"The Lady and the Unicorn" is tale about desire in all of its manifested forms. The desire to be of use, the desire to find happiness, the desire to be inspired, the desire to be free...and all centred around one of the most famous series of early Renaissance tapestries, thought to have been created around 1490 in Belgium.

The (female) characters in the novel are at once the images in the tapestries and real women, their stories woven together like a tapestry to tell the story of the creation of the tapestries. A type of mirroring of a mirroring...with the inevitable refractions, exaggerations and misinterpretations that brings with it. Very, very interesting from a thematic and symbolic standpoint!

They all can also be seen as allegorical types...just as the art of the Middle Ages / Renaissance was largely allegorical:

There is the mother whose "seul desir" is to find spiritual peace (The Seeker). There is the maiden whose "seul desir" is to be as free as she can be (The Nymph). There is the blind girl whose 'seul desir' it is to be of use and valued (The Outsider) and then there is the wife whose "seul desir" is to create like the men around her (The Artist/The Spider).

The men are allegorical as well, but damned to more mundane things like placing the order and painting the original designs.

This is my 5th Chevalier and I enjoyed it immensely, even if I had a hard time placing myself in 1490 due to the lack of concrete historical descriptions from that time. I liked this one more than "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" btw. It's much tighter in its symbolism and relevance to the theme.

The virulently negative responses by other (female) readers to the sexuality in the novel surprised me, though. Personally, I found nothing offensive in the novel, but that it was just one of the many manifestations of desire: the theme of the novel.

5 Stars

Ho già incontrato Tracy Chevalier nel corso delle mie letture e mi ha sempre appassionato e interessato, per talvolta con qualche lentezza. In questa storia, però, a mio parere ha raggiunto la perfezione delle sue capacità narrative (spero, comunque, che ci regali altri romanzi così ben fatti e appassionanti). Questo libro, vi chiedo scusa di un'apparente esaltazione, è meraviglioso. Dopo poche righe sei a Parigi alla fine del XV secolo; cammini a fianco dei protagonisti, respiri la loro aria e vivi le stesse emozioni. Una narrazione ipnotica e trascinante che ti avvolge e ti imprigiona. Ma non in una tela di ragno... No, ancora meglio e ancora più emozionante. Nel tessuto di un arazzo. Le pagine in cui la famiglia La Chapelle a Bruxelles costruisce gli arazzi commissionati dal potente e gelido Jean Le Viste (uomo non di nobile lignaggio, ma che è molto vicino al re di Francia Luigi XI) sono talmente vive e vivide che si riesce a sentire il rumore della lana e della seta tese per essere intrecciate e tessute. Non saprei quale personaggio spicca di più; sono tutti talmente belli e davvero vivi che mi è molto difficile individuare il migliore. Anche se forse è proprio la famiglia La Chapelle (Georges il lissier capofamiglia, la moglie Christine e i loro figli Georges Le Jeune e la bellissima e sorprendente Aliénor con il pittore cartonista Philippe de la Tour, capace di un gesto generoso e pieno di amore) che spicca sugli altri di qualche centimetro, o meglio, di qualche filo. Il pittore parigino Nicolas des Innocents, vanesio, spocchioso e seduttore impunito, ha dalla sua parte una sensibilità artistica non comune, che però spreca, appunto, inseguendo donzelle senza ritegno. E la famiglia di Monsieugneur Jean Le Viste risplende di ricchezza, potere e di tanta tristezza (nella Maman Geneviève, trascuratae indifferente totalmente al marito dopo avergli dato tre femmine, e la bella primogenita Claude, punto centrale del racconto). Infine l'abile mercante giudeo convertito Léon Le Vieux che è raffigurato in modo sublime nei suoi tentativi di fare affari compiacendo il suo committente. Meraviglioso, meraviglioso, meraviglioso. Leggetelo, fidatevi di me e non ne riceverete delusione.

Ще одна спроба Трейсі Шевальє розповісти про процес творення мистецького твору - гобеленів 15 століття "Дама і єдиноріг". Так само як і "Дівчина з перловою сережкою" це цілком вигадана історія, але також вдала, завдяки психологізмові. Сюжет досить простий і подій насправді мало, бо як і в "Дівчині" йдеться радше про те, щоб зрозуміти мотивації головних героїв. Деякі з них так собі - ловелас, від якого вагітніють служниці, мама, що відправляє доньку в монастир, але зрештою звикаєш до них. Книжка не перевантажена історичними деталями, натомість повна деталей побутових - що їдять ремісника, а що черниці в монастирі, скільки часу треба, щоб дійти з базару в Брюсселі до церкви гільдії ткачів і чим при цьому смердітиме на вулицях, як нищаться руки від роботи з вовною. Не історична повість, а повість в історії, бо її персонажі, хоч і обмежені рамками умовностей, відповідних їх професії чи суспільному стану, хочуть того що й ми.
Підозрюю, що за надцять років цей роман буде цікавий, бо розповідатиме більше про прагнення, сучасні авторці - наприклад професійної реалізації жінок чи вільного кохання.

