Frida
The award-winning novel about the colourful and captivating life of Frida Kahlo
Will be published approx. on 24. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-0354-2680-5 (ISBN)
Description
'The portrait of a fascinating, eccentric, and indomitable woman . . . an incandescent novel' Elle
'No author has yet captured Frida's tragic life in words as sensually and passionately as this' Grazia
'Claire Berest writes as captivatingly and vividly as Frida Kahlo painted' Paris Match
WINNER OF ELLE FRANCE'S GRAND PRIX DES LECTRICES.
Perfect for fans of The Artist, The Safekeep, Tracy Chevalier and Ali Smith.
*
This is the story of Diego and Frida, who couldn't live without each other.
They meet at a party. She knows everything about him, about his mythology, and he knows nothing of her, she is nobody.
He is Mexico's greatest artist. She drinks like a sailor, wears flowers in her hair, talks openly about sex, loves attending protests and parties to wake the dead. She is from Coyoacan, twenty years his junior and with a broken spine to boot.
Even when her body is wracked with pain, she paints.
There were two great accidents in her life. The first was when that streetcar hit her . . . but by far the worst was meeting him.
Translated into English for the first time, Claire Berest's award-winning novel is a striking fictional imagining of the vibrant life and tumultuous marriage of one of the world's most beloved artists: Frida Kahlo.
'No author has yet captured Frida's tragic life in words as sensually and passionately as this' Grazia
'Claire Berest writes as captivatingly and vividly as Frida Kahlo painted' Paris Match
WINNER OF ELLE FRANCE'S GRAND PRIX DES LECTRICES.
Perfect for fans of The Artist, The Safekeep, Tracy Chevalier and Ali Smith.
*
This is the story of Diego and Frida, who couldn't live without each other.
They meet at a party. She knows everything about him, about his mythology, and he knows nothing of her, she is nobody.
He is Mexico's greatest artist. She drinks like a sailor, wears flowers in her hair, talks openly about sex, loves attending protests and parties to wake the dead. She is from Coyoacan, twenty years his junior and with a broken spine to boot.
Even when her body is wracked with pain, she paints.
There were two great accidents in her life. The first was when that streetcar hit her . . . but by far the worst was meeting him.
Translated into English for the first time, Claire Berest's award-winning novel is a striking fictional imagining of the vibrant life and tumultuous marriage of one of the world's most beloved artists: Frida Kahlo.
Reviews / Votes
Like wandering through a painting - riotous with colour, overflowing with imagery. I had moments where I almost had to stop reading to take a breath, but it captures something of Frida herself that feels totally right. If you want to be absolutely steeped in her world, you'll love it -- Emily Howes, author of The Painter's Daughters The portrait of a fascinating, eccentric, and indomitable woman . . . an incandescent novel * Elle * No author has yet captured Frida's tragic life in words as sensually and passionately as this * Grazia * Claire Berest writes as captivatingly and vividly as Frida Kahlo painted * Paris Match * [Berest] recounts the passion, art and torment of this long-suffering painter, a magician of colours and priestess of liberated femininity * Les Inrocks *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Headline Publishing Group
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0354-2680-5 (9781035426805)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Claire Berest is the author of novels, Bellevue (2015), Gabriele (2017), which appeared in the 2025 New York Times list of best historical fiction, Rien n'est noir (2019), winner of the ELLE Readers Grand Prize, Artifices (2021), L'epaisseur d'un cheveu (2023), and works of non-fiction. Her most recent is La chair des autres (2024), about the trial of 'Mazan's rapes' and the story of Gisele Pelicot.