Tracy Chevalier Books

Like she did with Girl with a Pearl Earring, Chevalier once again takes a real work of art (this time a series of tapestries) and creates a story about their creation that shows how it MIGHT have happened.

Nicholas des Innocents is a handsome womanizer and the artist who is commissioned to design a series of tapestries for the thoroughly unlikable nobleman, Jean Le Viste. Le Viste cares nothing for art or love and is only concerned with raising his social status.

Nicholas meets the Le Viste's young daughter and she is immediately love-struck. The lovers manage to steal a few moments together, but Claude's parents are determined to keep them apart.

Strong characters, well-researched historical details, and a few dirty jokes (let's just say Nicholas uses the story of the unicorn's horn as a unique and quite effective pick-up line) will keep readers turning pages.

call me just an "average Jane" but I like reading stories where at LEAST one character has some redeeming feature that endears the story to me, the reader.

In The Lady And The Unicorn I would have been happy to see every character fall off a cliff. From the horrid, rutting painter, to his vain, selfish "true" love, her miserable and misery making mother and all the rest are only worthy of a long walk off a short pier. The only recommendation worthy parts of the story were about the tapestry weaving, which were interesting and informative.

If your idea of a "a fun evening reading" is to sink five feet in dark, depressing and selfish machinations, then this may be the book for you.

2 stars for making even unicorns cringe worthy.

If I were a fan of shoddily crafted pornos that one might find in the check-out line at CVS, I'd be pissed. ONE measly, grotesque sex scene? And, alright, he feels up a 14-year-old girl as well. How grossly unsatisfying. Having to read this schlock with a critical eye (it was a school assignment) was mildly entertaining, only because it might be one of the worst pieces of writing I have ever encountered. I was overjoyed that the book was a quick read; spending more than two days on this dreck is nothing short of masochistic. With every passing page, rife with overly simple language, inappropriate or anachronistic similes, and the same voice for every character, I found myself less and less engaged with the story. The depth of the characters and plot is that of a puddle. This book was so abysmal that during a trip to Paris soon after reading it, I refused to enter the Cluny, free of admission, to see the tapestries. It shames me to no end knowing that the author and I both grew up in the same place. Money spent on this novel could be put to better use by hurling it off a bridge.

I read this book a few months back and I still think of it, meaning it left an impression.

Like Girl with the Pearl Earring, the prose are absolutely tight and seemless, with very few snags to jar the reading.

Honestly, I find it irritating when a book changes between characters, because I get wrapped up in one. This book was an exception. Each character had a distinct voice and each wove into the others' lives, like, what else? A tapestry.

I felt for all of the characters and, like Girl with the Pearl Earring, this story created in me the feeling that there was some underlying power at work, something bigger than the characters. Nice.

Tracy Chevalier has a solid formula for success--choose a period, populate it with both familiar and fictional characters, and tell a story that mixes historical fact with a fictional narrative that is, nonetheless, meticulously researched (the bibliographies in the backs of her books are extensive). The formula worked beautifully in Girl With a Pearl Earring, and perhaps even better in Falling Angels, but not so well in The Virgin Blue, where you can sort of feel her finding her footing. The Lady and the Unicorn, though, remains my favorite of all of her books. It might not be as heartbreaking as Falling Angels or as subtle as Girl With a Pearl Earring, but it's deliciously naughty, contains rich period detail (who knew 15th century tapestry weaving could be so fascinating?), and is full of complex characters that you can't help rooting for, even when they behave despicably. I still find myself re-reading it occasionally. And, as with the famous painting she based her other book on, I won't ever look at the unicorn tapestries in quite the same way again.

I was fascinated with this book. I also bought the DVD and enjoyed it as well but books add so much more detail and information.

A very interesting and entertaining book. A great compliment to the movie. I had no clue as to who Vermeer was until I saw the movie and heard all about it from my fiance. I bought the book and movie for her for a Christmas gift. She let me leaf through the book and I found the images of his paintings to be breathtaking. The descriptions written about them in the book was very imformative. I would recommend this book accompany any purchase of the movie.

One of the best books I've read in a long time. The beautifully written novel tells the tale of the real artist Vermeer and a fictional muse, sixteen-year-old Griet, who becomes a maid because of her father's misfortune. Seventeenth-century Holland comes to life with fascinating details, believable characters, and Tracy Chevalier's undeniable talent.

