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An Equal Stillness (2009)

by Francesca Kay(Favorite Author)

3.49 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0753825651 (ISBN13: 9780753825655)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Phoenix

review 1: we had to read this for bookclub otherwise I would never have bothered. it started off fragmented and difficult to read and though it did improve after a while I could never believe the book enough to take it seriously. a fake biography describing paintings that are not real as if they were, mixed in with a lot of sex and detailed descriptions of lovemaking and genitalia that only gets more disturbing and unreal when the 'author' is revealed. its a shame really because the themes running through the book are interesting and in a more workable format, without the glaringly obvious mix of sex and descriptions of paintings it could have worked. I actually liked the descriptions of paintings, when they weren't completely pornographic but as part of a biography which suggests I... more should know these paintings I ended up feeling frustrated.the book does highlight the plight of women during this time. a time when women were freer to do as they please but motherhood is seen as a waste the artist illustrates that women are not wasting their talents by having babies but also that somewhere, to have the career and look after the children, there have to be compromises, in this case hiring someone to help with the kids.
review 2: I really liked this book. I love the characters, especially Jennet Mellow, who is so well drawn and alive. Her dilemmas mirror those of women everywhere. She is continually torn between her own needs/desires and her role as a wife and a mother. In addition, she is torn between her love fore her husband and her desire for other men. The discussion of the live of women is furthered by an exploration of the lives of the women who surround her, such as her mother and sister. Moreover, the novel traces her career as an artist. On top of this, we are given an interesting discussion of the art of biography. less

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