In One Madder Woman, Dede Crane vividly recreates the life of Berthe Morisot, the sole female member of the renowned group of artists known as the Impressionists. Inspired by true events, One Madder Woman charts her complicated relationship with her sister and rival, Edma, and her tumultuous love affair with Édouard Manet, the charismatic enfant terrible of the Paris Salon, against a backdrop of upheaval and war in mid-19th-century Paris.
One Madder Woman illuminates the stories behind familiar masterpieces, and sketches a life teeming with obstacles defied and conquered by the genius of Morisot. At a time when art was a space completely dominated by men, Morisot upends all expectations of what a “proper woman” should be and manages to carve out her own place in the art world. Crane’s rich prose and lyrical expression bring this revolutionary artistic period to life, in vivid and glorious colour.
"What an enchanting world! Trailblazing artists, smouldering sensuality, and the rare mind of a visual artist who changed the way we see. Every time I left the book, I rushed to return, to be beguiled again by Crane’s deft and painterly vision, and her penetrating exploration of a woman genius at work in a field utterly dominated by men."
"Dede Crane has created a stunning literary portrait of Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot as a groundbreaking artist, feminist and woman-in-love. Crane’s luminous prose lets us feel colours just as Morisot did. I was so invested in the story of this tumultuous and beautiful life that I kept reading one more chapter, then another and another, late into the night."