The Flames – the debut novel from Sophie Haydock about the four ‘muses’ who posed for the artist Egon Schiele – is out now
“Completely convincing and utterly compelling, The Flames gives vivid voice to four muses who refuse to be remembered as just that. Haydock is a writer to watch”
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ABOUT SOPHIE
Sophie Haydock is an author, editor and journalist (Sunday Times, Financial Times, Guardian), based in Folkestone, Kent. She is also curator of Folkestone Book Festival.
Her debut novel, The Flames – about the women who posed for the scandalous artist Egon Schiele in Vienna a century ago – was longlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown Award and won the Impress Prize for New Writers.
The Flames has been translated into seven languages and named by The Times as one of the Best Historical Fiction Books of 2022. The Italian translation, Le Fiamme, won the Premio Letterario Edoardo Kihlgren for debut novel in Milan, 2024.
Sophie trained as a journalist at City University, London, and has interviewed leading authors, including Hilary Mantel (pictured above), Maggie O’Farrell, Bernardine Evaristo, Sally Rooney and Amy Tan.
Sophie also worked for the Sunday Times Short Story Award and is associate director of the Word Factory. She is a judge for various short story competitions, including Bath Short Story Award and Society of Authors' ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award. Her own story, Mudlarks, was recently broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and is available to listen to online.
Her second novel, Madame Matisse, about the women who were integral to the life of the French artist Henri Matisse, will be published by Doubleday in March 2025.
A confident public speaker, Sophie regularly features on podcasts, appears at literary festivals including Hay and Cheltenham, and speaks to large audiences about art and literature at venues such as the National Gallery, Sotheby's and The Trouble Club. She’s available to interview other authors and has done so for live events at Hatchards and Fane productions.
Sophie is represented by Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment.
Her Instagram account @egonschieleswomen – dedicated to the women who posed for Egon Schiele – has a community of over 110,000 followers.
THE FLAMES:
This is the story of four muses. Let them speak
Bodies have their own light,
which they consume to live:
they burn, they are not
lit from the outside
Egon Schiele, 1912
What do you have left, if you only ever loved one man, with everything you possess? And how do you prove that you ever lived at all, if all you can point to, is a painting in a gallery?
The Flames is the previously untold story of four real women, living in Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century – at that tipping point in time when the greatness and grandeur of the past threatens to collapse – as they enter the dizzying, dangerous orbit of the artist Egon Schiele.
Each woman models for the charismatic young man – Egon’s fiery sibling, Gertrude Schiele, his spirited mistress Vally Neuzil, and the beguiling sisters who live across the street, Edith and Adele Harms, both of whom vie to become his wife. Under his gaze, each strike provocative poses, removing layer after layer, leaving little to the imagination. Of course, there’s more to these muses than meets the eye.
But the artist carries demons from his past that could destroy everything. Must he sacrifice everyone he loves to succeed? Beneath his confident brushstrokes, ensnared in the pigment, are secrets of heartbreak, deception and betrayal that finally come to the surface.
Over the course of a decade, the four women risk everything – their reputations, their most precious relationships, their sanity and souls – as they try to hold on to the man they each love. As the First World War throws their lives off course forever, and the Spanish influenza pandemic ravages Europe, threatening everyone in its path, one question remains: will any of them emerge unscathed?
This is a story of how we hurt those we love the most, and the danger of our delusions.
The Flames is published in the UK by Doubleday / Penguin Random House
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“The Flames paints a history so detailed and vivid that we feel we were there in the flesh. A book to get lost in, a great feat of a debut”
“I knew nothing of Egon Schiele. I’m now obsessed, and heartbroken. An unforgettable book about wanting more for ourselves than we are told we are allowed”
“MAGNIFICENT. Feels destined to be a classic - exquisitely crafted and so absorbing. I loved it and REFUSE to accept it is a debut. It’s simply too good”
“Thought provoking, illuminating and fascinating - I so enjoyed discovering the world and the women behind works of art I adore”
“Full of scandal, love, betrayal, and heartache ... Adele, Gertrude, Vally and Edith are given voices loud and clear”
“The four women who loved Egon Schiele come back to life, combining an exquisite sense of place and era with a passion and sensuality that transcend time altogether”
“The story of Egon Schiele’s women will no doubt move its readers to tears”
“Both fascinating and compelling. I loved all four women... and the final scenes with Egon were truly extraordinary”
Are you in a book club?
I’m happy to send over a list of questions, or answer yours, by email or Zoom. Send me an email!
Would you like a copy of The Flames signed, and sent anywhere in the world?
Send me a message by email, and I can give a quote for the cost of the book + p&p
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