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The Lady and the Unicorn

by Tracy Chevalier (Goodreads Author)

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 19,454 ratings · 1,037 reviews

A tour de force of history and imagination, The Lady and the Unicorn is Tracy Chevalier’s answer to the mystery behind one of the art world’s great masterpieces—a set of bewitching medieval tapestries that hangs today in the Cluny Museum in Paris. They appear to portray the seduction of a unicorn, but the story behind their making is unknown—until now.

Paris, 1490. A shrewd...more

Paperback, 250 pages

Published December 28th 2004 by Plume (first published December 29th 2003)

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Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier

Art & Artists in Fiction

5th out of 305 books — 485 voters

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

Best Historical Fiction

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Community Reviews

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Feb 10, 2012 Madeleine rated it 1 of 5 stars

Fascinating subject matter, truly terrible writing! It read, at times, like a lousy bodice-ripper romance novel! There were passages that made me cringe and gag over the dialogue and the descriptions of the love scenes. For something written by a female author, I was startled at how shallow the explorations were into the possible thoughts and feelings of the female characters. It was just bad! However, I did enjoy the descriptions of how the tapestries were made, and I eventually got to the end...more

19 likes · like · see review

Apr 10, 2008 Julie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, from-library

In the same vein as her book Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Lady and the Unicorn is a fictional account of the story surrounding the creation of the famed Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries, now housed at the Musee national du Moyen-Age (Musee Cluny) in Paris. This topic was particularly intriguing to me, since I'd seen the tapestries in person back in 2001.

While the book provides a really interesting up-close look at the design and weaving processes, I could have done with out the rest of the stor...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Cenoura do Lado rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Laura Ana T.

Shelves: all, favorites, 2004

Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful!
I found Lady and the Unicorn even better than Girl with a Pearl Earring. I felt utterly transported to the middle ages and immersed in a very good tale, immaculately told.
As she did with The Girl With the Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier takes a classic work of art and artfully spins a tale inspired by the original which becomes an original itself.
It was specially fascinating living among the Brussels weavers and coming to understand the magnitude of their task. One...more

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Jun 08, 2011 Helvry Sinaga rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eropa, tracy-chevalier

Sekumpulan permadani ditemukan pada tahun 1841 oleh Prosper Mérimée, seorang dramawan, sejarawan, dan arkeolog Prancis bersama dengan temannya, George Sand. Mereka menemukannya ketika menginap di Château de Boussac Prancis tengah. Ternyata permadani itu bukan sembarang permadani, itu adalah permadani dari abad pertengahan yang akhirnya membawa kontribusi besar pada sejarah abad pertengahan Prancis.

Siapa sebenarnya perancang atau pembuat permadani ini sebenarnya tidak diketahui. Tracy Chevalier '...more

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Jul 24, 2007 katherine brown rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who want to waste their time on a terrible book

What I learned from this book is I should never ever read anything by this author ever again. A friend of mine was enthralled by The Virgin Blue and requested I read it. Although I hated it I thought I'd possibly give The Lady and the Unicorn a chance since I love art history. Sadly, I cannot say I liked a single thing about this book. I hated the plot, story, characters and writing style. Hated.

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Dec 14, 2008 Yana rated it 4 of 5 stars

A set of medievel tapestries hang today in a chamber in Paris,portaying a women's seduction of a unicorn. The story behind the tapestry is unknown, but Tracy Chevalier weaves fact and fiction to help us unfold the story with her book,"The Lady and the Unicorn".
The story takes place in 1490, Paris about a French nobleman who commisions six tapestries to be made, celebrating his rising status in court. He hires Nicolas des Innocents to design them, but Nicolas adds his own twist to the work and...more

