KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY
Margaret Forster
Ballantine
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0345496337
ISBN-13: 9780345496331

• About the Book
• Read an Excerpt

Bestselling memoirist, biographer and historical novelist Margaret Forster hasn’t published anything in the U.S. (she lives in London) in quite some time. KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY is her first work for an American audience in 15 years --- and you wonder why. Although her writing can sometimes seem slow or unnecessarily drawn out, it is only because Forster has taken the time to construct a quietly resonant story --- one that allows for a stroll, a silent meditation, a well-needed nap between chapters. This isn’t the type of book you can sit down and digest in one sitting, but one that requires thinking beyond what is written in its pages in order to grasp its multi-layered meaning.

In the prologue, a young girl named Gillian (the same Gillian, readers will notice, who is the subject of the book’s final section, although at an older age) is on a field trip to the Tate Gallery with her class. After looking at the paintings and being captivated by their presence, she finds herself wondering about the lives of the paintings themselves. “I was wondering where it had been, who had owned it, who had looked at it,” she says. “I mean, what effect did it have on the people who have looked at it? What has it meant to them, how have they looked at it, did they feel the same as I did, did they see what I saw…?” These are the questions that shape the remainder of the novel.

Although KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY takes a while to dive into, readers will soon get the hang of the plot’s formula, and with each subsequent chapter, the book’s intentions will unfold on an increasingly deeper level. The first section focuses on Gwen John, a lonely, often destitute painter (both in the story and in real life) and the sister of the more famous artist, Augustus John. In these chapters, Forster paints a vivid portrait of Gwen’s reclusive character, her passion for painting and her illicit affair with the sculptor Rodin. Forster also vaguely describes Gwen’s thoughts and feelings during the time she created the painting of her room, although she takes great care in not spelling anything out for her readers so that they can form their own conclusions. It’s this painting that then becomes the subject of the following five sections, named after each of the women who comes into contact with the painting: Charlotte, Stella, Lucasta, Ailsa and Gillian.

As the painting is passed on from woman to woman, and from generation to generation, it affects each lady (and the people she loves or is involved with) in both similar and disparate ways. For many of the characters, the simple but expressive painting represents a longing for something different, a door to another life. For both Charlotte and Stella, the painting initially made them want the life of an artist, one that would enable them to squire away their worries in favor of putting paint on a canvas. For Ailsa, the painting initially represented everything she had given up for her marriage --- a marriage that suffered through much unhappiness and many affairs before her husband’s death. No matter what the circumstances are, readers will relish in learning each woman’s thoughts on where the painting came from, who painted it and what it was supposed to “mean.” These observations offer great insight into each of the character’s personalities, her hopes and her dreams.

By anchoring the story around an inanimate yet incredibly powerful object, Forster raises timeless questions about the nature of art. What makes art art? Why are the lives of starving artists who are most often poor, depressed and discontent seen as glamorous and therefore paths that should be envied? What makes a work of art meaningful? Does meaning stem from the artist’s intention or what the beholder takes away from it? Can an artist live a well-balanced life (practice monogamy, raise a family, have other interests) or must he/she devote his/her complete self to his/her art? While each of the characters attempts to answer these questions, they stumble often, proving that there is no right or wrong answer, which is what makes art --- and its creation --- so alluring and the book a worthwhile read.

After finishing KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY, readers may not feel bowled over…but that’s not the type of book this is. Instead, many will probably feel grateful for the opportunity to take a break from the day-to-day to ponder the mysteries of art and to read a story about an actual painting --- and how it changed the lives of its owners --- that is still hanging in the city of Sheffield’s art gallery to this day.

   --- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

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