Johannes Vermeer, one of the famous Dutch painting masters from the seventeenth century, in the middle of his career created a portrait of a girl with a pearl earring, in a turban, often called "The Dutch Mona Lisa". The girl from the painting looks at us with mysterious expression, sometimes appears sad, sometimes hiding a smile... What is her story?

Tracy Chevalier created one possible version in her novel "Girl with a Pearl Earring" where some historical facts mix with fiction to create the beautiful story, vivid and colorful, reminiscent of Vermeer's paintings... The atmosphere of the book is incredible, unique, as if it were an account of an eye-witness and not the figment of the author's imagination.

Griet, a sixteen-year old daughter of a glass blower from Delft, disabled after a work-related accident, , from an impoverished, but hard- working family, inherited her father's artistic sensitivity. She starts a job as a servant at Vermeer's house and the painter becomes intrigued seeing her vegetable compositions. When Vermeer notices Griet, her life changes - she becomes his aide and, finally, a model for the famous portrait. She get a chance, but at the same time enters the different world, full of obstacles unfamiliar for her, and she needs to be careful. Their fascination with each other cannot last long...

In Holland of the 1600s the social order is strictly defined. The Protestants are completely separate from Catholics, the poor from the rich, the masters from the servants. This is why Griet and Vermeer do not even think about a romantic relationship, despite their similar view of the world. Johannes has to paint to feed his ever-growing family and satisfy his possessive, jealous wife, Catharina, who except being the mother of his children does not have much in common with him, and his mother-in-law, the greedy and conniving Maria Thinks, who manages very well to get more and more orders for his paintings. The portrait of a servant and the growing, although mainly spiritual, intimacy of the artist with Griet cause tension in the family and after a while Griet's dismissal seems inevitable and many intrigues and repressions from Vermeer's family members and friends make her leave. Such ending is obvious for all involved parties and any regrets remain unspoken... Griet marries Pieter, the cheerful butcher's son, and moves on. Only much later, the surprising gift reminds her of the time at the painter's home.

The characters are full of life: Vermeer, a full-blown artist; Griet, girl who in other reality could change her destiny; Catharina, a woman who does not see beyond her traditional role; Maria Thinks, clever and resourceful; and many other minor protagonists, sketched skillfully and with precision. It is easy to imagine the clothes, simple, ascetic surroundings, streets of Delft - the prose is very descriptive and full of details.

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" is an enjoyable book, but it is also one of the rare examples, where the film based on a novel exceeds it - the 2004 screening by Peter Webber with Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth is a great movie.

Tracy Chevalier's depiction of societal abnormalities(at least in contrast to post-Marxist Soviet Union or post revolutionary France and America) richly delivers a tender story about a tender girl whose portrait has been name the Dutch Mona Lisa.

Embellishing stories into modern novels has been a successful and fun twist for many writers - perhaps with Maguire leading the 21st century on such with his wonderful twists to the "Wizard of Oz" and other classics. But to embellish upon the unwritten--rather to transform painted art into written art - makes the embellishment seemingly more complex and more impressive. This author looked at a painting and made a story of what happened before, during and after it was painted.

The plot has social injustice placed upon the 16-year old shoulders of Griet, the narrator and protagonist. Forced into becoming a maid because of her father's misfortune of being near a tile kiln when it exploded, from which he lost his sight and career, Griet's "involuntary servitude" offers the family its only chance of survival.

From there we learn she works for Johannes Vermeer--the famous Dutch painter of today. Vermeer came from the Dutch school that veered away from painting only religious relics, and focused instead upon persons and nature. "Is not painting God's creatures equally valuable?" Vermeer asks Griet when she is questioned about her asking him if all Catholics paint only crucifixes and biblical images.

But, even though the story is about a girl and an artist's family, the major theme is about social 17th century inequality in Holland. Social inequality of that time is worse than our 21st century minds can think. Children on Vermeer's house control Griet. Maria Thins, Vermeer's mother, controls the house. But, money controls them all. As Vermeer plodded slowly in his painting, the bills piled high and often unpaid. Behind the satin sheets and cloth drapes were the Vermeers who cowtowed to those who paid them, in a manner Griet did of her master in the Vermeer household.