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May 05, 2008 Kelsey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tracy Chevalier
The Lady and the Unicorn
New York: Penguin, 2004
250 pp. $23.95
0-525-94767-1
“The Lady and the Unicorn,” written by Tracy Chevalier, is a historical fiction novel about medieval French tapestries which depict a woman seducing a unicorn. Although not much is known about the tapestries, Tracy Chevalier has written an excellent love story based on the few known facts. Jean Le Viste, a French nobleman, commissions a Parisian painter, Nicolas des Innocents, to create a set of six tapestri...more Tracy Chevalier
The Lady and the Unicorn
New York: Penguin, 2004
250 pp. $23.95
0-525-94767-1
“The Lady and the Unicorn,” written by Tracy Chevalier, is a historical fiction novel about medieval French tapestries which depict a woman seducing a unicorn. Although not much is known about the tapestries, Tracy Chevalier has written an excellent love story based on the few known facts. Jean Le Viste, a French nobleman, commissions a Parisian painter, Nicolas des Innocents, to create a set of six tapestries. Set in France, the story travels between Paris and Brussels, where the tapestries are being weaved. Meanwhile Nicolas becomes caught between three women, yet the one he loves most is Claude, the daughter of Jean Le Viste. However they are separated by society, prohibited to even walk on the same side of the street together. Because of pressures from family, Claude undergoes an emotional transformation throughout the novel.
Being the first born, Claude plays a crucial role in securing the Le Viste name around the Court. Jean Le Viste was not born to noble status, rather he earned his way in. To maintain the family name Claude must marry into another royal family, causing her parents to shelter her from ineligible men. Nicolas des Innocents is popular with the ladies and becomes very fond of Claude during several encounters at the Le Viste household. When Jean Le Viste’s wife, Genevieve De Nanterre, sees that Claude has fallen in love with Nicolas, she does everything in her power to isolate them from each other. She states, “Claude knows only too well how valuable her maidenhead is to the Le Vistes-she must be intact for a worthy man to marry her” (Chevalier 56). But to ensure Claude will not lose her maidenhead, Genevieve De Nanterre banishes Claude to the convent until she is to become betrothed.
While at the convent Claude spends numerous months in solidarity, reflecting on her love for Nicolas. There she lives modestly, sleeping on a straw mattress surely not fit for a queen. Though joining the convent is truly her mother’s dream, not Claude’s. Genevieve De Nanterre thinks, “It would be a mercy to let me enter a convent” (51). Genevieve dreams of entering the convent someday, and to be free from her loveless marriage. When Claude is welcomed back home for her engagement party, she stubbles upon Nicolas. Nonetheless he has already noticed she is not the same person she used to be, recalling, “Her eyes were still like quinces but they were not as lively as they had been” (239). Claude’s stay at the convent had mellowed her soul and all enthusiasm had been lost.
“The Lady and the Unicorn” is an exciting tale of secret love. Chevalier does an exceptional job combining French vocabulary, French culture, and imagery to portray a reliable account of what might have been during the time period. The emotional changes Claude faces during the story sheds light on pressures felt from family and society and the different standards noblewomen are held to.
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Jan 18, 2008 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction, historical

Jean Le Viste commissions painter Nicholas des Innocents to design six tapestries that will be hung in a grand hall within his magnificent Paris home. Jean is a conniving, deviously ambitious nobleman with a depressed wife and three daughters. The oldest daughter, Claude is beautiful and falls head over heals for Nicholas. Of course, this love is not meant to be, as Claude is nobility and Nicholas is just a mere painter, not to mention a womanizer and scoundrel, yet he is deliciously appealing....more

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Mar 09, 2013 Laney rated it 4 of 5 stars

Have you ever stood in an art gallery, and found your eye perpetually caught by a single figure? You stand and wonder to yourself, to the two-dimensional creature in from of you: who were you? What face, if any, inspired the artist to create you? Were you simply a creation from air? This is inevitably the inspiration for each of Chevalier's works, including the beautiful and tightly written "Girl with a Pearl Earring."

In this novel, Tracy Chevalier, creates an entire fictional history to answer...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Maz Loton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow! I'm not sure that words alone will be enough to express just how amazing this book is. As someone that has read all of Chevalier's books and loved every one, it is hard to believe that she could do it again. Yet she has, as unsurprisingly she has not failed to deliver yet another stunning novel written with the passion and grace one would expect from such a fine writer.
Once again this is an historical fiction, a genre Chevalier seems to have made her own. The Lady and the Unicorn is written...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Donna LaValley rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book has been widely read and reviewed, so there's no need for me to say very much except that I enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who likes historically set novels.

