The Last Nude by Ellis Avery

The Last Nude by Ellis Avery

Riverhead Books, 2012.

Overview: Like Thrity Umrigar's The World We Found that was reviewed here two weeks ago and Carol Anshaw's Carry the One, reviewed last week, The Last Nude is up for a Lambda Literary Award in the Lesbian General Fiction category this year. Its nomination is certainly well-deserved, as it is an amazing novelization of  Tamara de Lempicka, a Polish expat who became a successful Parisian Art Deco painter in 1920s and '30s. The model for some of her best work, Rafaela, was also rumored to be her lover, and it is this much admired but mysterious woman that Avery chooses to be the main voice of her novel. Interestingly enough, de Lempicka's daughter's biography, Passion by Design: The Art and Times of Tamara de Lempicka, claims that Rafaela said, "When I am alone at night, I get crazy. I go out into the street and look for men. I cannot live without a man." Without reading it (I found this quote on a number of blogs, but it was cited on http://www.artistas-americanos.com/biography/lempicaen.html), I don't know whether this is just her daughter trying to deny her mother's bisexuality, but I can assure you that Rafaela is not longing for a man in Avery's novel!

My reaction: This is a fantastic read. It's got all the passion of a romance, but the writing brings the characters and time period to life. The little research I did into de Lempicka's life after finishing the novel was consistent with Avery's account, so I would recommend saving your Googles for later to avoid a spoiler or two! I loved doing that research, though, and looking at the paintings that Avery described with the fictionalized backstory in mind. I was especially drawn to the complexities of the relationship of  this painter/nude model. That is, Tamara is paying Rafaela well, but the intense desire on both of their parts and a spoken agreement makes it clear that she is not paying for the sex. On the other hand, she gets all the pleasure of painting her, and being rewarded both socially and monetarily for doing so, while Rafaela suffers a combination of both pain and desire during her long posing sessions. That power dynamic could get a little icky to me at times, but it definitely kept things interesting!