Sadness resounds in the book. Joyful interludes exist, but are rare. Details about daily accounts at the backbreaking daily labours of the maid and others make one only agree how lucky they are not living then, there and in her shoes. And when we read a few hundred pages of the detailed travails of the teenage maid, we understand why the painting does not include a smile, does not include a twinkle in the eye, and does not include but a tiny hint of her hair color or length. Instead the eyes show obedience and hidden emotion. The outfit is totally unrevealing, unlike the busty aristocratic portraits. And, by such untold statements of her eyes and mouth and clothing, the portrait - especially after reading this book - tells us so much about the pains and misfortunes experienced by someone so young and otherwise innocent.

This book covers the period in the lives of two families that stretches from January 1901, the end of the Victorian era, to May 1910, the end of the Edwardian one. The lives of these two families, the Colemans and the Waterhouses, converge and become inextricably woven together when they inadvertently meet at a cemetery while paying their respects to deceased loved ones. Unbeknownst to them, their lives are moving inexorably towards a tragic denouement, one that is to have ramifications for both families.

Two of the daughters of these respective families, Lavinia Waterhouse and Maude Coleman, find that they have formed the beginning of a friendship during the brief interlude at the cemetery. The two girls also befriend Simon Field, the son of one of the gravediggers at the cemetery. The friendship of the two girls is cemented when they later discover that they are to be neighbors, as through happenstance the Waterhouse family moves onto a property adjacent to that of the Colemans. Despite differences in social class and personal taste, as the Waterhouses are definitely sentimentally bourgeois and the Colemans have pretensions to more refinement, the families are brought together, however unwillingly, through the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

The mothers of these two girls are unable to form a true friendship, as stolid Gertrude Waterhouse and pretty Kitty Coleman are unable to find much common ground. Gertrude is bound in tradition, while Kitty, dissatisfied with her marriage and her life, is looking to escape tradition and expand the role allotted in society to women. Never the twain shall meet, as these women will never see eye-to-eye, despite the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

This is a well-plotted novel with each character adding his or her perspective to the events that unfold, many of which are of a secretive nature. Even the husbands, Albert Waterhouse and Richard Coleman, have something to say that contributes to the development of the story, as does Richard Coleman's mother, Edith, as do the Coleman's maid, Jenny Whitby, and their cook, Dorothy Baker. Lavinia's younger sister, Ivy May, who plays a small but pivotal role, also has her say, as does Kitty's admirer, John Jackson. There are also a number of twists and turns in the tale.

The story is told in the clean, spare prose that fans of the author have come to expect. It is told through first person narratives, and it is almost as if the narratives were taken from the personal diary or journal of each character. Therein lies the rub, as the author is unable to make the voice of each character truly distinguishable from that of the others. The book suffers somewhat from the failure of the author to develop a truly unique voice for each one. This is, however, the only failing of this otherwise absorbing and intriguing story that is suffused with period detail. This is the Spanish text edition of an otherwise excellent book that fans of the author will enjoy, as will those who love historical fiction.

This book covers the period in the lives of two families that stretches from January 1901, the end of the Victorian era, to May 1910, the end of the Edwardian one. The lives of these two families, the Colemans and the Waterhouses, converge and become inextricably woven together when they inadvertently meet at a cemetery while paying their respects to deceased loved ones. Unbeknownst to them, their lives are moving inexorably towards a tragic denouement, one that is to have ramifications for both families.

Two of the daughters of these respective families, Lavinia Waterhouse and Maude Coleman, find that they have formed the beginning of a friendship during the brief interlude at the cemetery. The two girls also befriend Simon Field, the son of one of the gravediggers at the cemetery. The friendship of the two girls is cemented when they later discover that they are to be neighbors, as through happenstance the Waterhouse family moves onto a property adjacent to that of the Colemans. Despite differences in social class and personal taste, as the Waterhouses are definitely sentimentally bourgeois and the Colemans have pretensions to more refinement, the families are brought together, however unwillingly, through the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

The mothers of these two girls are unable to form a true friendship, as stolid Gertrude Waterhouse and pretty Kitty Coleman are unable to find much common ground. Gertrude is bound in tradition, while Kitty, dissatisfied with her marriage and her life, is looking to escape tradition and expand the role allotted in society to women. Never the twain shall meet, as these women will never see eye-to-eye, despite the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

This is a well-plotted novel with each character adding his or her perspective to the events that unfold, many of which are of a secretive nature. Even the husbands, Albert Waterhouse and Richard Coleman, have something to say that contributes to the development of the story, as does Richard Coleman's mother, Edith, as do the Coleman's maid, Jenny Whitby, and their cook, Dorothy Baker. Lavinia's younger sister, Ivy May, who plays a small but pivotal role, also has her say, as does Kitty's admirer, John Jackson. There are also a number of twists and turns in the tale.

