A Savage in Paradise — William Bostock

THE GREAT GAUGUIN, a biographical novel of Paul Gauguin, Volume II, A Savage in Paradise. William Bostock, the author of I, Cleopatra, writes the tumultuous and glorious saga of Paul Gauguin, the Post-Impressionist artist who painted his way to glory. Cast off by his Danish wife Mette in Copenhagen, he returned to Paris where, teetering on the edge of destruction, he valiantly pursued his painting. He was plagued by bitter rivalries with his fellow artists. He had passionate affairs with exotic mistresses, and became embroiled in a tortured relationship with the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, as they painted together in Provence in 1888, creating canvases that became immortal. He lelt France for the paradise islands of the Pacific, Tahiti and the Marquesas, where he struggled against ravaging illnesses, to paint his Polynesian Eves until his dying day in 1903. Perhaps the greatest portrait he left the world was the immortal tale of his life, which Bostock has vividly evoked in his monumental novel.