, this novel

About the Author

Lucy Steed's debut novel, The Artist was a Sunday Times bestseller, was longlisted for the Women's Prize and won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Award and the Waterstones Book of the Year Award. Lucy herself has synaesthesia and uses this to play with ways of translating images into words. She has a BA in English Literature, a Masters in World Literatures from the University of Oxford, and is a graduate of both the Faber Academy and the London Library Emerging Writers Programme. She currently splits her time between London and Amsterdam.