Wild Girls: Paris, Sappho, and Art: The Lives and Loves of Natalie Barney and Romaine Brooks

i'm not able to travel as often as i'd like, so i often pick up books i call "travel" or "time travel" books. they usually focus a lot on the setting and atmosphere and are set in wonderful, romantic places that are filled with people i'd like to meet. wild girls isn't a good choice if you want a very scholarly biography, but the style was more engaging and descriptive than many biographies i have read. i'm sorry to hear that some of the facts were incorrect and some interesting facts about romaine brooks' paintings were not included, but overall, i really enjoyed this book. i'll admit that i didn't know anything about barney or brooks when i started, but now i'm curious to learn more. i can understand the frustration people who were hoping for a longer story had, because this is a very, very short book. it probably would have been better if it were longer, but it's still an interesting read. it's main flaw is that it focuses on the cast just a bit too much. while the author makes sure to devote at least a chapter to the mother of each woman and each of their long-term lovers, less care is given to devoting enough time to the women the book is supposed to be about, and every person is so quickly introduced that you feel as if you've met the person once, had a wonderful and facinating conversation, and then later followed the gossip about them to find out whatever happened to them. i would have enjoyed a longer book with more details and more stories. the theme of telling the story of the people through their love affairs is interesting, but not well executed here. the book also would have been much better if it included more of romaine's art, and more details on the pictures. many of them are mentioned in the book but not shown, and i found myself wanting to stop reading and run image searches for the art a lot.

"To love is to see through two pairs of eyes." ~ Natalie Barney. If a good book is a book that stimulates more new ideas and responses than any other book you've read in a long time, then "Wild Girls" was an excellent book for me. The book is so good, there are more interesting things about it than can be written in a concise review. However, the attribute I liked least about this book was its title. The book is about lesbian and bisexual women and their lifestyles in late 19th and 20th century Europe and the U.S. I would not generally define these women as being "wild." Rather, they were making lifestyle decisions as mature women with mature responsibilities. Further, they were not girls, and most often, they did not act immature or "girlish." Other titles, such as: "Sapphic Idylls" or "Sappho, Paris, and the Arts" would have been better for me. "Sensuality, wanting a religion, invented love." ~ Natalie Barney. Overview: The book gives biographical commentary and snapshots about the lives and relationships surrounding two American women: Natalie Barney, a wealthy lesbian socialite, and Romaine Brooks, a wealthy painter. The two women had a non-traditional romantic relationship for over 50 years. During that time, they also had relationships with other women. The real value of the book for me was in the author's select choices and opinionated commentary on the lives of the many women involved. Many people may not realize: When you paint a portrait, take a picture, or write a biography of someone, you almost always are involved in portraying that person is a limiting fashion. Some people don't want portraits of themselves created, not simply because they are vain or don't want to see their own likeness, but also because they don't want to be portrayed in a limited fashion. People are usually more multi-faceted than their portraits or biographies convey. Reading this biography of Natalie Barney, you will learn a great deal about her and you will understand how passionately many women became involved with her. But I never fully understood what made her so emotionally, sexually, and relationally attractive. Yet, clearly she was very attractive to many women. If you were an alien from another planet, and all you had as a reference for human sexual interactions was this book, you might think everyone was easily promiscuous with everyone. There are so many women eager to sleep with Natalie that it is a shame we don't have more narrative portrayals of who she was and the physical and social presence she was able to regularly create around her. "Peaple call it unnatural. All I can say is, it's always come naturally to me." ~ Natalie Barney. Natalie's writings, of which we see short quotations at the beginnings of the chapters, are insightful and clearly expressed. I think I would need to read more of her writings to better understand her appeal. I have no idea what her personality was like, but her quotations are concise, b