“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”
Sophie Haydock is an award-winning author living in east London.
Her debut novel, The Flames, about the four muses who posed for the artist Egon Schiele in Vienna more than 100 years ago, won the Impress Prize for New Writers. It will be published by Doubleday / Penguin Random House in March 2022 and translated into several languages.
Sophie trained as a journalist at City University, London, and has worked at the Sunday Times Magazine, Tatler and BBC Three, as well as writing for publications including the Financial Times, Guardian Weekend magazine, Arts Council, Royal Academy and Sotheby’s.
She interviews leading authors including Hilary Mantel (pictured with Sophie, above), Maggie O’Farrell, Bernardine Evaristo, Sally Rooney and Amy Tan.
Passionate about short stories, Sophie also works as a digital editor for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award and is associate director of the Word Factory literary organisation. She is a first reader and judge for various writing competitions and hosts her own short story club.
Sophie is represented by Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment and is currently working on her second novel.
Her Instagram account @egonschieleswomen – dedicated to the women who posed for Egon Schiele – has a community of over 100,000 followers.
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 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