Readers who enjoy books about the Middle Ages in Europe, books about art and artists, and tapestries in particular, will be especially interested. This one takes place in the 1490's in Paris where the large, wall-size tapestries were commissioned, conceived, sketched, and painted; then the action moves to Brussels whe...more

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Oct 09, 2012 Nicoleta rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 10, 2012 Callie S. rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Se c'è una cosa che vivo come un insulto personale è un brutto libro, a maggior ragione se a scriverlo è stato un autore che ho avuto modo di apprezzare in passato con pagine di ben altro livello. Con "La dama e l'unicorno", Tracy Chevalier è riuscita a tediarmi come non capitava da un pezzo, offrendo una storia del tutto spoglia di suggestioni, affollata di macchiette bidimensionali, e mutilata da un finale talmente scontato che lo si indovina prima della centesima pagina. Dall'artista donnaiol...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Sarah B. rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: given-away

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I wanted to give this book 1½ stars, but rounded down to 1. I disliked the main character, the tapestry painter Nicolas des Innocents, by page 10, but I assumed that the author would have him grow and change as a person by the end of the book -- presumably through the process of creating the remarkable tapestries that inspired the novel. Sure, it's an obvious and almost cliché plot, but I don't need a crazy original plot in order to enjoy a book. Disappointed! He is still a pig at the end of the...more I wanted to give this book 1½ stars, but rounded down to 1. I disliked the main character, the tapestry painter Nicolas des Innocents, by page 10, but I assumed that the author would have him grow and change as a person by the end of the book -- presumably through the process of creating the remarkable tapestries that inspired the novel. Sure, it's an obvious and almost cliché plot, but I don't need a crazy original plot in order to enjoy a book. Disappointed! He is still a pig at the end of the story (that's my spoiler, btw).

There are two young women in the book: Claude, who is the daughter of the nobleman who commissioned the titular tapestries, and who is grumpy and horny and apparently would rather fool around with the slimy Nicolas des Innocents than have any worthwhile future; and Aliénor, the blind weaver's daughter, who is going to be married off to a disgusting brute whose smell literally makes her gag. Both of them have fathers who don't care about them or undervalue them, and mothers who basically care more about their virginity than their happiness.

I know life was very bad for women in the 15th century. But when I pick up a book set in that time, I expect the author to have worked around that problem and given me some way to live with the disgusting attitudes and expectations that the characters face. Again, I was disappointed here. This passage, in which the Claude's mother Geneviève de Nanterre has just discovered that Claude has been fooling around with the despicable Nicolas, gives you all you need to know about the inner life of the women in this book:

I gritted my teeth. Claude knows only too well how valuable her maidenhead is to the Le Vistes -- she must be intact for a worthy man to marry her. Her husband will inherit the Le Viste wealth one day, if not the name. The house on the rue du Four, the Château d'Arcy, the furniture, the jewels, even the tapestries Jean is having made -- all will go to Claude's husband. Jean will have chosen him carefully, and the husband in turn will expect Claude to be pious, respectful, admired, and a virgin, of course. If her father had caught her...I shivered.

Of course it would be anachronistic for Chevalier to have written women who could be self-aware or expect anything other than the treatment they got, but to reduce the whole plot to the worst aspects of their lives -- not just their subjugation to men or the reduction of their value to just whether or not they are pure, but also the ruination of unwanted pregnancy and complete lack of education other than religious study -- was just depressing. And it wasn't enlightening-depressing, like My Jim: A Novel, because it was bodice-rippy enough that I think we were supposed to be titillated and amused by all the bawdiness even as it ruined or threatened to ruin almost every female character in the novel. And contrasting the oppressive atmosphere that controlled literally every moment of Claude's life was the gallingly self-centred Nicolas, who waltzed through the novel with complete liberty, consuming women for his own pleasure and then leaving them (and their children) behind once they have served his purpose. Wow, I really hated this book! Forget the half star, this was just a 1.(less)

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Feb 04, 2012 Ellie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was actually rather surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this since I'm not usually a fan of stories that try to recreate history. I thought this book was beautifully written. The descriptions were rich but easy to go through, and the plot moved along at a pretty good pace. I do agree with some of the reviews that the characters were not entirely original, but I ended up liking most of them anyway. I thought the characters had just enough depth without being overly complex.

I think the part...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Jacquelynn Luben rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I read Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, I felt that she was building up the story, as an artist adds paint to the canvas, and similarly The Lady and the Unicorn seemed crafted, each chapter created like the tapestries described in the story, and carefully joined together.

Each tapestry represents one of the senses, and (according to the story), each of the women who appears with a lion and a unicorn on either side of her is a different one that Nicolas, the artist, comes in cont...more When I read Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, I felt that she was building up the story, as an artist adds paint to the canvas, and similarly The Lady and the Unicorn seemed crafted, each chapter created like the tapestries described in the story, and carefully joined together.

