Biographical Literary Fiction published by Penguin 04 Feb 2014
I heard that the author’s original title for this book was “I Never Loved You,” but her editor suggested she change it because that would be more appealing to readers. Is it a love story? Some might argue that in its own way it is, but it is really a deep dive into the birth of impressionism and a look at the famous artists whose works now command from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars when they were struggling for recognition. For me, reading this book came serendipitously at a time when I had just written an interesting travel blog on a visit to Giverny, Monet’s famous gardens where he painted so many of his masterpieces, and my love for some of the works from these artists.
In a time where artists were judged by the golden standard of the Ecole des Baux-Arts, acceptance to whose annual salon assured an artist’s future, there was a group of artists who rebelled from the standards established by the academy and branched into their own creative vision that we know and love as Impressionism. Mary Cassat is an American living in Paris who is like many others striving for fame and fortune. When she is rejected at the salon, she meets Edgar Degas, who is one of the leaders of the new movement and someone she has admired for a long time.
Interestingly, Edgar Degas has seen and admired Mary’s one work that had received acclaim, but even more attractive to the woman. He engineers a meeting between them that fosters a life-long friendship. Was it love? They never really acknowledge it and yet it’s a silent thread that runs through the story. The love story that seems to hold more sway is the doomed affair between Manet and his sister-in-law Berthe.
The author has meticulously researched the artists and their creative process and shares some of that as the story evolves and the reader gets caught up in the life and affairs of that turbulent period in France and the lives of these famous painters whom we enjoy in art galleries around the world. I read the book for a book club read and thoroughly enjoyed the read as well as the discussion that brought out facts of the story that I might not have otherwise paid attention to or considered.
Bottom line, these famous people were once ordinary folks like you and I who had the creative vision and determination to follow that instead of just coloring within a rigid box that defined art in their day. I, for one, am glad that we can enjoy the beauty they created, despite all the negativism they faced in their life time.
Grade: B
Summary:
The young Mary Cassatt never thought moving to Paris after the Civil War to be an artist was going to be easy, but when, after a decade of work, her submission to the Paris Salon is rejected, Mary’s fierce determination wavers. Her father is begging her to return to Philadelphia to find a husband before it is too late, her sister Lydia is falling mysteriously ill, and worse, Mary is beginning to doubt herself. Then one evening a friend introduces her to Edgar Degas and her life changes forever. Years later she will learn that he had begged for the introduction, but in that moment their meeting seems a miracle. So begins the defining period of her life and the most tempestuous of relationships.
In I Always Loved You, Robin Oliveira brilliantly re-creates the irresistible world of Belle Époque Paris, writing with grace and uncommon insight into the passion and foibles of the human heart.
No excerpt available.
