This “enthralling” debut novel and Wall Street Journal Top Ten Book of the Year circles the life of eccentric composer Erik Satie in La Belle Ãpoque Paris and examines love, family, genius, and the madness of art (New York Times Book Review). Erik Satie begins life with every possible advantage. But after the dual blows of his mother’s early death and his father’s breakdown upend his … early death and his father’s breakdown upend his childhood, Erik and his younger siblings — Louise and Conrad — are scattered. Later, as an ambitious young composer, Erik flings himself into the Parisian art scene, aiming for greatness but achieving only notoriety.
As the years, then decades, pass, he alienates those in his circle as often as he inspires them, lashing out at friends and lovers like Claude Debussy and Suzanne Valadon. Only Louise and Conrad are steadfast allies. Together they strive to maintain their faith in their brother’s talent and hold fast the badly frayed threads of family. But in a journey that will take her from Normandy to Paris to Argentina, Louise is rocked by a severe loss that ultimately forces her into a reckoning with how Erik — obsessed with his art and hungry for fame — will never be the brother she’s wished for.
With her buoyant, vivid reimagination of an iconic artist’s eventful life, Caitlin Horrocks has written a captivating and ceaselessly entertaining novel about the tenacious bonds of family and the costs of greatness, both to ourselves and to those we love.
This is a beautiful book. The Vexations is a moving, delicately wrought meditation on friendship, family, genius and longing. Erik Satie (composer of the Gymnopedies), is as awkward as he is gifted and can always be relied upon to say the wrong thing. With a deft and subtle hand, Ms. Horrocks guides us, as Erik carelessly insults those around him, only to be astonished when he realizes that that his actions are perceived as hurtful.
When an eminently successful, albeit long suffering colleague asks Erik Satie what it is he wants to hear, Erik says, “I would like to hear that I am a genius beyond all reckoning.” Obligingly, comes the response “Erik, you are a genius, beyond all reckoning.”
But alas, the kind words and moments of praise are never enough. Erik chases his muse, as he squanders resources, sabotaging his opportunities and yearning for critical acclaim. It’s as heartbreaking as it is funny. During one of his long walks, Erik wonders, “failure of consideration, or failure of empathy? The former makes him a hero, Artist Above All; the latter makes him something in need of repair. He is not broken, he tells himself. Just different.”
Which the reader, in addition to Satie’s circle, must contend with. Told from various points of view, we are treated to glimpses of this pesky genius while the other characters’ stories unfold. There is Philippe, a true friend, whose artistic endeavors remain out of reach. There is Suzanne, who is as committed to her art as Erik is to his, and there is Conrad, Erik’s brother and Louise, Erik’s sister. The power with which she has written Louise’s story brings to mind Ms. Horrocks’ superb essay in the Paris Review, ‘The Ordinary Woman Theory,’ describing it as a ‘chronicle of the ways in which women were legally vulnerable.’ For Louise and the female readers out there, it’s a fate is as painful as can be imagined, written with grace and understatement.
Ms. Horrocks’ meticulous research, capturing life in Montmartre, the passage of time and advent of technology is a breathtaking endeavor. The Vexations haunts the reader in much the same way that those seven minutes of music which Satie composed beguiles the listener. She has perfectly captured the rhythm and singularity of feeling almost note for note.
On February 18, 2018, we attended the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s French Festival to hear Claude Debussy’s orchestration of Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies Nos.1 & 3 along with music by Dukas, Saint-Saens, and Offenbach.
I had not realized previously how much I loved French music! I wanted to attend every one of the concerts. The two Gymnopedies were the only music by Satie performed during the festival–only because Debussy had orchestrated them. The music Satie wrote before he was twenty-two-years-old is his best known. Reading Caitlin Horrocks’ debut novel The Vexations I realized how little I knew about French composers and La Belle Époque Paris.
The Vexations centers on the life of the composer Erik Satie (1866-1925), bringing to life Paris’s Bohemian society of eccentric and cutting-edge artists.
The novel also tells the story of Erik’s siblings, separated as orphans after their mother’s death. Conrad Satie leads a respectable life as a chemist in a perfume factory. Louise is a talented musician whose short-lived marriage leaves her and her son dependent on her in-law’s wealth.
Erik is a frustrating personality, an eccentric genius who would not be shoved into expected boxes artistically or socially. People didn’t understand his music. His love affair with Susan Valadon lasted six months. He did not really seem to connect to people or need intimacy. During his life he was notorious. By the time of his death, his family and even most of his friends were no longer speaking with him.
In later life, Satie was associated with Surrealism, including writing music for the Ballets Russe, Parade directed by Cocteau with Picasso costumes.
I became very taken by Louise Satie’s story, the limitations society placed on a female. Pressured to marry well, she waited for passion. And when she found herself a young widow, one night of passion labeled her a whore. She clung to her son, but the legal system gave his custody to male relatives. She moved to South American and outlived the rest of her family, long enough to discover her brother Erik had become famous, long enough to understand life.
Satie’s most well-known music remains the Gymnopieds.
The novel has left me with an earworm, sadness, and a better feel for the society and time that produced some of my favorite music.
After I finished the novel I discovered Horrocks is a writing instructor at Grand Valley State University. And that our son, who graduated from GVSU with a writing major, counted her as one of his best and most favorite professors!
I was given access to a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
You’ll never hear the music of Erik Satie again without diving back into the layers of genius, torment, eccentricity, abandonment, and profound sadness that Horrocks so masterfully evokes in this beautiful book.
I recommend this book. This is a must-read for anybody interested in the life of Erik Satie, in classical music, or anybody who appreciates historical fiction. As somebody unfamiliar with Satie and not trained in classical music, I still found the characters intriguing. The novel depicts the unfair treatment of women during this time period through the eyes of Louise, a family split up at a very young age, and the troubles of struggling artists.
With that being said, this novel is a slow build and is long. It requires the patience of somebody willing to put in the effort to read a longer book. The rewards are worth it. The characters are rich and diverse and there are many but not so much where it’s impossible to keep track of. The alternate perspectives in this book really give it full depth.