{"product_id":"i-am-madame-x-9780743456807","title":"I Am Madame X","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn intriguing and absorbing novel about the life of Virginie Gautreau, the subject of John Singer Sargent's most famous portrait \u003ci\u003eMadame X\u003c\/i\u003e, which scandalized the 1884 Paris Salon--perfect for fans of the bestselling \u003ci\u003eGirl with a Pearl Earring\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen John Singer Sargent unveiled \u003ci\u003eMadame X--\u003c\/i\u003ehis famous portrait of twenty-three-year-old American beauty Virginie Gautreau--at the 1884 Paris Salon, its subject's bold pose, bare shoulders, and provocative dress shocked the public and the critics, who found the portrait displaying Virginie's blatant sexuality bizarre, artificial, and unwholesome. The scandal destroyed Sargent's dreams of a career in Paris, forcing him to flee to England. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this remarkable novel, Gioia Diliberto imagines Virginie's side of the story, drawing on the few known historical facts to re-create Virginie's tempestuous personality and the captivating milieu of nineteenth-century Paris. Born in New Orleans and raised on a lush plantation, Virginie fled to France during the Civil War, where she was absorbed into the fascinating and wealthy world of grand ballrooms, dressmakers' salons, and artists' ateliers. Even before Sargent painted her portrait, Virginie's reputation for promiscuity and showy self-display made her the subject of vicious Paris gossip. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eImmersing the reader in Belle Epoque Paris, \u003ci\u003eI Am Madame X\u003c\/i\u003e is a compulsively readable and richly imagined novel illuminating the struggle between Virginie and Sargent over the outcome of a painting that changed their lives and affected the course of art history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGioia Diliberto has written biographies of Jane Addams, Hadley Hemingway, and Brenda Frazier, as well as the critically acclaimed novels \u003ci\u003eI Am Madame X \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e The Collection\u003c\/i\u003e. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Scribner Book Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50503755104530,"sku":"9780743456807","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_0d93aa69-d0a1-4e1e-afbf-2c6d0b489ff7.jpg?v=1730797379","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/i-am-madame-x-9780743456807","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}