The story is told in the clean, spare prose that fans of the author have come to expect. It is told through first person narratives, and it is almost as if the narratives were taken from the personal diary or journal of each character. Therein lies the rub, as the author is unable to make the voice of each character truly distinguishable from that of the others. The book suffers somewhat from the failure of the author to develop a truly unique voice for each one. This is, however, the only failing of this otherwise absorbing and intriguing story that is suffused with period detail. This is an otherwise excellent book that fans of the author will enjoy, as will those who love historical fiction.

This book covers the period in the lives of two families that stretches from January 1901, the end of the Victorian era, to May 1910, the end of the Edwardian one. The lives of these two families, the Colemans and the Waterhouses, converge and become inextricably woven together when they inadvertently meet at a cemetery while paying their respects to deceased loved ones. Unbeknownst to them, their lives are moving inexorably towards a tragic denouement, one that is to have ramifications for both families.

Two of the daughters of these respective families, Lavinia Waterhouse and Maude Coleman, find that they have formed the beginning of a friendship during the brief interlude at the cemetery. The two girls also befriend Simon Field, the son of one of the gravediggers at the cemetery. The friendship of the two girls is cemented when they later discover that they are to be neighbors, as through happenstance the Waterhouse family moves onto a property adjacent to that of the Colemans. Despite differences in social class and personal taste, as the Waterhouses are definitely sentimentally bourgeois and the Colemans have pretensions to more refinement, the families are brought together, however unwillingly, through the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

The mothers of these two girls are unable to form a true friendship, as stolid Gertrude Waterhouse and pretty Kitty Coleman are unable to find much common ground. Gertrude is bound in tradition, while Kitty, dissatisfied with her marriage and her life, is looking to escape tradition and expand the role allotted in society to women. Never the twain shall meet, as these women will never see eye-to-eye, despite the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

This is a well-plotted novel with each character adding his or her perspective to the events that unfold, many of which are of a secretive nature. Even the husbands, Albert Waterhouse and Richard Coleman, have something to say that contributes to the development of the story, as does Richard Coleman's mother, Edith, as do the Coleman's maid, Jenny Whitby, and their cook, Dorothy Baker. Lavinia's younger sister, Ivy May, who plays a small but pivotal role, also has her say, as does Kitty's admirer, John Jackson. There are also a number of twists and turns in the tale.

The story is told in the clean, spare prose that fans of the author have come to expect. It is told through first person narratives, and it is almost as if the narratives were taken from the personal diary or journal of each character. Therein lies the rub, as the author is unable to make the voice of each character truly distinguishable from that of the others. The book suffers somewhat from the failure of the author to develop a truly unique voice for each one. This is, however, the only failing of this otherwise absorbing and intriguing story that is suffused with period detail. This is an otherwise excellent book that fans of the author will enjoy, as will those who love historical fiction.

This book covers the period in the lives of two families that stretches from January 1901, the end of the Victorian era, to May 1910, the end of the Edwardian one. The lives of these two families, the Colemans and the Waterhouses, converge and become inextricably woven together when they inadvertently meet at a cemetery while paying their respects to deceased loved ones. Unbeknownst to them, their lives are moving inexorably towards a tragic denouement, one that is to have ramifications for both families.

Two of the daughters of these respective families, Lavinia Waterhouse and Maude Coleman, find that they have formed the beginning of a friendship during the brief interlude at the cemetery. The two girls also befriend Simon Field, the son of one of the gravediggers at the cemetery. The friendship of the two girls is cemented when they later discover that they are to be neighbors, as through happenstance the Waterhouse family moves onto a property adjacent to that of the Colemans. Despite differences in social class and personal taste, as the Waterhouses are definitely sentimentally bourgeois and the Colemans have pretensions to more refinement, the families are brought together, however unwillingly, through the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

The mothers of these two girls are unable to form a true friendship, as stolid Gertrude Waterhouse and pretty Kitty Coleman are unable to find much common ground. Gertrude is bound in tradition, while Kitty, dissatisfied with her marriage and her life, is looking to escape tradition and expand the role allotted in society to women. Never the twain shall meet, as these women will never see eye-to-eye, despite the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

This is a well-plotted novel with each character adding his or her perspective to the events that unfold, many of which are of a secretive nature. Even the husbands, Albert Waterhouse and Richard Coleman, have something to say that contributes to the development of the story, as does Richard Coleman's mother, Edith, as do the Coleman's maid, Jenny Whitby, and their cook, Dorothy Baker. Lavinia's younger sister, Ivy May, who plays a small but pivotal role, also has her say, as does Kitty's admirer, John Jackson. There are also a number of twists and turns in the tale.

