The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier

Oh, friends, I am so thankful that I have finally gotten somewhat motivated to update on my recent readings. Between being extremely homesick and experiencing morning sickness, I have not gotten very much done these last few weeks. . .No, not even reading :(. I think all that is about to change though!

On July 10th I participated in a summer readathon and felt lucky to have finished one short book. I read The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier; she also wrote  Girl with the Pearl Earring. Here is a summary from Goodreads:


A tour de force of history and imagination, The Lady and the Unicorn is Tracy Chevalier’s answer to the mystery behind one of the art world’s great masterpieces—a set of bewitching medieval tapestries that hangs today in the Cluny Museum in Paris. They appear to portray the seduction of a unicorn, but the story behind their making is unknown—until now.

Paris, 1490. A shrewd French nobleman commissions six lavish tapestries celebrating his rising status at Court. He hires the charismatic, arrogant, sublimely talented Nicolas des Innocents to design them. Nicolas creates havoc among the women in the house—mother and daughter, servant, and lady-in-waiting—before taking his designs north to the Brussels workshop where the tapestries are to be woven. There, master weaver Georges de la Chapelle risks everything he has to finish the tapestries—his finest, most intricate work—on time for his exacting French client. The results change all their lives—lives that have been captured in the tapestries, for those who know where to look.

In The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier weaves fact and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry—an extraordinary story exquisitely told.*


I was attracted to this novel because I usually like to read fiction based on a mysterious piece of history, such as the tapestries in this novel. There was also plenty of scandal to keep me interested. 


I am currently trying to create a rating system for my blog. . .But for now, I would rate this novel a 3/5. I probably would not read it again although it held my interest during the readathon. 


Here is an image of one of the mentioned tapestries ( there are 7 in all):