Each tapestry represents one of the senses, and (according to the story), each of the women who appears with a lion and a unicorn on either side of her is a different one that Nicolas, the artist, comes in contact with during the course of the story, which takes place in Paris and Brussels. The tapestries can also be interpreted as a seduction between the lady and a man - represented by the unicorn.

As an author, it was fascinating to see how Tracy Chevalier had conjured up a story from the tapestries, using some of the real people to populate the book, along with her fictional characters. Each of the main characters related their own story or feelings in the first person, and that gave the reader an intimate relationship with each of them.

At the beginning, I did not like either the artist, Nicolas or Claude, the nobleman’s daughter - she a spoiled brat, he an arrogant womaniser; I felt that, like another review I read, he was shown as being too bad at the beginning of the book, to change so much, for later, I felt he was much more caring than at first sight. Claude’s character did not change so much, but was redeemed to a certain extent by her relationship to the young child of a serving girl. Alienor, the blind daughter of the Brussels weaver, inspired empathy and affection, and it was she I was most concerned about.

The factual details of weaving and the insight given into the lives of people in that period were fascinating, but for me it is always human relationships that rule the day. Would Nicolas end up with Claude, or Alienor? Would Alienor marry Nicolas, or Jacques le Boeuf, or Philipe? The meanings in the tapestries, for which, artist Nicolas had used the women he knew as unknowing models, seemed to give clues, but frequently led me up the wrong path.

I was delighted that the tapestries were included as part of the book, because I referred to them many times. At the end of the book, however, I did go onto the internet, and saw the complete tapestries, for the lion is left out of the pictures in the book - it is the lady and unicorn who are most important.

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Nov 20, 2011 Trisha rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: life-is-too-short-to-read-bad-books

It used to be that once I started a book I felt compelled to finish it no matter what. Thank goodness I have since decided that life is too short to read bad books! Otherwise I would have suffered my way through to the end of this book knowing all the while that I would have been better off abandoning it early on. Granted, the subject matter is intriguing – the series of six tapestries that were woven in Flanders from designs created in Paris in the late 15th century. And to be fair, the book di...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Yvonne Boag rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical

I have to say I was disappointed in The Lady and the Unicorn. I have read many of Tracy Chevalier's other books and loved them but this missed the mark for me, more due to character development rather then plot. The book is a fictional account of how the tapestries could have been created. In Paris we have Nicholas des Innocents who is commissioned to paint the design for six tapestries. He falls in lust with the oldest daughter is the family and tries to seduce her, this is after already gettin...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Laura Droege rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical

In the late 15th century, a wealthy nobleman commissions a set of woven tapestries for his home. The designer, a portraitist known for his miniatures of court ladies and his seductions of the aforesaid ladies, creates designs of a lady seducing a unicorn. He also wreaks havoc among the female members of the household. Once the designs are approved, he moves north to supervise the weaving of the tapestries, where he also manages to wreak havoc of a different sort.

The book is well written. Chevali...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Alvi Harahap rated it 4 of 5 stars

The inspiration behind this historical fiction novel is the very real set of medieval tapestries depicting the seduction of a unicorn currently on display in a Paris museum. This is my first novel by Tracy Chevalier and I was instantly captivated by the subject matter and wanted to know how the author would approach the subject, given there is little known about the creation of the magnificent tapestries.

The Lady and the Unicorn is a quick read, and very rich in period detail. The story begins i...more

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Nov 04, 2010 Morticia Adams rated it 2 of 5 stars

I hope someone has pointed out to Tracy Chevalier that if you are going to have seven different narrators for your story, you really need to give each of them a distinctive voice. This is a major failing of this novel, which I found plodding and flat, and lacking in any genuine exploration of character or motivation. The harsh working lives of the weavers are described in some detail but the description doesn't connect with the characters. And also, if you are going to use the first person in a...more

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Aug 21, 2010 Jean Marie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction-french

Sometimes it's those little books that you find on the discount shelf for $2 that are the best. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into with this book, I had never heard of these tapestries before I read the book.
The books mixes the fiction and the history incredibly well so well that I found myself looking up the names to see if they were purely fiction or had actually lived. The main character, aside from the tapestries themselves, Nicolas de Innocents is the painter of the origin...more

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Nov 14, 2009 Aimee rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Lady and the Unicorn is the second book I've borrowed for a test drive from author Tracy Chevalier, after seeing her give a fantastic, comfortable yet commanding talk on the inspiration behind her novels at the Brisbane Writer's Festival earlier this year (the first book I delved into was Remarkable Creatures - you can find my review HERE).