The story is told in the clean, spare prose that fans of the author have come to expect. It is told through first person narratives, and it is almost as if the narratives were taken from the personal diary or journal of each character. Therein lies the rub, as the author is unable to make the voice of each character truly distinguishable from that of the others. The book suffers somewhat from the failure of the author to develop a truly unique voice for each one. This is, however, the only failing of this otherwise absorbing and intriguing story that is suffused with period detail. This is an otherwise excellent book that fans of the author will enjoy, as will those who love historical fiction.

This book covers the period in the lives of two families that stretches from January 1901, the end of the Victorian era, to May 1910, the end of the Edwardian one. The lives of these two families, the Colemans and the Waterhouses, converge and become inextricably woven together when they inadvertently meet at a cemetery while paying their respects to deceased loved ones. Unbeknownst to them, their lives are moving inexorably towards a tragic denouement, one that is to have ramifications for both families.

Two of the daughters of these respective families, Lavinia Waterhouse and Maude Coleman, find that they have formed the beginning of a friendship during the brief interlude at the cemetery. The two girls also befriend Simon Field, the son of one of the gravediggers at the cemetery. The friendship of the two girls is cemented when they later discover that they are to be neighbors, as through happenstance the Waterhouse family moves onto a property adjacent to that of the Colemans. Despite differences in social class and personal taste, as the Waterhouses are definitely sentimentally bourgeois and the Colemans have pretensions to more refinement, the families are brought together, however unwillingly, through the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

The mothers of these two girls are unable to form a true friendship, as stolid Gertrude Waterhouse and pretty Kitty Coleman are unable to find much common ground. Gertrude is bound in tradition, while Kitty, dissatisfied with her marriage and her life, is looking to escape tradition and expand the role allotted in society to women. Never the twain shall meet, as these women will never see eye-to-eye, despite the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

This is a well-plotted novel with each character adding his or her perspective to the events that unfold, many of which are of a secretive nature. Even the husbands, Albert Waterhouse and Richard Coleman, have something to say that contributes to the development of the story, as does Richard Coleman's mother, Edith, as do the Coleman's maid, Jenny Whitby, and their cook, Dorothy Baker. Lavinia's younger sister, Ivy May, who plays a small but pivotal role, also has her say, as does Kitty's admirer, John Jackson. There are also a number of twists and turns in the tale.

The story is told in the clean, spare prose that fans of the author have come to expect. It is told through first person narratives, and it is almost as if the narratives were taken from the personal diary or journal of each character. Therein lies the rub, as the author is unable to make the voice of each character truly distinguishable from that of the others. The book suffers somewhat from the failure of the author to develop a truly unique voice for each one. This is, however, the only failing of this otherwise absorbing and intriguing story that is suffused with period detail. This is an otherwise excellent book that fans of the author will enjoy, as will those who love historical fiction.

Once again, Tracy Chevalier, author of a number of well-written works of historical fiction, lets her imagination run wild, weaving her story around another actual work of art. In this book, the author builds her story around the series of medieval tapestries known as "The Lady and the Unicorn", currently hanging in a museum in France, creating a work of historical fiction that is somewhat interesting and moderately enjoyable. Although not as well written as her best selling novel, "Girl with a Pearl Earring", or even her debut novel, "The Virgin Blue", those who like their historical fiction with some romantic overtones will be pleased with the author's efforts.

Towards the end of the fifteenth century, a talented, handsome, and cocky painter, Nicolas des Innocents, is commissioned to design and paint scenes depicting the Battle of Nancy for a series of tapestries. His paintings would then be enlarged in preparation for having the images woven into tapestries by a master weaver in Brussels. The commission is given to Nicholas by a prominent French nobleman, Jean Le Viste, a cold man who is given to self-importance and wishes to memorialize his status, as his star in on the ascendancy in the Royal Court.

