To the cosy, upstairs room of the Savoy Tap on Tuesday 16th September. A warm, intimate group of 50 or so people, many known to each other and with strong 26 connections, have gathered to celebrate the launch of John Simmons’ latest, and fourth novel, Painting Paris.
If John were ever to appear in Debrett’s, and had to list his hobbies, he could do a lot worse than mention ‘connecting people’. It’s fascinating to watch him move quietly amongst the gathering, greeting everyone, and naturally introducing people to others. It’s one of his superpowers. If you’re ever in his company at this type of event, you’ll leave having met someone you didn’t know before.
Two of his other superpowers are writing, and talking about writing, and when it came to the focus of the evening, which was hearing him speak about his new novel, we benefitted from both at once.
We heard him talk first about a lifetime’s love of art, from having gone to the Tate as a teenager and becoming enchanted by what he saw, to trying out art classes for himself for the first time as part of his research for Painting Paris.
One of the points John made in talking about the book was his view that artists and writers are connected by a shared love of observation. That quality is evident on every page of his new novel. Sometimes that is in his acute descriptions of Paris, which he does with such evident appreciation and relish that it’s not an exaggeration to say that the city takes on the role of a character in the book. More often though, the observation is of the needs and motivations of people, which he depicts with empathy and wisdom.
Martin Lee (left) and John Simmons (right) at The Savoy Tap, 16 September
The heart of the novel, which opens in 1908 and continues through to 1937, revolves around the entwined relationship of three characters. The first that we meet is Paolo, arriving in Paris from Italy. He is a classic aspirational young artist, of whose backstory we know very little, other than that he has a particular address to arrive at, in order to find shelter. It’s the home of Berthe, an already established, albeit not famous artist, also from elsewhere, in her case the Caribbean. The third character is Henri, a businessman and patron of artists, whose financial favour and attention both Paolo and Berthe vie for.
Out of this deceptively simple scenario, John weaves a hugely satisfying story. The story always leads, meaning that it has a page turning quality to it, but due to the setting, both in time and place, Painting Paris manages to effortlessly embrace rich thematic content, including the gap between talent and greatness; race, gender and sexual identity; the tension between artistry and making a living and more besides. Given the setting of this novel, I think we have to say in conclusion that the novel is a tour de force.
– Martin Lee