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Presents a fictional portrait of pioneering artist Emily Carr, whose independence, boldly original artwork, and unconventional approach to life overcame Victorian restrictions to blaze a new path for twentieth-century women artists.
I generally struggle with historical fiction featuring a real person. I feel compelled to know what is true and what is made up. Fortunately, the internet makes this much easier than in the past. Also, when the featured person died relatively recently, I worry about what family members may think about how their relative is treated. In this case, the author has an obvious respect and sympathy for her character, Emily Carr, which makes it easier to read.
The book didn't have much of a plot, It was the strong character of Emily Carr that held my interest. The book made me think about the acceptance of "women artists". Would Emily's avant-garde style have been more accepted had she been male? Was it a greater transgression for a woman to stray beyond realism than for a man?
Other issues raised include cultural appropriation; not something considered much at the time the novel is set, but certainly an issue today. And spirituality is a major theme. I wondered to what extent a "forest lover" could be religious in the traditional sense prevalent at the time of the novel's setting.
I didn't enjoy the book itself so much as the experience of having read it and thought about the many issues it provoked. ( )
Following the deaths of her parents, Emily Carr endures a "proper" (stifling) existence living with her three older sisters in Victoria, British Columbia, but Emily only feels alive when she's painting, and she feels drawn to paint native art and communities of the Pacific Northwest. Despite her siblings' disapproval, Emily embarks on a number of journeys to remote sites in pursuit of her dream, but the beauty of what she sees contrasts with the increasingly bleak lives of the people she meets and the destruction and theft of their art.
The story is moderately interesting, but this novel is probably one of Vreeland's weakest. Though her passion for art history shines through, this book might be forgettable if it hadn't been based on a real historical figure. It is always fairly uncomfortable reading an author's attempt to depict "broken English," and to rub salt in the wound it appears to have been used inconsistently among the very same speakers. I wouldn't necessarily recommend unless you are already a fan of Vreeland and are working your way through her oeuvre. ( )
Even though this book lacks a plot, and is repetitive it did pique my interest in Canadian painter Emily Carr. I am going to read her journals next. ( )
I picked up this book in anticipation of seeing the Emily Carr exhibit at the AGO in Toronto. Although the writing itself is not inspiring, nonetheless, it has heightened my interest in seeing these paintings "in person." Despite her artistic training in England and France, she developed her own distinctive style. Though not in the famous Canadian Group of Seven, she shows an affinity with them and their love of the Canadian wilderness. ( )
There is something bigger than fact: the underlying spirit, all it stands for, the mood, the vastness, the Western breath of go-to-the-devil-if-you-don't like it, the eternal big spaceness of it. Oh the West! I'm of it and I love it.
---Emily Carr, "Hundreds and Thousands" 1966
This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Bearded with moss, and in garments green Indistinct in the twilight Stand like Druids of eld, With voices sad and prophetic. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Evangeline" 1847
Dedication
For C. JERRY HANNAH who makes strong talk
First words
Letting her cape snap in the wind, Emily gripped her carpetbag and wicker food hamper, and hiked up the beach, feasting her eyes on Hitats'uu spread wide beneath fine-spun vapor.
Quotations
She picked up a fibrous piece of cedar bark that Sophie had discarded and held it to her nose. The tree had breathed through this. She could have this, the spirit of British Columbia, when breathing city soot, she would crave the piquant smell of woods, or when, amid the clang of trains, she would long for its deep silent places. Hoping that cedar might be her power spirit, she put the bark in her pocket.
You Who Dwell in the Forest,” Emily murmured into the hush. “You have given me the longing to paint. You see I am lonely, and have nowhere to pour my love. Give wisdom to my eyes to see into the soul of this land. Though I will walk through the valley of the shadow of a far and lonely wilderness, help me to hear a spirit song. Give power to my brushes so I can create something true and beautiful and important.
Once I thought it was to make a record. Now I think it's to be close to some spirit I don't understand – yet. To honor the people who do. And to express my love for the West.
She would sing the forest eternal. She would place her body in the womb of trees. She would bleed into the earth. She would place her bare feet onto moss and spiced pine needles, peat and mud, and up between her toes and through her pores would ooze the rich dark syrup of Mother Earth, and over her ankles would swarm tiny insects, and around her shoulders would float the exquisite flowing drapery of her green hemlock cape. (p. 328)
Last words
She would drink the forest liquids and drench herself in possibility.
Presents a fictional portrait of pioneering artist Emily Carr, whose independence, boldly original artwork, and unconventional approach to life overcame Victorian restrictions to blaze a new path for twentieth-century women artists.
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The book didn't have much of a plot, It was the strong character of Emily Carr that held my interest. The book made me think about the acceptance of "women artists". Would Emily's avant-garde style have been more accepted had she been male? Was it a greater transgression for a woman to stray beyond realism than for a man?
Other issues raised include cultural appropriation; not something considered much at the time the novel is set, but certainly an issue today. And spirituality is a major theme. I wondered to what extent a "forest lover" could be religious in the traditional sense prevalent at the time of the novel's setting.
I didn't enjoy the book itself so much as the experience of having read it and thought about the many issues it provoked. (