The Lady and the Unicorn: A Novel

by Tracy Chevalier

Book Overview

GLOBALISTICS This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452285453
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.7" x 0.6" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

historical fiction about tapestries is actually interesting!

"The Lady in the Unicorn" is Tracy Chevalier's fourth novel. She is the author of the best selling (and recently a major motion picture) "Girl with a Pearl Earring". Tracy Chevalier seems to write the same sort of novel each time, but because the subjects are different, the ways the novels play out are different. The technique that Chevalier uses is that she takes a painting that I presume she likes (or is just interested in). She learns as much of the backstory of the painting as possible and then writes a fictional novel about how this painting came about and who the artist and subjects are. In the two Chevalier novels I have read now, this has turned out to be much more interesting than it may at first sound. The story in "The Lady and the Unicorn" is set in 15th Century Paris and Brussels. Nicolas des Innocents has been commissioned to create a set of tapestries for a minor member of the French nobility Jean Le Viste. This seems simple enough: Commission, Paint, Weave, Complete. What sets this novel apart is in the telling. Nicolas is a talented artist, but rather arrogant about his art. He mainly paints miniatures in great detail and has never had to design a tapestry (it takes a different sort of skill to design a tapestry). But Nicolas is also a lusty man. Months prior he had impregnated a maid at Le Viste's estate and this time he has his eye on a young woman named Claude. It also seems that Claude has her eye on Nicolas. There wouldn't be any trouble (or much) if it didn't turn out that Claude is Jean Le Viste's eldest daughter and heir to the estate. Now any tryst must be secret, but Claude's mother knows something is afoot so she works to keep them apart so Claude may keep her virginity and be an eligible bride with the estate as a dowry. The scene later shifts to the weavers who will actually make the tapestries. Nicolas defies all custom and is personally involved in nearly all aspects of the making of the tapestries. He is no less lusty now that he is away from Claude, but we get to see more of his character as this section of the novel progresses. Throughout the novel we see how Nicolas's inspiration for the tapestry evolves and why he is creating the tapestries quite the way that he is. We get glimpses into the lives of the weavers, Nicolas, as well as Claude. This novel is told with multiple narrators in such a way that the shift in narration feels appropriate and smooth and these shifts serve to better advance the story and keep it moving along. The opening of "The Lady and the Unicorn" felt a little crude with Nicolas's crass sexual interest in Claude, but as the novel wore on there became fewer crass lines and everything felt natural. For a novel about tapestries (but really about relationships), this one was fairly fast paced. Considering the quality of both "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and "The Lady and the Unicorn", I think I'm going to have to give Chevalier's other two novels a try. This one was w

A delight

This is one of the most delightful books I've read in the past few years. Yes, yes, we know it's about a set of medieval tapestries being woven and about the people who get caught up in each others' lives as a result. Put like that, it sounds dusty and worthy perhaps. Nothing could be further from the truth. For me, Lady and the Unicorn bubbled along, filled with both fun and pathos. I found myself caring deeply not only about the characters but also the tapestries themselves. I also found myself referring frequently to the designs underneath the dust-jacket and even poking around among the rugs in the basement to see whether there was a unicorn rug down there.

The Author Weaves a Beautiful Tapestry of Her Own.

I read this novel on my vacation in Paris and on the day I finished it I went to the Cluny Museum to see the Tapestries for myself. I'd seen them ten years ago, but seeing them again, after reading Tracy Chevalier's book brought them to life in a way that was utterly magical.As she did with The Girl With the Pearl Earring, (but even better this time since she has matured as a writer) the author takes a classic work of art and artfully spins a tale inspired by the original which becomes an original itself.That the actual art work exists adds to the magic. The magic adds to the actual art work.Chevalier's imagination, her grasp of history, her attention to the senses, to details, to the soul of both artists, artisans and lovers are all as lovely as the tapestries.Not a stich is missing, not a word is extraneous or misplaced. Bravo.

What a fabulous book!

For me, Lady and the Unicorn was every bit as good as Girl with a Pearl Earring. I felt utterly transported to the middle ages and immersed in a rollicking good tale, immaculately told.

A Richly Woven Tapestry

I didn't like Tracy Chevalier's book, "Girl With a Pearl Earring," and I didn't read the other two, so I was a little reluctant to buy this book. I love the Lady and Unicorn tapestries in the Cluny Museum in Paris so much, though, that I couldn't resist. I'm glad I didn't.Chevalier's writing is still spare and straightforward and I was happy to see that, but her sense of character and the richness she adds to her plot strands has increased many times over. This is a lovely book, filled with fully-realized characters and a beautifully-woven plot...almost as beautiful as the tapestries in the Cluny. Chevalier has certainly used her imagination well in giving us a story about how these beautiful tapestries might have come about. I felt like I was really transported back to France (and Brussels) during the fifteenth century. Chevalier hasn't skimped on the details and it's the details that make this book so lovely.I enjoyed this book and, although not an artist, I am a lover of art. I think anyone who loves art, France, tapestries or beautifully-told romantic tales will love "The Lady and the Unicorn." I recommend it highly.