Holy Skirts: A Novel of a Flamboyant Woman Who Risked All for Art (P.S. Series) Book

I happened upon this book by chance. I had half an hour to kill while waiting for a bus and noticed the unusual cover, which seemed ugly to me. The title suggested a chick lit book, but when I quickly perused the back cover, I discovered it was historical fiction about one of the most colorful characters in the avant garde artistic circles of Greenwich Village's bohemian counterculture just before and during World War I. That intrigued me.

Although the author takes a lot of literary license, the main character, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhaven, truly existed, as did most of the supporting characters around her. During this novel she sleeps with Marchel Duchamp, poses for Man Ray, writes poetry for the acclaimed Little Review, and shocks conventional society with her revolutionary clothes-as-art. The poetry presented here is either her actual work or closely modeled on it--and I have to say, it's quite good. Sort of Emily Dickinson mixed with advertising jingles, with sensuality and the Modernist cult of the artist overlay. I think the author catches the spirit of bohemia quite well. (Anyone know the musical number performed by the group around the Stammtisch in the musical Rent, "La Vie Boheme"? It conveys the same sense of bravura, celebration of artistic vision, and deviant independence.)

The baroness is a tragic figure, plagued by slowly debilitating illnesses, mental and physical, inherited from (and due to the sins of?) her parents. Nevertheless, she is courageous in her determination to celebrate art for art's sake, the rights of women, the joy of sex, the energy of Dada. She starts out as an exotic model in Berlin, works her way through three unusual husbands (getting the title from the last one), and finds her niche pulling pranks and creating art in Greenwich Village. She lives life on the edge--in poverty, with thieves, whores, addicts, homosexuals, anarchists, longshoremen, and artistes. Fans of Dada should enjoy this book. It made me curious to know more about the real woman, and I discovered that the University of Maryland has a digital library of her work online that's easy to browse.

This is my new favorite novel. Rene Steinke's prose is lush and decadent, and perfectly matched for her subject, one of the most interesting (and overlooked) artistic personalities of the 20th century. I may review in more detail at a later date, but now let me summarize by saying that this book made me want to be the Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven when I grow up. (Minus the syphilis, I suppose.)