The Lady and the Unicorn, despite my initial reservations cultivated by some earlier disappointed reviewers, did not disappoint me.

I found it to be an el...more The Lady and the Unicorn is the second book I've borrowed for a test drive from author Tracy Chevalier, after seeing her give a fantastic, comfortable yet commanding talk on the inspiration behind her novels at the Brisbane Writer's Festival earlier this year (the first book I delved into was Remarkable Creatures - you can find my review HERE).

The Lady and the Unicorn, despite my initial reservations cultivated by some earlier disappointed reviewers, did not disappoint me.

I found it to be an elegant read, similar to how I felt about Remarkable Creatures, yet this is where the comparison of the two novels ends for me - The Lady and the Unicorn is decidedly Parisian (more sensual!) and takes place in the late 15th Century, where a series of six tapestries presses within its folds the desires and loves and frustrations of those involved in the tapestries' creation.
The Lady and the Unicorn begins at the commissioning of the artwork - Nicholas Des Innocent (ironically named, considering his Don Juan characteristics) is a French artist employed by a French noble, who has requested the erection of a battle scene tapestry for his living room/ banquet area. After Nicholas the artist meets the French noble's serene wife and her five comely daughters, the idea of a battle scene is persuasively altered to a work of more peaceful beauty - a set of six separate tapestries, each with a beautiful maiden representing the five senses of the physical human body (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch) through individual interactions with a lone white unicorn, complete a rather sizeable and sharp horn on its brow. The sixth maiden is separate from the rest and does not represent any of the senses - it heralds a sense of stability and freedom that the reader may find missing in the other five tapestry creations as they shift and alter through to the final display.
The symbolism of the tapestries and the way in which the artist has rebelled against the class norm to declare his lusty passions for the nobleman's daughter through the artwork, is not unlike Chevalier's rebellion against a usual novel structure with its one protagonist. Before this novel is over we will meet other characters influenced by the recklessness of the charismatic artist, and witness the blood, sweat and tears wrung from the unpredictability of life, and change.

The tapestries themselves aren't fiction - they've collectively become known in modern times as The Lady and the Unicorn, and according to Wikipedia is considered to be the greatest masterpiece of the medieval age. I didn't know much about this incredibly detailed tapestry to begin with - but I feel now that I'd be happy to research further: Chevalier has given the artwork a story of vibrancy that I wonder whether a museum viewing of the tapestries would have been able to adequately convey.
The author has deftly spun a storyline arc that plaits perspectives and lives in and over one another throughout the novel, and the book appears to be a social study of class and duty, of lust and love and responsibilities. Yet Chevalier's true triumph is her ability to write historical books that are driven by the details of life's inner workings, rather than a catastrophic event that a character can have no control over. The Lady and the Unicorn picks at relationships and exposes how they can be threaded together, or broken with the snip of scissors, or even covered or painted over to make way for something entirely different -the tapestries' supposed innocence and peaceful sweetness barely covers the heady desires and insensible impulses of the novel's passionate characters.

It wouldn't be entirely true to call this story a work of historical fiction. And Chevalier is not an historian either. More, she is a photographer and a painter, a psychologist with imagination, as she creates and moulds a sense of the lives and the relationships lived by a handful of not-so-simple people in a snapshot of time. And I enjoyed the book mostly for its complex characters and complex life changes, and somewhat simple solutions. But I also appreciated its subtle undercurrents - as if you can never take what the book is saying at face value.

Strangely sensual, sometimes rude and sometimes sweetly poignant, this story lifts and falls naturally much like the heaving bosom Nicholas Des Innocents constantly fantasises about. Its steady rhythm and pace keeps one involved in the story itself rather than looking for a climax, or a conclusion, though by the end of the book everyone's loose ends are tied satisfactorily, or not so satisfactorily, depending on how you wanted each character to end up. But isn't that always the way?
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Chevalier is perfectly subtle and wonderfully natural in her writing, and I cannot wait to try her next book if the past two have been anything to go by.
But if there's one particular lesson I take from reading this book, it's this: keep your daughters within eyeshot and your legs primly crossed, for you never know who might be frolicking about under the banquet table, hoping to catch a glimpse of innocence undone. You might not think to lift your skirts for any such creature, but the draw of the magical unicorn's horn can be too powerful for some human maidens to resist.

