I Am Madame X, Gioia Diliberto

I was seduced by the cover of this book, and the concept -- a biography of Madame X, subject of John Singer Sargent's infamous portrait. Diliberto uses this novel to reconstruct the life of this society darling. It's a neat idea, but it's only a so-so book. Diliberto tries to give us an idea of what Paris was like at the time, but succeeds only in putting together a lukewarm bodice-ripper. The book isn't bad, but it isn't interesting either.
Posted by supersusie at June 23, 2004 3:23 PM