Nicolas soon discovers, however, that it was Jean Le Viste's wife, Genevieve de Nanterre, who suggested him for the commission. She lets him know, however, that she does not wish for the tapestries to depict the Battle of Nancy but, rather, scenes of a lady and a unicorn. Genevieve de Nanterre, a pious and unhappily married woman, leaves it to him to convince her husband that this new idea should replace the Battle of Nancy as the subject of the tapestries. Nicolas manages to do this, and so it begins.

Nicolas is not only a fine painter but also a confirmed lothario who falls for Le Viste's daughter, a beautiful teenager named Claude. Of course, Nicholas has already dallied with Marie-Celeste, one of the household's maids with the usual, not unexpected, result, a fact that will eventually lead to some serious personal consequences for him. Meanwhile, Genevieve de Nanterre, who would rather be a nun than married to Jean Le Viste, discovers that her daughter reciprocates the painter's passion. Claude is ultimately shipped off to a nunnery to repent for her sins and to remain chaste until a suitable betrothal may be made for her. Genevieve's motives in doing so, however, are not wholly altruistic.

Eventually, Nicholas travels to the workshop of master weaver Georges de la Chappelle, who has been selected to convert the paintings to tapestries. Nicholas meets with cartoonist, Philippe de la Tour, to ensure that the tapestries stay true to his paintings and that the process of enlarging them does not substantively change his seductive design. Of course, his stay in Brussels is made more pleasant by the fact that Georges de la Chappelle has a lovely daughter named Alienor, who is ripe for the picking. Unfortunately, her father, for business reasons, wishes to marry her off to the local tanner, a smelly brute whose noxious scent is a result of an expected occupational hazard. Unbeknownst to them all, however, Alienor has a secret admirer, whose love will eventually make right all that goes wrong.

This is the Spanish text edition of "The Lady and the Unicorn", a mildly entertaining novel in which the underlying theme is seduction. The tale is told from the perspectives of each of the main characters through individual first person narratives. The lives of some of them become intertwined, because Nicolas des Innocents has come into contact with them. The story describes their lives and loves, as well as the impact that their lives have on the actual tapestries. The novel also gives a good deal of interesting information on the weavers' guild of the time and its practices, as well as information on the painstaking art of weaving high quality tapestries, such as that of "The Lady and the Unicorn".

Once again, Tracy Chevalier, author of a number of well-written works of historical fiction, lets her imagination run wild, weaving her story around another actual work of art. In this book, the author builds her story around the series of medieval tapestries known as "The Lady and the Unicorn", currently hanging in a museum in France, creating a work of historical fiction that is somewhat interesting and moderately enjoyable. Although not as well written as her best selling novel, "Girl with a Pearl Earring", or even her debut novel, "The Virgin Blue", those who like their historical fiction with some romantic overtones will be pleased with the author's efforts.

Towards the end of the fifteenth century, a talented, handsome, and cocky painter, Nicolas des Innocents, is commissioned to design and paint scenes depicting the Battle of Nancy for a series of tapestries. His paintings would then be enlarged in preparation for having the images woven into tapestries by a master weaver in Brussels. The commission is given to Nicholas by a prominent French nobleman, Jean Le Viste, a cold man who is given to self-importance and wishes to memorialize his status, as his star is on the ascendancy in the Royal Court.

Nicolas soon discovers, however, that it was Jean Le Viste's wife, Genevieve de Nanterre, who suggested him for the commission. She lets him know, however, that she does not wish for the tapestries to depict the Battle of Nancy but, rather, scenes of a lady and a unicorn. Genevieve de Nanterre, a pious and unhappily married woman, leaves it to him to convince her husband that this new idea should replace the Battle of Nancy as the subject of the tapestries. Nicolas manages to do this, and so it begins.

Nicolas is not only a fine painter but also a confirmed lothario who falls for Le Viste's daughter, a beautiful teenager named Claude. Of course, Nicholas has already dallied with Marie-Celeste, one of the household's maids with the usual, not unexpected, result, a fact that will eventually lead to some serious personal consequences for him. Meanwhile, Genevieve de Nanterre, who would rather be a nun than married to Jean Le Viste, discovers that her daughter reciprocates the painter's passion. Claude is ultimately shipped off to a nunnery to repent for her sins and to remain chaste until a suitable betrothal may be made for her. Genevieve's motives in doing so, however, are not wholly altruistic.

