The Lives of the Muses: Nine Women & the Artists They Inspired

All loved, and were loved by, their artists, and inspired them with an intensity of emotion akin to Eros.

Moving across two centuries, the study weighs the line between artistic collaboration and domestic servitude. Prose follows figures such as Hester Thrale aiding Samuel Johnson and Elizabeth Siddal modeling for the Pre-Raphaelites.

The portraits balance biographical rigor with irony, charting how each woman met the relentless demands of genius. From Lou Andreas-Salomé to Gala Dalí, the chapters trace the complex bargains struck behind celebrated masterworks.

In a brilliant, wry, and provocative book, National Book Award finalist Francine Prose explores the complex relationship between the artist and his muse. In so doing, she illuminates with great sensitivity and intelligence the elusive emotional wellsprings of the creative process.

• Literary Biography: Examines Alice Liddell receiving an honorary doctorate at Columbia at age eighty, alongside Hester Thrale preserving Samuel Johnson’s sanity during the composition of his Lives of the Poets.
• Art History: Explores Dante Gabriel Rossetti burying his manuscripts in Elizabeth Siddal’s coffin, alongside Charis Weston posing for Edward Weston’s famous dune studies at Oceano.
• Surrealism: Follows Lee Miller mastering darkroom technique with Man Ray before covering combat for Vogue, alongside Gala Dalí engineering the Zodiac Club to finance Salvador Dalí.
• Women’s Studies: Investigates Suzanne Farrell originating Balanchine’s Meditation and Don Quixote, paired with Yoko Ono’s conceptual partnership with John Lennon from the Indica Gallery to Double Fantasy.