Genre Fiction
![Claire McMillan - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B00DWYIQZM.jpg)
Alchemy of a Blackbird: A Novel
For fans of The Age of Light and Z, a mystical, historical novel based on the true story of the 20th-century painters and occultists Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington, each beginning as the muse of a famous lover and then breaking away to become an icon in her own right through a powerful friendship that springs from their connection to the tarot.
Desperate to escape the Nazis, painter Remedios Varo and her lover, poet Benjamin Peret, flee Paris for Villa Air Bel, a safe house for artists on the Riviera. Along with Max Ernst, Peggy Guggenheim, and others, the two anxiously wait for exit papers. As the months pass, Remedios begins to sense that the others don't see her as a fellow artist; they have cast her in the stifling role of a surrealist ideal: the beautiful innocent. She finds refuge in a mysterious bookshop, where she stumbles into a world of occult learning and intensifies an esoteric practice in the tarot that helps her light the bright fire of her creative genius.
When travel documents come through, Remedios and Benjamin flee to Mexico where she is reunited with friend and fellow painter Leonora Carrington. Together, the women tap into their creativity, stake their independence, and each find their true loves. But it is the tarot that enables them to access the transcendent that lies on the other side of consciousness, to become the truest Surrealists of all.
From an author with "an enchanting, intoxicating voice" (Cristina Alger, author of The Darlings), Alchemy of a Blackbird is about a dynamic female friendship that became a historic artistic collaboration between two giants of the art world.
Desperate to escape the Nazis, painter Remedios Varo and her lover, poet Benjamin Peret, flee Paris for Villa Air Bel, a safe house for artists on the Riviera. Along with Max Ernst, Peggy Guggenheim, and others, the two anxiously wait for exit papers. As the months pass, Remedios begins to sense that the others don't see her as a fellow artist; they have cast her in the stifling role of a surrealist ideal: the beautiful innocent. She finds refuge in a mysterious bookshop, where she stumbles into a world of occult learning and intensifies an esoteric practice in the tarot that helps her light the bright fire of her creative genius.
When travel documents come through, Remedios and Benjamin flee to Mexico where she is reunited with friend and fellow painter Leonora Carrington. Together, the women tap into their creativity, stake their independence, and each find their true loves. But it is the tarot that enables them to access the transcendent that lies on the other side of consciousness, to become the truest Surrealists of all.
From an author with "an enchanting, intoxicating voice" (Cristina Alger, author of The Darlings), Alchemy of a Blackbird is about a dynamic female friendship that became a historic artistic collaboration between two giants of the art world.
Editorial Reviews
"McMillan chronicles the artistic evolution of surrealist painter Remedios Varo in her enchanting and intricately crafted latest...This superb exploration of survival and transformation will have special appeal to those interested in art, mysticism, and women's lives."-Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Full of stunning detail about historical tarot practices, the Surrealist movement's treatment of women creatives, and the thriving artistic and intellectual community in postwar Mexico, McMillan's novel tells of two real-life artists seeking to create despite being stifled by societal norms surrounding gender and class. McMillan's inclusion of tarot-card illustrations and her pairing of characters with certain cards gives the characters further development."-Library Journal, starred review
"Claire McMillan has conjured an utterly immersive and inspiring story of the deep friendship between Surrealist artists Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington. Alchemy of a Blackbird is an inventive, inspiring, and absorbing novel about the magic that happens when women follow their creative passions and cast off the roles-and the men-that have held them back." -Whitney Scharer, author of The Age of Light
"A dazzling kaleidoscope of surrealist voices animates this beguiling novel of artistic ambition, perseverance, and friendship. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War's great artistic exodus, Alchemy of A Blackbird insists on the essential role art plays in the lives of its two dynamic female protagonists-Lenora Carrington and Remedios Varos. McMillan transports us to the magical, uncanny world of the Surrealists by deftly using tarot--a practice vital to the art of both Carrington and Varos-to shape her narrative in unexpectedly dramatic and evocative ways. I wanted to linger along the French Riviera and get a coffee in Veracruz, Mexico with her incredible ensemble cast of characters. And maybe, if I was lucky, have them offer me a tarot spread, too." -Katy Hays, author of The Cloisters
"Alchemy of a Blackbird is enigmatic, inventive, and rich with love and longing, art and magic. A story told in the captivating voices of artists and their patrons, the novel explores fasci...
"Full of stunning detail about historical tarot practices, the Surrealist movement's treatment of women creatives, and the thriving artistic and intellectual community in postwar Mexico, McMillan's novel tells of two real-life artists seeking to create despite being stifled by societal norms surrounding gender and class. McMillan's inclusion of tarot-card illustrations and her pairing of characters with certain cards gives the characters further development."-Library Journal, starred review
"Claire McMillan has conjured an utterly immersive and inspiring story of the deep friendship between Surrealist artists Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington. Alchemy of a Blackbird is an inventive, inspiring, and absorbing novel about the magic that happens when women follow their creative passions and cast off the roles-and the men-that have held them back." -Whitney Scharer, author of The Age of Light
"A dazzling kaleidoscope of surrealist voices animates this beguiling novel of artistic ambition, perseverance, and friendship. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War's great artistic exodus, Alchemy of A Blackbird insists on the essential role art plays in the lives of its two dynamic female protagonists-Lenora Carrington and Remedios Varos. McMillan transports us to the magical, uncanny world of the Surrealists by deftly using tarot--a practice vital to the art of both Carrington and Varos-to shape her narrative in unexpectedly dramatic and evocative ways. I wanted to linger along the French Riviera and get a coffee in Veracruz, Mexico with her incredible ensemble cast of characters. And maybe, if I was lucky, have them offer me a tarot spread, too." -Katy Hays, author of The Cloisters
"Alchemy of a Blackbird is enigmatic, inventive, and rich with love and longing, art and magic. A story told in the captivating voices of artists and their patrons, the novel explores fasci...
