This week’s reviews focus on the complicated aspects of love and relationships with Jeanne Mackin’s “Picasso’s Lovers” and Annie Liontas’s “Sex With a Brain Injury.”
PICASSO’S LOVERS
by Jeanne Mackin
Published by Berkley ( January 23, 2024)
Paperback $17.00
Audiobook $15.75
Reviewed by Penny A Parrish
BOOK REVIEWER
Last fall, I visited the Picasso Museum in Paris for the first time. Bad timing on my part. It was the 50th anniversary of his death, so most of his works had been loaned to other galleries and museums around the world. Still, I was able to see several of his sculptures and paintings, giving me a better understanding of the breadth of his work.
In this book of historical fiction, Mackin brings us into his world of art and the women who inspired, tormented and were abused by him. We begin in Paris in 1953, with Irene Lagut, who was Pablo’s mistress yet refused to marry him. An artist herself, she knew she would be forever in his shadow if she committed to him. She reminisces about their years together, his art, his women, his politics, and their final day together.
From there we move to New York in 1953, where we meet struggling journalist Alana Olsen. She had just lost Marti, her beloved mother. Marti was an enigma, sharing almost nothing of her life before Alana. But they did share a love of Picasso, visiting museums and galleries together. When the editor of an art magazine suggests Alana write an article on Picasso, she suggests other topics. But she is told it’s Picasso or nothing.
In her mother’s desk, Alana finds a newspaper article about Sara and Gerald Murphy, friends of Picasso, Cole Porter, and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. They all stayed together in Antibes on the French Riviera in 1923. Alana finds that Sara now lives in upstate New York and goes to visit her. Their conversation gives her insight into the artist, but also raises many questions about what went on that summer. Alana visits Sara several times, thinking she has enough information to write her article. But the editor finds it lacking one important aspect: there are no quotes from Picasso. She ends up selling her mother’s beloved VW to fund a trip to France and to try to find the reclusive artist himself.
The author has based her novel on several historical figures, including Picasso, his wives and his lovers. The group in Antibes was also real. Her research into which women were with Picasso when he did various forms of art is fascinating. History, from the Nazis to the McCarthy hearings are also woven into this richly textured story of art and love – between mothers and children, between husbands and wives, and between artists and their muses.
Penny A Parrish is a long-time book reviewer and artist. Learn more about her by visiting her page at Brush Strokes Gallery, which is in downtown Fredericksburg.
SEX WITH A BRAIN INJURY
By Annie Liontas
Published by Scribner (January 16, 2024)
Hardcover $18.00
Audiobook $13.12
Reviewed by Ashley Riggleson
BOOK REVIEWER
It is only the beginning of February, so perhaps it does not say much to pick a favorite book of the year. But I read and loved Annie Liontas’ debut essay collection, Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery.
Readers quickly learn that Liontas suffered three concussions over the course of a year, and while readers would probably expect Liontas to be largely unaffected after a few days’ recovery, this is not the case. Instead, Liontas suffers a variety of side effects, including but not limited to confusion, sensory overload, and periods of inexplicable rage.
Since her injuries did not show up on brain scans, they were considered mild. So, despite her grave suffering, most people did not believe she was injured at all. As time goes on, her supposedly mild injuries impact her life in a variety of ways. She struggles to do her job to the standard she had been able to before, she is, by necessity, often isolated from others, and her marriage also begins to suffer.
Liontas talks about all of this in Sex with a Brain Injury, bravely laying bare the extent of the emotional harm she and her wife went through as they tried to come to terms with Liontas’ new limitations. As such, many of these essays will engage readers’ emotions and sense of empathy. I felt a full spectrum of emotions over the course of this book. I cried with her, I was infuriated for her, and though I hoped she would come to a sense of peace in the end, I worried for her.
Many readers would, perhaps, like to look away from a story like this, but Liontas refuses to let us ignore her pain. Instead, she brings her considerable emotional intelligence to a difficult but necessary discussion about invisible but chronic illness.
Additionally, although many of the essays have a memoir-like quality, she also discusses the systemic issues that can arise from injuries of this nature. One particularly memorable essay, for instance, explores the not inconsiderable link between head injuries and mass incarceration. Here, she makes the case that, often, our society punishes the sick and injured instead of treating them.
She also explores the link between untreated head injuries and suicide, and of course, no discussion about head injuries would be complete without a look at the sports arena. All these topics are explored in depth, but without losing her engaging and accessible voice.
And, though Liontas is disabled herself, she also recognizes that she has a certain amount of privilege, since she can afford treatment for her condition.
My verdict: getting Sex with a Brain Injury into readers’ hands is vital. I hope many people read it this year. Because, although head injuries are not often discussed, they impact our lives more than we realize, and Annie Liontas’ voice deserves to be heard.
Ashley Riggleson is a free-lance book reviewer from Rappahannock County. When she is not reading or writing book reviews, she can usually be found playing with her pets, listening to podcasts, or watching television with friends and family.