Rating: 4 faintly-pulsing stars for The Lady and the Unicorn.(less)

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Oct 29, 2009 Alayne Bushey rated it 3 of 5 stars

My initial assessment of The Lady and the Unicorn remained true throughout the rest of the book. It was alright, but not the good piece of historical fiction I was expecting. The best parts were when we’re taken to Brussels (home of the lissier and his family) and get inside the heads of the people who live there. Alienor was my favorite character, she’s charming, stubborn, sympathetic, and independant. She makes her own future to save herself from a dismal life with a man she cannot stand. She...more My initial assessment of The Lady and the Unicorn remained true throughout the rest of the book. It was alright, but not the good piece of historical fiction I was expecting. The best parts were when we’re taken to Brussels (home of the lissier and his family) and get inside the heads of the people who live there. Alienor was my favorite character, she’s charming, stubborn, sympathetic, and independant. She makes her own future to save herself from a dismal life with a man she cannot stand. She is the true central part of this book, but she doesn’t emerge until a third of the way through. If it had been more about her and her family, I think I would have liked it better. We’re intially introduced to Jean Le Viste and his family; his daughter Claude is one of the main characters in the beginning, but a) she’s not very likeable, and b) she disappears for the whole middle section of the book and only surfaces briefly once before the very end. Additionally, the character of Nicolas has some motivational problems. On one hand, he’s an arogant, cheap womanizer who seduces anything with breasts and can’t wait to “plow” Claude in her fathers house. On the other, he’s a likeable, charming, struggling painter who saves Alienor from a life of misery. Make up your mind, fellow. I felt that the language was a little too obnoxious at parts, especially with the times of prayers and the holidays. Sext, May Day, Ascension Day, Candlemas? These mean nothing to me so it’s hard to tell what the real passing of time is. I understand they’re part of the language, so I got over it, but toward the end they resurfaced a lot. And the characters voices and language when they were talking to each other also seemed unrealistic at times. There’s a clear plot device (petite Claude) that is meant to shock the reader; but we’re not stupid and it falls flat. Overall, I wasn’t a fan, nor was I wholly disappointed with this book. It wouldn’t be the first one I’d recommed, but I’ve read worse.(less)

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May 20, 2009 Patty added it

Shelves: advisoryreading

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 30, 2008 Lindsey rated it 5 of 5 stars

I actually liked this one better than Girl With A Pearl Earring. This book was so detailed and beautiful...it tells the story of how the tapestry depicting The Lady and the Unicorn came to be. I didn't know anything about tapestry making, and this book really goes into detail about it, although not in a boring way.

It's a very romantic book full of sex and corruption and love that cannot be. It looks at the lives of the upper-class in the Middle Ages, but more importantly it looks at the lives o...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, didnt-think-much-of, 15th-century

Was hoping to enjoy The Lady and the Unicorn after reading Burning Bright a few years earlier, which is, to be honest, far superior to this. After the action moves away from the Le Viste family, it kind of goes downhill from there. Nicholas is thoroughly unlikeable as a character (whether this was meant to be deliberate or not, I couldn't tell). The only interesting person was Genevieve de Nanterre. Also, what's the deal with Chevalier missing out on the chance to use Jean Le Viste's narrative v...more

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Nov 22, 2011 lamesalmon rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book reminded me of why I typically try to have as few preconceptions about novels as possible -- I avoid the summaries on the inside flap/back cover, rarely read reviews past the first few lines, and never examine cover art too closely. Otherwise, I start forming expectations of plot lines, style, and tone for the book, and usually end up (perhaps unfairly) disappointed when the book doesn't measure up.

All that to say, I've seen the tapestries on which this book is based, and I was really...more

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Apr 22, 2011 Mia Queen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cerita-cinta, historical-romance

Ini yang disebut dengan a great historical romance novel!

Buku dengan latar belakang Perancis tahun 1490 bercerita tentang Nicholas yang ditugaskan bangsawan kaya untuk membuat permadani demi merayakan kenaikan pangkatnya. Tidak hanya itu novel ini juga menceritakan sepak terjang pelukis berbakat namun genitnya yang tidak ketulungan dengan berbagai wanita yang ia temui. Mulai dari anak bangsawan yang menyewanya sampai anak gadis tukang tenun permadani.

