The Matisse Stories

First edition. 12mo. Pp. [viii], 135, [1 (blank)]. Black cloth boards, lettered in gilt to front and spine; navy endpapers. Jacket design by Andrea Pinnington.

Signed by Author to title-page.

Three stories (two of which originally appeared in The New Yorker), "Medusa's Ankles", "Art Work", and "The Chinese Lobster", each touched in a different way by the paintings of Henri Matisse, with three of his line drawings as illustrations. A distinguished professional reflects on her own faded beauty; a harried housewife attempts to release her creativity; and an anorexic art student ponders suicide while confronting Matisse's nudes. In 2008, The Times newspaper named Byatt among their list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.