Geared toward a highly specific audience, but well worth a read if you’re in that group.

I’ll start by saying that this book requires some background knowledge about Eileen Gray and LeCorbusier (called Le Grand here). You don’t need to be an expert, but I can’t imagine getting much out of this book if you don’t know the story of Villa E 1027.

Modernist architecture is not my favorite (though infinitely better than what comes after it), but the story focuses more on the characters than the architecture itself. Normally that would not be my preference in a book like this, but I think it worked well here.

I found LeCorbusier’s chapters kind of hard to take as a reader, and it impacted my enjoyment of the book, especially in those sections where the author slips into trying to make him sympathetic. While we all contain multitudes and all that, Le Corbusier (while unquestionably talented) was not a good guy.

The horrific misogyny he exhibited both in the book and in real life makes him a deeply unsympathetic character, and I wonder if the book would have been a better read had all the narration come from Eileen’s perspective. There’s a valid argument that Le Corbusier here is no different from hearing the villain’s perspective in any novel, but I think it’s different when we’re talking about real people, and that feels especially poignant here.

Still, in the end it all felt like a worthy subject for a niche, odd novel, and the writing is thoughtful and lovely.

I loved this historical fiction and was enthralled with the writing. Would read more from the author!