Never Anyone But You


Interesting book talk at Charleston Farmhouse as part of the Charleston Festival by Rupert Thomson on his novel about the artists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore.

Thomson began by reading a passage from the book then outlined the story of this remarkable couple. The women, having met in the 1909, took on masculine names and were later to become step-sisters. They are best known for the photographs of Cahun they collaborated to take. He talked about their place in the art scene of 1920s Paris, the people they met there and their political activism. He then went on to their life and resistance activity in occupied Jersey.

In discussion with art historian Frances Spalding, they discussed how he approached the novel and why he chose to write in the voice of Moore. I had read and enjoyed the novel as ‘homework’ for the festival so was fascinating to hear more about how it was constructed and the decisions he’s made when writing it. 

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