Eventually, Nicholas travels to the workshop of master weaver Georges de la Chappelle, who has been selected to convert the paintings to tapestries. Nicholas meets with cartoonist, Philippe de la Tour, to ensure that the tapestries stay true to his paintings and that the process of enlarging them does not substantively change his seductive design. Of course, his stay in Brussels is made more pleasant by the fact that Georges de la Chappelle has a lovely daughter named Alienor, who is ripe for the picking. Unfortunately, her father, for business reasons, wishes to marry her off to the local tanner, a smelly brute whose noxious scent is a result of an expected occupational hazard. Unbeknownst to them all, however, Alienor has a secret admirer, whose love will eventually make right all that goes wrong.

This is a mildly entertaining novel in which the underlying theme is seduction. The tale is told from the perspectives of each of the main characters through individual first person narratives. The lives of some of them become intertwined, because Nicolas des Innocents has come into contact with them. The story describes their lives and loves, as well as the impact that their lives have on the actual tapestries. The novel also gives a good deal of interesting information on the weavers' guild of the time and its practices, as well as information on the painstaking art of weaving high quality tapestries, such as that of "The Lady and the Unicorn". It should be noted that the cover of the hardcover book is of unusual quality. When one removes the dust jacket, the boards are embossed with a lovely image taken from the actual tapestry.

Once again, Tracy Chevalier, author of a number of well-written works of historical fiction, lets her imagination run wild, weaving her story around another actual work of art. In this book, the author builds her story around the series of medieval tapestries known as "The Lady and the Unicorn", currently hanging in a museum in France, creating a work of historical fiction that is somewhat interesting and moderately enjoyable. Although not as well written as her best selling novel, "Girl with a Pearl Earring", or even her debut novel, "The Virgin Blue", those who like their historical fiction with some romantic overtones will be pleased with the author's efforts.

Towards the end of the fifteenth century, a talented, handsome, and cocky painter, Nicolas des Innocents, is commissioned to design and paint scenes depicting the Battle of Nancy for a series of tapestries. His paintings would then be enlarged in preparation for having the images woven into tapestries by a master weaver in Brussels. The commission is given to Nicholas by a prominent French nobleman, Jean Le Viste, a cold man who is given to self-importance and wishes to memorialize his status, as his star in on the ascendancy in the Royal Court.

Nicolas soon discovers, however, that it was Jean Le Viste's wife, Genevieve de Nanterre, who suggested him for the commission. She lets him know, however, that she does not wish for the tapestries to depict the Battle of Nancy but, rather, scenes of a lady and a unicorn. Genevieve de Nanterre, a pious and unhappily married woman, leaves it to him to convince her husband that this new idea should replace the Battle of Nancy as the subject of the tapestries. Nicolas manages to do this, and so it begins.

Nicolas is not only a fine painter but also a confirmed lothario who falls for Le Viste's daughter, a beautiful teenager named Claude. Of course, Nicholas has already dallied with Marie-Celeste, one of the household's maids with the usual, not unexpected, result, a fact that will eventually lead to some serious personal consequences for him. Meanwhile, Genevieve de Nanterre, who would rather be a nun than married to Jean Le Viste, discovers that her daughter reciprocates the painter's passion. Claude is ultimately shipped off to a nunnery to repent for her sins and to remain chaste until a suitable betrothal may be made for her. Genevieve's motives in doing so, however, are not wholly altruistic.

Eventually, Nicholas travels to the workshop of master weaver Georges de la Chappelle, who has been selected to convert the paintings to tapestries. Nicholas meets with cartoonist, Philippe de la Tour, to ensure that the tapestries stay true to his paintings and that the process of enlarging them does not substantively change his seductive design. Of course, his stay in Brussels is made more pleasant by the fact that Georges de la Chappelle has a lovely daughter named Alienor, who is ripe for the picking. Unfortunately, her father, for business reasons, wishes to marry her off to the local tanner, a smelly brute whose noxious scent is a result of an expected occupational hazard. Unbeknownst to them all, however, Alienor has a secret admirer, whose love will eventually make right all that goes wrong.

This is a mildly entertaining novel in which the underlying theme is seduction. The tale is told from the perspectives of each of the main characters through individual first person narratives. The lives of some of them become intertwined, because Nicolas des Innocents has come into contact with them. The story describes their lives and loves, as well as the impact that their lives have on the actual tapestries. The novel also gives a good deal of interesting information on the weavers' guild of the time and its practices, as well as information on the painstaking art of weaving high quality tapestries, such as that of "The Lady and the Unicorn".