Violet Clay

This book was filled with good writing and references to a variety of artists and works of art. It portrayed well the frustrations artists encounter to produce work that is worthy of them and can support them. It ended on a positive note that was not easy for Violet to achieve, but after much work her attitude did change.

The story of a young artist's coming of age, Violet Clay explores a woman's efforts to come to terms with a life that has turned out quite differently from her expectations. Violet Clay, orphaned as a small child, shuffled through boarding schools, finds her adult self with only one family member to speak of, her uncle Ambrose, a troubled writer. Ambrose has never managed to finish his second book, and Violet has failed to become an artist of note. A move to New York brings Violet little success. Eight years after her move she finds herself stagnating at art, life, and love. When Ambrose commits suicide, Violet takes the opportunity to move to her uncle's remote upstate cabin to try and reinvent her life. Godwin does an excellent job of show more creating complex worlds around her characters, and Violet Clay is no exception. Violet's history and psyche are richly drawn, and Godwin deftly recreates Charleston, New York City, and upstate New York. I did find some of Violet's relationships to be somewhat tiresome. Indeed, Violet herself is tiresome, the poster child for a navel-gazing artist's personality. Still, this is an intruiging book: more interesting than the story of an artist trying to figure herself out might seem. show less

4684. Violet Clay, by Gail Godwin (read 15 Mar 2010) The eponymous character is an orphan from Charleston, S.C., who is a painter and goes to New York City to attempt to make her mark in painting. The account tells of her various successive fellow fornicators, her struggles to achieve renown, her uncle and his life and trial as a would-be novelist, and ends with Violet living in the Adirondacks on a acreage given her by her grandfather. I found the book readable mostly, though her efforts to establish herself as a painter often bored me. I prefer my heroines to have some conception of morality, but Violet evinces none so I could not empathize with her. I doubt I will read anything else by Gail Godwin. Should I?