Kirsti Blom
I saw everything

In 1789 Francisco Goya is appointed court painter in Spain. The country is in turmoil, shaken by violent political struggle, a rigid religious order and brutal famine. Weakened by illness and almost completely deaf, Goya is nevertheless at his artistic peak. Everybody wants to be painted by him now.

The Duchess of Alba, Cayetana, is Spain’s most powerful woman. She seeks out Francisco Goya in his atelier and asks to be portrayed by him. That is the beginning of a passionate and unheard of alliance between the two. Goya seeks the truth in art as well as life. When he paints Cayetana nude in full figure, the Spanish inquisition turns its threatening gaze at him.

I Saw Everything is an intense, gripping novel about great art and disobidient love, about sudden death and all-consuming ecstasy.

Kirsti Blom

Kirsti Blom has published seven novels, a collection of poetry and several children’s books. Her books have been translated into Arabic, Serbian, Macedonian and Spanish.
Blom has been vice-president in the Norwegian PEN, where she has also been on the board for ten years. She has been leading the Norwegian Authors’ Union’s international work for six years.