A set of medievel tapestries hang today in a chamber in Paris,portaying a women's seduction of a unicorn. The story behind the tapestry is unknown, but Tracy Chevalier weaves fact and fiction to help us unfold the story with her book,"The Lady and the Unicorn".
The story takes place in 1490, Paris about a French nobleman who commisions six tapestries to be made, celebrating his rising status in court. He hires Nicolas des Innocents to design them, but Nicolas adds his own twist to the work and instead of making tapestries of war,he makes tapestries of the women in the house. A lot of drama breaks out among the women in the house and many scandols are commited.Relationships between friends and family members are tested to the limit.
I really enjoyed reading this book, because of the way it was written. Every chapter of the book was a perspective of a different character,you got to know what each character was thinking. I enjoyed this book, because it opened my eyes to a new world, or should i say old. I really recommend this book to people who like historical fiction or just history. You can look up further information on these tapestries any where online.I know that there is still a lot you can learn from after reading this book and exploring the web about the bewitching medievel tapestries.

Quite disappointed int us. Have really enjoyed the last 2 books I have read by Tracy Chevalier. This was one of her earlier ones and just didn't interest me like some of her others.

I read one Tracy Chevalier book before this one, "Remarkable Creatures", and liked it well enough. I enjoyed reading it, although it did not make my list of favorite reads of 2016. It was simple, clear, and not a huge time commitment, and I expected something similar from "The Lady and the Unicorn".

Unfortunately, I was hugely disappointed. Almost every character in this book is a big jerk. I like complex characters and not every character has to be likable, but when every character is unlikeable it becomes very hard to connect to any of them or root for any of them within their stories. If I am going to hate the character, I'd usually like it to be within a villain context; when the characters who are supposed to be the heroes are petty and awful, it's much harder for me to grasp. The "main" character, Nicolas des Innocents, is a jerkwad womanizer who sleeps with basically every main character female and never gets the comeuppance he deserves. I can't even sympathize with his main love interest, Claude, because she is petulant and selfish. Reading about the star-crossed lovers relationship between two terrible people was excruciating. Every other character who may have had redeeming qualities initially is eventually tainted in my mind by their association with or support of Nicolas. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

The only characters I liked were the mothers. I liked Genevieve, Claude's mother, but that was mostly because she didn't like Nicolas and she works to punish Claude for her association with him, which I darkly enjoyed. Most of her thoughts are about her desires to enter a nunnery though, which ain't all that exciting to read about. I also thought the weaver's wife Christine was fine, but mostly because she didn't really do much of anything and so didn't have many opportunities to annoy me.

The POV chapters of the weaver Georges and the weaver's associate, Philippe, were basically all about weaving, which again, exciting. It's a bit interesting to learn about medieval weaving in the beginning, but when it goes on for most of the book, even a short book like this, it gets very tedious.

I had Tracy Chevalier's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" on my to-read list but took it off after finishing "The Lady and the Unicorn" - if this is an example of what Chevalier's fictional interpretations of famous artwork turn out to be like, I'll take a hard pass.

I hate-read this book. The characters were all selfish (except Philippe!) and terrible. As someone who loves the Middle Ages and similar tapestries at the Met, this book made me ragey. I finished it solely to see if the narrative was impossibly awful throughout the whole novel. It was. No character development. None. If this was the answer to some of the mysteries of the symbolism in the real tapestries, I would rather not know.

I have read a couple of other novels by Tracy Chevalier and enjoyed them. The concept underlying The Lady and the Unicorn is like my previous experience. At its center is the creation of a piece of art, a tapestry in this case. The time is 1490 and the artist, Nicolas des Innocents, is asked by a French nobleman, Jean Le Viste, to create a set of six tapestries with which Jean Le Viste can decorate his Grande Salle or great room for his oldest daughter’s betrothal. Jean Le Viste wants a battle scene, but his wife, Genevieve de Nanterre, does not; she persuades Nicolas des Innocents to convince her husband otherwise.

The most enjoyable part of the novel was learning about the process by which tapestries are made. The portrayal of medieval life and commerce was also enlightening. However, I did not enjoy this novel as much as the other two that I have read by Chevalier, especially Remarkable Creatures. Chevalier did not have as much known history to work with in this case and had to create significantly more story with which to surround the creation of the artwork. Much of the story that was added can be described as bawdy romance, which I found distracting. Despite these caveats, it is an entertaining tale and provides some insight into the medieval world. The tapestries are widely regarded as an excellent example of Medieval art and crafts; they are on display today in the Musee de Cluny.

