About Manette Salomon
"I received both volumes at eleven o'clock this morning and I've just finished them. In other words, my dear fellows, Manette Salomon has enraptured me for an entire day. It's stunning, dazzling, intoxicating. I have tears in my eyes. So I must unleash these feelings on you, without pausing to sort them out first."
So wrote Flaubert, in a letter to the brothers Edmond and Jules de Goncourt on November 13th, 1867. And his enthusiasm was certainly not unfounded, for Manette Salomon, here superbly translated for the first time into English by Tina Kover, is undoubtedly one of the greatest novels about art ever written, sitting easily between Balzac's The Unknown Masterpiece and Zola's L'Oeuvre--the latter novel Edmond de Goncourt even going so far as to say was nothing but a rewriting of Manette Salomon.
A Masterpiece of European Literature
This is one of the masterpieces of European literature--a panorama of the world of the painters of France during the mid-nineteenth century--the schools, the studios, the salons--the successes and failures, the magnificent inspirations and the crushing disillusions of the artists. The Goncourt Brothers capture the essence of artistic life in Paris with meticulous detail and profound understanding of the creative process.
First English Translation
This edition marks the first complete English translation of Manette Salomon, expertly rendered by translator Tina Kover. For English-speaking readers, this translation opens access to a cornerstone of French naturalist literature that has influenced generations of writers and artists. The novel stands as essential reading for anyone interested in 19th century art history, French literature, or the literary realism movement.
Essential Reading for Art Lovers
Published by Snuggly Books, this paperback edition brings the world of mid-19th century French painters to life through the Goncourt Brothers' vivid prose and keen observation. The novel explores the artistic temperament, the struggle between commercial success and artistic integrity, and the complex relationships within the Parisian art world of the 1800s.
