The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris by Marc Petitjean: book review

The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris (2020) is set in Paris in 1939.

Marc Petitjean is the son of Michel Petitjean, the man who briefly dated Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in Paris.

In 1939, Frida Kahlo is 31 years old. Her artist husband Diego Rivera had an affair with Frida’s sister in 1934, and now Frida has just heard that he intends to divorce her. Michel is 29 years old, an ‘ethnologist, agronomist, left-wing militant, and journalist who moved in artistic social circles.’

The Heartrefers to one of Frida’s paintings that she gave to Michel Petitjean. She also dedicated another self-portrait to him in 1939 – one of her with a spider monkey. But, in 1939, Frida Kahlo was not yet an internationally famous artist – she was the wife of the famous Diego Rivera.

So, this autobiographical novel is about the brief, but intense, romance between Frida and Michel, in which she literally gave him her heart; her wounded, betrayed, bleeding heart.

Frida is staying at the Hotel Regina near the Louvre, and has a solo exhibition from 10-25 March. She is finishing her artwork for Oscar Wilde.

Michel remembers the first night with Frida, because it was ‘the day Barcelona fell’ in the Spanish Civil War. Sharing the same passions as Frida, the author’s father gives Frida a whirlwind tour of Paris.

Frida arrived in France, at the arrangement of French artist Andre Breton, on 21 January 1939. She left on 24 March. In two months, little is actually known of the love affair between Frida and Michel, but the author attempts to piece together the events from his father’s letters to her.

Detached from her husband, her art, and her homeland, Frida is pained, internally and externally, but open to passion during her only trip to Europe. This is interesting for its historical context, and for its intimacy.

MARTINA NICOLLS

SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog