Widow Basquiat

A lyrical and intimate memoir recounting the passionate and tumultuous relationship between Suzanne Mallouk and the renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Set against the vibrant backdrop of 1980s New York City, the narrative delves into Suzanne's life as a young Canadian runaway who becomes Basquiat's lover and muse.

Told in a fragmented, almost poetic style, Widow Basquiat doesn’t follow a traditional narrative structure. Instead, it captures the rhythms of memory and trauma—the disjointed beauty and brutal reality of love at its most consuming. Clement blends her own reflections with Suzanne’s voice, creating a portrait not just of Basquiat the artist, but of the emotional wreckage fame and genius can leave behind.

The result is a book that feels as much like a love letter as it does an elegy—an ode to a woman often overshadowed by the man she loved, and a haunting glimpse into a moment in time when art changed forever.

An NPR Best Book of the Year Selection.