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Autumn Laing

by Alex Miller

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
996276,561 (3.84)12
Autumn Laing has long outlived the legendary circle of artists she cultivated in the 1930s. Now 'old and skeleton gaunt', she reflects on her tumultuous relationship with the abundantly talented Pat Donlon and the effect it had on her husband, on Pat's wife and the body of work which launched Pat's career. A brilliantly alive and insistently energetic story of love, loyalty and creativity.… (more)
  1. 10
    The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (jll1976)
    jll1976: Similar themes and style. Also a 'death bed confessional'.
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Showing 5 of 5
Alex Miller is one of my favourite authors, and I enjoyed this book. It's not as riveting as his previous books however. I didn't ever feel empathy for Autumn. If you like him, try Lovesong, Conditions of Faith, journey to the Stone Country or Landscape of Farewell. All brilliant! ( )
  anniww | Jan 8, 2024 |
Another book I'd had on my shelf for years, entranced every time I picked it up while dusting, by its cover.

An elderly Autumn tells the story of an affair that she had with a man in her and her husband’s group of friends. These things are always entered into so selfishly, with little regard to the consequences, both short and long-term. The fact that it would happen, though, was evident from nearly the beginning, but Autumn kept us waiting far too long and I expected something much more spectacular by the time she finally got the story out.

All in all, not really a very spectacular book. ( )
  ParadisePorch | Dec 21, 2020 |
Disappointing...I tried to enjoy this book but didn't succeed.
It annoys me that he chose a very well known true story about quite famous and well known people as a basis and then changed it so that he could say it was fiction. I therefore could not relate to the characters who became neither real nor imagined. ( )
  lesleynicol | Nov 2, 2012 |
I have read most of Miller's work and consider him one of our finest writers but found this one disappointing. I loved the character of Autumn and the first chapter was outstanding, but by the middle of the novel I decided it was tedious. The development of the modernist movement in Melbourne does not make for riveting reading! It needed more concision. ( )
2 vote RobinDawson | Oct 16, 2012 |
This book is sublime!

http://wp.me/p20PAS-8L ( )
1 vote jll1976 | Apr 21, 2012 |
Showing 5 of 5
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Autumn Laing has long outlived the legendary circle of artists she cultivated in the 1930s. Now 'old and skeleton gaunt', she reflects on her tumultuous relationship with the abundantly talented Pat Donlon and the effect it had on her husband, on Pat's wife and the body of work which launched Pat's career. A brilliantly alive and insistently energetic story of love, loyalty and creativity.

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Autumn Laing seduces Pat Donlon with her lust for life and art. In doing so she not only compromises the trusting love she has with her husband, Arthur, she also steals the future from Pat's young and beautiful wife, Edith, and their unborn child. Fifty-three years later, cantankerous, engaging, unrestrainable 85-year-old Autumn is shocked to find within herself a powerful need for redemption. As she tells her story, she writes, 'They are all dead and I am old and skeleton-gaunt. This is where it began...'
Written with compassion and intelligence, this energetic, funny and wise novel peels back the layers of storytelling and asks what truth has to do with it. Autumn Laing is an unflinchingly intimate portrait of a woman and her time - she is unforgettable.
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