Uniknya, Lady dan Unicorn diceritakan dari su...more Ini yang disebut dengan a great historical romance novel!

Buku dengan latar belakang Perancis tahun 1490 bercerita tentang Nicholas yang ditugaskan bangsawan kaya untuk membuat permadani demi merayakan kenaikan pangkatnya. Tidak hanya itu novel ini juga menceritakan sepak terjang pelukis berbakat namun genitnya yang tidak ketulungan dengan berbagai wanita yang ia temui. Mulai dari anak bangsawan yang menyewanya sampai anak gadis tukang tenun permadani.

Uniknya, Lady dan Unicorn diceritakan dari sudut pandang yang berbeda-beda. Mulai dari sudut pandang Nicholas, Claude (anak Jean le Viste), Genevieve (istri Jean Le Viste), George sang penenun, Alienor (anak sang penenun), Christine (istri sang penenun). Menarik sekaligus cerdas, karena kita bisa melihat masalah dari persepsi yang berbeda-beda dengan benang merahnya proses pembuatan permadani Lady dan Unicorn.

Sudut pandang Nicholas sebagai pembuka cerita lumayan membuat saya terkaget-kaget dengan kalimatnya yang vulgar. No wonder Lady dan Unicorn masuk dalam kategori novel dewasa. Bahkan beberapa kali saya sempat mengernyitkan jidat dan berkata dalam hati,” jiahh, ini pelukis genit banget!” Karakternya yang sombong dan tukang rayu juga bikin saya ingin menendangnya!

Claude lain lagi, gadis muda yang ternyata juga tergila-gila dengan Nicholas. Karakternya kuat dan pemberontak sering membuat ibunya, Genevieve pusing kepala. Padahal Genevieve sendiri sedang bergelut dengan masalahnya sendiri, antara lain perilaku dingin sang suami sejak ia tidak berhasil memberikan anak lelaki dan keinginannya masuk biara yang pada jaman itu tidak memungkinkan, karena istri dari suami yang masih hidup tidak diperkenankan menjadi biarawati.

Setelah Perancis di tahun 1490, penulis mengajak kita berpetualang ke Brussels, tempat George dan keluarganya tinggal. Di sini kita mengenal karakter keluarga penenun dengan lebih jauh, tapi yang paling saya suka ketika Alienor mengambil alih cerita. Anak perempuan satu-satunya George yang dikisahkan buta ternyata jatuh cinta pula dengan Nicholas. Padahal ia sendiri sudah dijodohkan oleh kedua orang tuanya dengan pria lain demi ikatan bisnis.

Kelanjutan kisah Claude – Nicholas – Elianor membuat saya semakin penasaran dengan endingnya. 4 bintang untuk buku pertama karya Tracy Chevalier yang saya baca.

Setelah epilog, ada catatan dari pengarang yang ternyata mengangkat tema ini dari kisah nyata. Jean LeViste ternyata benar-benar ada. Bahkan permadaninya juga! Unicorn dengan penggambaran lima panca indera. Apabila tertarik lebih jauh dengan kisah Lady dan Unicorn, di websitenya tchevalier.com juga ada penjelasan tentang latar belakang Jean Le Viste berikut fotonya, yang menarik lagi di webnya kita juga bisa mengetahui cara pembuatan permadani yang memang diceritakan cukup detil di bukunya. I’m looking forward to read another book from Ms. Chevalier.

Oia satu lagi, buku ini saya dapat dari obral murah Gramedia seharga 10ribu saja!(less)

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Mar 18, 2009 Cara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fun-or-frivolity

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About Tracy Chevalier

Born:
19 October 1962 in Washington, DC. Youngest of 3 children. Father was a photographer for The Washington Post.

Childhood:
Nerdy. Spent a lot of time lying on my bed reading. Favorite authors back then: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madeleine L’Engle, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Joan Aiken, Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander. Book I would have taken to a desert island: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

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“I didn't move. I've learned from years of experience that dogs and falcons and ladies come back to you if you stay where you are.” — 5 people liked it

“Warp threads are thicker than the weft, and made of a coarser wool as well. I think of them as like wives. Their work is not obvious - all you can see are the ridges they make under the colorful weft threads. But if they weren't there, there would be no tapestry. Georges would unravel without me.” — 2 people liked it

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