The story of The Lady and the Unicorn is quite interesting: according to the author they were rediscovered by Prosper Merimee in 1841 and he found them in poor condition. Georges Sand became their champion, writing about them in articles, novels and her journal. In 1992 the French government bought the tapestries for the Musee de Cluny in Paris - where they still hang, restored and in a specially appointed room.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as The Girl with a Pearl Earring. And certainly Chrissie wont like this kind of book also.

The "Lady and the Unicorn" tapestry at the Cluny Museum in Paris

2.5⭐️
This book fell pretty flat for me. I liked The Girl with the Pearl Earring and generally enjoy reading about the Middle Ages (lol) but I just couldn’t bring myself to care for any of these characters. Chevalier made the mistake/decision to narrate from 5+ people’s perspectives throughout the story which made characterisation pretty surface level and i never got enough insight to care about any of them. Also, most were either unlikeable or made nonsensical decisions uncharacteristic of the period. It seemed like everyone was fooling around with everyone and there’s no way the hot painter was hot enough for everyone to overlook his awful misogyny… Overall I cared about the tapestries but no one else.

Ini yang disebut dengan a great historical romance novel!

Buku dengan latar belakang Perancis tahun 1490 bercerita tentang Nicholas yang ditugaskan bangsawan kaya untuk membuat permadani demi merayakan kenaikan pangkatnya. Tidak hanya itu novel ini juga menceritakan sepak terjang pelukis berbakat namun genitnya yang tidak ketulungan dengan berbagai wanita yang ia temui. Mulai dari anak bangsawan yang menyewanya sampai anak gadis tukang tenun permadani.

Uniknya, Lady dan Unicorn diceritakan dari sudut pandang yang berbeda-beda. Mulai dari sudut pandang Nicholas, Claude (anak Jean le Viste), Genevieve (istri Jean Le Viste), George sang penenun, Alienor (anak sang penenun), Christine (istri sang penenun). Menarik sekaligus cerdas, karena kita bisa melihat masalah dari persepsi yang berbeda-beda dengan benang merahnya proses pembuatan permadani Lady dan Unicorn.

Sudut pandang Nicholas sebagai pembuka cerita lumayan membuat saya terkaget-kaget dengan kalimatnya yang vulgar. No wonder Lady dan Unicorn masuk dalam kategori novel dewasa. Bahkan beberapa kali saya sempat mengernyitkan jidat dan berkata dalam hati,” jiahh, ini pelukis genit banget!” Karakternya yang sombong dan tukang rayu juga bikin saya ingin menendangnya!

Claude lain lagi, gadis muda yang ternyata juga tergila-gila dengan Nicholas. Karakternya kuat dan pemberontak sering membuat ibunya, Genevieve pusing kepala. Padahal Genevieve sendiri sedang bergelut dengan masalahnya sendiri, antara lain perilaku dingin sang suami sejak ia tidak berhasil memberikan anak lelaki dan keinginannya masuk biara yang pada jaman itu tidak memungkinkan, karena istri dari suami yang masih hidup tidak diperkenankan menjadi biarawati.

Setelah Perancis di tahun 1490, penulis mengajak kita berpetualang ke Brussels, tempat George dan keluarganya tinggal. Di sini kita mengenal karakter keluarga penenun dengan lebih jauh, tapi yang paling saya suka ketika Alienor mengambil alih cerita. Anak perempuan satu-satunya George yang dikisahkan buta ternyata jatuh cinta pula dengan Nicholas. Padahal ia sendiri sudah dijodohkan oleh kedua orang tuanya dengan pria lain demi ikatan bisnis.

Kelanjutan kisah Claude – Nicholas – Elianor membuat saya semakin penasaran dengan endingnya. 4 bintang untuk buku pertama karya Tracy Chevalier yang saya baca.

Setelah epilog, ada catatan dari pengarang yang ternyata mengangkat tema ini dari kisah nyata. Jean LeViste ternyata benar-benar ada. Bahkan permadaninya juga! Unicorn dengan penggambaran lima panca indera. Apabila tertarik lebih jauh dengan kisah Lady dan Unicorn, di websitenya tchevalier.com juga ada penjelasan tentang latar belakang Jean Le Viste berikut fotonya, yang menarik lagi di webnya kita juga bisa mengetahui cara pembuatan permadani yang memang diceritakan cukup detil di bukunya. I’m looking forward to read another book from Ms. Chevalier.

Oia satu lagi, buku ini saya dapat dari obral murah Gramedia seharga 10ribu saja!

Excepcional novela que conjuga tapices, amor e historia. Es incríble la capacidad que tiene esta autora de presentar personajes tan diversos (con personalidades y ambiciones diferentes, muchas veces marcados por su estracto social) y enlazarlos en una sola historia.
Lo que más me gustó sin duda, es el estudio previó que hizo la autora de todo el proceso que conllevaba un tapiz, y también la iconografía de los símbolos, que además plasmó de una manera muy natural en la novela.
Altamente recomendable.