The Lady and the Unicorn: A Novel
A tour de force of history and imagination, The Lady and the Unicorn is Tracy Chevalier’s answer to the mystery behind one of the art world’s great masterpieces—a set of bewitching medieval tapestries that hangs today in the Cluny Museum in Paris. They appear to portray the seduction of a unicorn, but the story behind their making is unknown—until now.
Paris, 1490. A shrewd French nobleman commissions six lavish tapestries celebrating his rising status at Court. He hires the charismatic, arrogant, sublimely talented Nicolas des Innocents to design them. Nicolas creates havoc among the women in the house—mother and daughter, servant, and lady-in-waiting—before taking his designs north to the Brussels workshop where the tapestries are to be woven. There, master weaver Georges de la Chapelle risks everything he has to finish the tapestries—his finest, most intricate work—on time for his exacting French client. The results change all their lives—lives that have been captured in the tapestries, for those who know where to look.
In The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier weaves fact and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry—an extraordinary story exquisitely told.
Paris, 1490. A shrewd French nobleman commissions six lavish tapestries celebrating his rising status at Court. He hires the charismatic, arrogant, sublimely talented Nicolas des Innocents to design them. Nicolas creates havoc among the women in the house—mother and daughter, servant, and lady-in-waiting—before taking his designs north to the Brussels workshop where the tapestries are to be woven. There, master weaver Georges de la Chapelle risks everything he has to finish the tapestries—his finest, most intricate work—on time for his exacting French client. The results change all their lives—lives that have been captured in the tapestries, for those who know where to look.
In The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier weaves fact and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry—an extraordinary story exquisitely told.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
Tales of a pedophilic, narcissistic, womanizing painter.
Having a flawed character is fine, but the disdain I held for Nicolas des Innocents was truly remarkable. When having an unlikable character, I believe there has to be some supplement for it. Whether it is a revelation, commentary on human nature, or a degree of morally gray, something besides pure unlikeability needs to be present otherwise I come away from the story thinking "Wow this is bad."
The author attempted to have a "he had his comeuppance" towards the end but it just fell extremely short. I hated all of the characters except for the weaver's daughter and Philipe though I felt that their characters were grossly underdeveloped despite their interesting moral grayness and the time talked about them.
Having a flawed character is fine, but the disdain I held for Nicolas des Innocents was truly remarkable. When having an unlikable character, I believe there has to be some supplement for it. Whether it is a revelation, commentary on human nature, or a degree of morally gray, something besides pure unlikeability needs to be present otherwise I come away from the story thinking "Wow this is bad."
The author attempted to have a "he had his comeuppance" towards the end but it just fell extremely short. I hated all of the characters except for the weaver's daughter and Philipe though I felt that their characters were grossly underdeveloped despite their interesting moral grayness and the time talked about them.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.