The Vexations

By: Caitlin Horrocks

Narrated by: Marisa Calin

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 Époque 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 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.

Critic reviews

"Marvelous . . . Was [Erik Satie] a prophet or a prankster? To its credit, Ms. Horrocks's novel doesn't venture an answer. Instead, it wonderfully embellishes the world through which Satie wandered like some kind of marooned alien visitor."—Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

"Vivid...Enthralling...Arresting."—Seth ColterWalls, New York Times Book Review

"The Vexations builds to a devastating conclusion, but it's worth the pain for this unusual, quietly beautiful meditation on the work and strife behind art that has endured for generations."—Bethanne Patrick, Washington Post

"Affecting . . . An engrossing debut . . . Horrocks writes enchantingly about the bohemian life of artists in Montmartre . . . Her language is lyrical and captivating . . . The novel reads like a finely composed piece of music, swiftly interweaving winsome sentences with period details and the characters who lived them. From the use of a pneumatic tube messaging system under the city to the introduction of the telephone, The Vexations presents itself as a window into a textured past made real and tangible for the reader . . . What's most extraordinary about The Vexations is the writing itself. There is the risk with historical fiction that the research will be heavy-handed, to the dilution of story. Horrocks's vast knowledge of French history and classical music is on display, but the bounty of information never overwhelms . . . The multiple points of view offer the reader perspectives and arcs another novel might otherwise deem too minor to allow; each character is compelling enough in their own right. In using various narrations, Horrocks shines a brighter light on la Belle Époque, showing the period was composed of people beyond the already established artists . . . This narrated mosaic illuminates how Satie's ambitions were shaped by or existed alongside those of his family and friends . . . The novel's ending, narrated by [Satie's sister] Louise, is what makes The Vexations as extraordinary as Erik himself. Louise closes by centering completely on his genius. Every sentence Horrocks writes is a stepping-stone to this apex, and satisfying to such a degree that the reader will have the urge to close the book and begin listening to Satie's music."—Rachel Duboff, Los Angeles Review of Books

"By writing her male virtuoso [Erik Satie] from the inside and outside, Horrocks creates a wrenching portrait of overconfidence as a destructive force."—Lili Meyer, The Atlantic

Beautifully written!

I loved how expansive and detailed this story is - huge character arcs told in small, complex scenes. The writing is beautiful and playful and such a pleasure to read. Highly recommend!

the not so belle epoque

This is a thoroughly depressing book. It is hard to portray the creative furnace that was the Belle Epoque in Paris in an overwhelmingly negative light, but the author has managed to do so. It turns out our favorite artistic heroes were self loathing, self pitying, and unenlightened, or else cruel and unenlightened. The thrust of the work is the interminable spooling out of their sad, even hopeless lives. Where are the art, creative energy, and joy that defined the era? Alas, at the wayside.