Painted Kiss

Gustav Klimt, one of the great painters of fin de sicle Austriaand the subject of Helen Mirrens latest film, Woman in Goldtakes center stage in this passionate and atmospheric debut novel, which reimagines the tumultuous relationship between the Viennese painter and Emilie Flge, the woman who posed for his masterpiece The Kiss, and whose name he uttered with his dying breath.Vienna in 1886 was a city of elegant cafs, grand opera houses, and a thriving and adventurous artistic community. It is here where the twelve-year-old Emilie meets the controversial libertine and painter. Hired by her bourgeois father for basic drawing lessons, Klimt introduces Emilie to a subculture of dissolute artists, wanton models, and decadent patrons that both terrifies and inspires her. The Painted Kiss follows Emilie as she blossoms from a nave young girl to one of Europe's most exclusive couturiersand Klimt's most beloved model and mistress. A provocative love story that brings to life Vienna's cultural milieu, The Painted Kiss is as compelling as a work by Klimt himself.