The Artist and the Feast

By: Lucy Steeds

Narrated by: Tanya Reynolds

Longlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction, The Artist and the Feast is a captivating novel of love, art, food, desire and thwarted ambition, which builds propulsively over one scorching French summer in 1920s Provence.

During a scorching summer in 1920s Provence, a young journalist, Joseph Adelaide, turns up at the farmhouse of reclusive artist Edouard Tartuffe, hoping to write an article about him. There, he meets Ettie, Tartuffe’s niece, who appears to do everything for her uncle—from cooking and cleaning to catering to his maniacal moods. Joseph is beguiled by where he finds himself, not just by this foreign place or Tartuffe himself, but by Ettie, who watches everything so quietly from the periphery. Both Joseph and Ettie carry scars from their pasts and it’s as they get to know each other that they start to lay bare those scars to themselves and to each other.​
​ As the summer wears on, and as new ideas and passions are explored, Joseph, Ettie, and Tartuffe are propelled toward a finale that reveals long-held secrets and sets the world on fire.

Fans of Sarah Winman’s Still Life and Paula McClain’s The Paris Wife will be enchanted by this compelling novel.

Critic reviews

"Tanya Reynolds gives this stunning novel a luminous performance...the audiobook starts slowly, gathering momentum until it smashes into its inevitable shocking yet satisfying conclusion."—AudioFile Magazine

The words described the art and feelings to the point of immersion into this story.

I liked that this story is different from most. Emotion is felt by the reader and the vivid imagery pulls you in. I could smell the smoke.

Wow! One of my top three books

This is a must read or audio book. It will become one of your top reads. Don’t hesitate to purchase this one.

Delicious, raw, and intimate

Let it be known that Lucy Steeds knows how to write! The writing is so evocative that at times I felt the characters pulsating through my veins. The story, however, is a little slow in a few places, but otherwise this is a masterpiece!

Excellent book. Unique and very well written.

Beautiful literature. Great narration. Highly recommend it. Will be recommending to many of my artist friends.

Stunning

An evocative atmospheric masterpiece. A tale of art, ambition, devotion and love. A time when a woman’s talents and dreams were suppressed.