An exquisitely written portrait of the life, art and times of Egon Schiele, the masterful younger contemporary of Gustav Klimt. Biographical fiction at its most imaginative best. Based on and inspired by the the short and intense life of the famous Austrian painter, Egon Schiele, this is a brilliantly imagined novel which will enlighten and delight anyone interested in his mesmerizing art. Schiele is portrayed here as a young hedonist with a burning talent, reflected in the raw, provocative sexuality of his paintings and drawings. Crofts stays true to historical truth and his characters' life stories while also imagining what might have been. The story of Schiele's creative genius is told in the context of portraying his city, Vienna, before World War I, and providing a startling insight into the lives of artists in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at that time. ?Utterly engrossing. I was drawn into Schiele's reeling world with its reek of wet paint and sex.? Jon McGregor, author of If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things Lewis Crofts was born in 1977. He grew up in Somerset, studied at Oxford (Modern and Medieval Languages) and now lives in Brussels, working as a journalist in EU affairs. He has also lived in Germany, the Czech Republic and France. His fascination with Egon Schiele was sparked while living in Prague, helped by his love of German and Bohemian languages and cultures. He is currently working on a new novel.
