What a remarkable and intelligent novel that immerses us in the story of modern art at the beginning of the last century. The two authors, sisters and great-granddaughters of Gabriële Buffet, tell the story of this exceptionally intelligent and free-spirited woman who enabled several artists, including her husband Francis Picabia, to reach their full potential. A truly enhanced art history lesson. I loved it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Europa Editions for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. Gabriele is the true account, in novel form, of the life of Gabriele Buffet, paternal great-grandmother of the authors. I was interested in this book because I was absolutely captivated by Anne Berest’s The Postcard and was interested to continue learning more about her more interesting than average family.

This story of Gabriele Buffet’s life including her early adult years, her initial meeting and subsequent marriage to the famous painter, Francis Picabia, and many other interactions with famous artists of the time is so fascinating that it’s hard to believe it’s true. The authors do a great job at taking their research and transforming it into an intriguing novel and transforming real people into characters. Shortly into the book, you get a real sense of Gabriele’s character and come to appreciate how strong her personality is, despite how much it seems like she allowed herself to be minimized compared to her husband— she is truly a fleshed out, tangible character in this book and hers is such an intriguing story to be along for the ride with. One of my favorite elements of the book were the personal commentaries shared by the authors throughout the text, either on their thoughts about the situation at hand or about the lasting impact of Gabriele’s actions (or in some cases, inaction) on future generations of their family.

It’s clear that this book was expertly researched, with many specific details and scenes incorporated throughout, with full references at the end. Those who appreciate art and music history, especially pertinent to that time period, will appreciate the level of detail included in this book. I did need to go back a few times to keep track of all of the names referenced in this book but, I think that just goes to show the extent of impact and connections this couple had.

Overall, while this book was different from The Postcard, I still think it was an excellent read to continue on with, with these authors and their family. As mentioned before, this book would be well appreciated and I think enjoyed by art and music history fans, along with historical fiction fans. I look forward to seeing what others think when this is published and to revisiting this work again in the future!

This is an interesting historical fiction novel. The story did cover a love affair, although much of the novel read like a "who's who" in the art world during that time period, which is not the type of novel I typically read. Interesting how the authors added their own notes/impressions throughout the book. This was an advanced reader copy and I appreciate the opportunity to read this. Love the cover of the book!

Part biography and part historical fiction, I was SO looking forward to reading GABRIELE from Anne Berest (co-written with her sister Claire) because of how much I loved Anne's first book, THE POSTCARD. Like the first one, this too is a book about their family but, for me, the structure of this newer book posed some problems.

The focus of this story are the authors' great grandparents - the French artist Francis Picabia (1879-1953) and the writer Gabriële Buffet (1881-1985). Both are deeply self-absorbed iconoclasts who meet, fall in love, and marry in the early years of the 20th century.

Buffet is a brilliant musician-composer, gifted enough to access some of the educational opportunities usually limited to men. Picabia is a promising artist. Their extremely intense, co-dependent relationship is nothing short of fascinating. Buffet is wife, muse, mother, best friend, and business associate to her husband, allowing him to remain a perennial, self-indulgent adolescent. And, not surprisingly, Buffet winds up giving up her music to attend to the considerable needs of her husband. There's his opium and cocaine use to deal with. And if he were living today, Picabia would likely be diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Part of the avant-guard wave of the early 1900s, Picabia and Buffet wind up having a significant impact on the evolving art world, even though women have second class status in both society and the arts. This is a period when non-representative art styles like Cubism and Dadaism are just emerging. The couple's friends and acquaintances are a who's who of the artistic powerhouses of their day. Like artist Marcel Duchamp, poet Guillaume Apollinaire, arts patron Mabel Dodge, visual artist Man Ray, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, writer Gertrude Stein, painter Marie Laurencin, fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, poet Max Jacob, writer Andre Breton, painter Wassily Kandinsky, and dancer Isadora Duncan. The book takes us deep inside the unpredictability of the art establishment at a time of experimentation and shows us the impact change has on art shows, critic reviews, success and failure.

As the two authors were growing up, their family never spoke of Picabia and Buffet. So, this book is the sisters' attempt to find out about their prominent ancestors. The authors pieced together the story from extensive research, historic writings from various players, and considerable speculation by the authors themselves. This gives the book a kind of anecdotal, episodic style, rather than a continual narrative. What bothered me most, however, was the periodic inclusion of conversations the two authors had with each other while writing the book. The authors were never identified in these conversations and it often took me a while to figure out who was speaking these quoted passages. It felt to me like they interrupted the narrative of the story. I'm the kind of reader who loves to be immersed in a story from a different time period. So these occasional interruptions immediately removed me from the story of Picabia and Buffet. I think it would have worked better to shift the information to a Foreword or concluding Author's Note.

I still recommend GABRIELE, particularly for those with an interest in the arts.

This was a great historical fiction novel, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed about a passionate love affair. It felt like it was supposed to in this universe and that the time-period was well done. I enjoyed the way Anne Berest and Claire Berest wrote this and can't wait to read more from them as this was really well done.

his was s uch a good and moving book! It read like thriller but also was extremely informative with all of the researching the main character is doing. It kept me on the edge of my seat, rooting for our main character to get everything to work out, i loved it and havent read a book like this one!!!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!