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Kirsty Stonell Walker Stunner: The Fall and Rise of Fanny Cornforth
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By woofwoof
Most people when they think of the women associated with the great nineteenth century painter, Dante Gabriel Rossetti split into two camps - there are those who are enthusiastic supporters of his wife and first muse, the long suffering and ill-used Lizzie Siddal, and of course there are those who are fascinated by the strong, silent woman who dominated his later work, Jane Morris, the wife of his friend William Morris. In her earlier excellent book, Stunner, Walker made a case for a third usually forgotten muse, the earthy, commonplace Fanny Cornforth. In her latest work, A Curl of Copper and Pearl, the author reminds us that there were other women in the life of this larger than life artist by presenting in the form of a novel the last 20 or so years of Rossetti's life through the eyes of Alexa Wilding, now virtually forgotten, but who actually looks out at us from more Rossetti paintings than any of Rossetti's other models (including Siddal, Morris and Cornforth). Readers who are familiar with the author's blog, The Kissed Mouth, will be aware of the huge amount of research and scholarship which Walker undertakes and this is borne out in the many fascinating details which she has included in the novel, especially concerning Wilding's humble origins in the London meat trade, and the mystery of her birth and parentage. A fascinating and beautifully written account which I am sure will be enjoyed by all pre-raphaelite enthusiasts.
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