An audio book.
At the start of some chapters it can take a while to work out the era, and the age, gender, and sexual orientation of the characters. There are flashbacks which add to the potential confusion.
We begin with an "I" and Berthe in a French church waiting for the bride Monique to appear. Ah, but she's not getting married, she becoming a nun. She's an evacuee, post-WW2.
Clem becomes a servant for a visiting male artist whose name she doesn't know. She likes sketching.
In a section entitled "Denis" (a place?) the first-person voice has been left by Freddie, because Freddie thinks s/he's too old. London. Her/his old friend Phyllis (known for 40 years) visits. She's been a widow for 10 years. She's started internet dating, hoping for sex, finding love - with a woman. The first person character (Denis, 60+ - he has a mobile and cashcard so we know the era, roughly) seems jealous. His French mother (Berthe) has recently died. His English father Roger died earlier. He receives a letter via the undertakers from his godmother, Clem, from France.
Phyllis and friend (who produces Art Documentaries) are going to holiday in France, so he decides to meet them in Paris on his way to Clem. On the EuroStar (in a section which lasts too long) he gets chatting to a waiter who leaves him his phone number. Denis phones him, meets him in Paris, finds out he's going to London, offers him his London flat.
In the older time-thread, Clem and the artist's pregant model leave together (Clem leaving home without warning). Clem meets up with Monique. The model has a misscarriage. Clem steals from Matisse (mostly with his consent. He's in his "cut out" phase, getting old) and the model attempts murder. They leave for Paris and the safety of Mrs Matisse.
In a too-long passage, Denis pushes Clem around in a wheelchair. Phyllis and friend arrive and the cameras roll. Clem reveals that she knew Matisse. Denis finds out that Clem's his mother (his parents adopted him as a favour). He rushes home to find the Maurice has brought an illegal immigrant child there. Maurice had tricked Denis. Denis and his landlord decide to help legitimise the child's situation.
The plot's a bit creaky, and there are longeurs. I liked some sections (e.g. the first one that involves Denis),
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