|
Here are comments from our group of Advance Readers about Margaret Forster's KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY.
Benita from Palm Coast, FL
Have you previously read a book by Margaret Forster?
No, but when I read her credits, I found that her biography of Daphne Du Maurier was already in my "books to read" pile. I've just moved that book up in the pile.
What authors do you usually read?
Jane Austen and some of her followers, Carol Shields, Louis Auchincloss, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Elizabeth Berg, Karen Armstrong, English history and historical novels, AND whatever the book club decides to read.
What did you think of KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY?
I thought it was very finely crafted. I will have to read it again to get all the nuances and connections between the sections. There is very subtle interplay between the characters who may not know each other and do not realize their paths are crossing. I know I didn't appreciate the first few until I saw the pattern.
Each section is like a novella and could be read alone if you were just interested in the growth and changes in the main character in that section, but they are all tied together.
I think it is the mark of a fine writer to take a fact, a person, an incident or a painting and extrapolate from what the author knows into what might have been. I liked how she covered a span of almost 100 years, bringing in some of the history and the problems of each era, but just enough to set the scene without overshadowing the main story of the life of that woman.
All the women who acquired the painting had many things in common with Gwen John. It could be loneliness, an overbearing father or husband, or the need to paint. It clear why each woman reacted to the painting as she did, while others saw the painting as nothing exceptional.
I wonder where the painting will go next?
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book and give you my opinion.
Teme from Wilmette, IL
Have you previously read a book by Margaret Forster?
No.
What authors do you usually read?
Elizabeth Berg, Ayelet Waldman, David Sedaris, Richard Ford, Dani Shapiro, Tom Perrotta, Jennifer Weiner, Emily Giffin, Anne Lamott, Martha Beck, Jaquelyn Mitchard, Louise Rennison, Sue Townsend, Megan McCafferty, Anne Tyler and Kate White.
What did you think of KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY?
All in all, a very enjoyable read. But I must confess that it was not the easiest or fastest read. The story traces a painting as it passes from hand to hand, generation to generation. The painting is gifted, lost, stolen and inherited. The point of view changes accordingly, which initially felt a bit jarring. But once I got into the rhythm of it, the requisite perspective shifts became easier and I started to look forward to meeting the next owner.
As with the most moving pieces of art, each of the painting's owners see something different in it. But in addition to the painting, they share another common thread --- a sense of not being at home in the world. The painting --- which is of a corner of a room with a table, a vase of posies, a chair and a parasol --- comes to represent the possibility of becoming the artist of their own lives, and of shaping their own corner of the world the way they --- not society, not a powerful parent, not a cajoling spouse --- see fit. They must also answer the question of how to protect that corner once they discover how to create it; questions which really get one thinking about one's own corner.
As a side note, a simply fun aspect of this work is seeing the provenance of the painting unfold. If you've ever held an antique or viewed a well-traveled piece of art and wished you could see what it's seen, here's a wonderful opportunity.
Would you ever read a future book by Margaret Forster?
Yes.
Susan from Pembroke, NH
Have you previously read a book by Margaret Forster?
No.
What authors do you usually read?
Maeve Binchy
Barbara Taylor Bradford
Anne Rivers Siddons
Diana Gabaldon
Belva Plain
Dan Brown
And so many others!
What did you think of KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY?
I really enjoyed this book. What a wonderful story! It's amazing how one little picture affected the lives of these women.
Would you ever read a future book by Margaret Forster?
Yes.
© Copyright 1996-2008, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
Back to top.
|
