Keeping the World Away

by Margaret Forster

Book Overview

Gwen, a bold and spirited young English artist, defies convention and sets out to study in Paris, where she has a tumultuous affair with the inspiring, controlling sculptor Rodin. But as the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345496337
• ISBN13: 9780345496331
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Captivating read

When most of us look at a painting, we will probably first notice the quality, possibly the depth, or even the emotion behind the brush strokes. We might like it (or not) and might even wonder what the artist was feeling at the time it was painted. What we likely won't consider is the impact the piece of art had on those who've had it in their possession. In the fictional tale of a true-to-life work of art, _A Corner of the Artist's Room in Paris_by Gwen John, author Margaret Forster weaves a story of several women whose lives were changed subtly, or not so, while the painting was in their possession. First, the story of the artist who carried great passion but was ever encouraged by her lover to be tranquil, and for a moment, at least, she might have captured it on canvas. And then by gift, theft, sale and inheritance many more women follow, each life touched by the picture of a little attic, a wickerwork chair, and a vase full of primroses. I can't honestly say what I thought of this book as a whole. I was captivated by the story of Gwen John and still so by Charlotte, whose tale follows, but after those two, the women began to blend into one. Most of the characters are basically disappointed in men and most of humanity. If they weren't before they saw the painting, they were after. They seemed to retreat into themselves and solitude. Which is, I guess, the point with a title like Keeping the World Away. There was virtually no dialog and even when there was, it may only be a single line. I suppose you could say that it is enthralling to be so much within a mind, but the secluded minds began to lose any sort of "voice." If I put the book down for more than a moment, I would come back and not know who I was reading about without looking back again to see. This is a captivating, yet lonely, tale. Armchair Interviews says: A unique use of a painting to several people's stories

A worthwhile read

Bestselling memoirist, biographer and historical novelist Margaret Forster hasn't published anything in the U.S. (she lives in London) in quite some time. KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY is her first work for an American audience in 15 years --- and you wonder why. Although her writing can sometimes seem slow or unnecessarily drawn out, it is only because Forster has taken the time to construct a quietly resonant story --- one that allows for a stroll, a silent meditation, a well-needed nap between chapters. This isn't the type of book you can sit down and digest in one sitting, but one that requires thinking beyond what is written in its pages in order to grasp its multi-layered meaning. In the prologue, a young girl named Gillian (the same Gillian, readers will notice, who is the subject of the book's final section, although at an older age) is on a field trip to the Tate Gallery with her class. After looking at the paintings and being captivated by their presence, she finds herself wondering about the lives of the paintings themselves. "I was wondering where it had been, who had owned it, who had looked at it," she says. "I mean, what effect did it have on the people who have looked at it? What has it meant to them, how have they looked at it, did they feel the same as I did, did they see what I saw...?" These are the questions that shape the remainder of the novel. Although KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY takes a while to dive into, readers will soon get the hang of the plot's formula, and with each subsequent chapter, the book's intentions will unfold on an increasingly deeper level. The first section focuses on Gwen John, a lonely, often destitute painter (both in the story and in real life) and the sister of the more famous artist, Augustus John. In these chapters, Forster paints a vivid portrait of Gwen's reclusive character, her passion for painting and her illicit affair with the sculptor Rodin. Forster also vaguely describes Gwen's thoughts and feelings during the time she created the painting of her room, although she takes great care in not spelling anything out for her readers so that they can form their own conclusions. It's this painting that then becomes the subject of the following five sections, named after each of the women who comes into contact with the painting: Charlotte, Stella, Lucasta, Ailsa and Gillian. As the painting is passed on from woman to woman, and from generation to generation, it affects each lady (and the people she loves or is involved with) in both similar and disparate ways. For many of the characters, the simple but expressive painting represents a longing for something different, a door to another life. For both Charlotte and Stella, the painting initially made them want the life of an artist, one that would enable them to squire away their worries in favor of putting paint on a canvas. For Ailsa, the painting initially represented everything she had given up for her marriage --- a marriage that suffered through much

An imaginative riff on Gwen John's legacy

British author Forster's latest novel centers around a small, unsigned Gwen John painting and the women who own it over the next century. Forster's posits an earlier version of the actual painting, "The Corner of the Artist's Room in Paris," and imagines its genesis. Gwen John (1876 - 1939) rarely showed her work and was best known as the sister of Augustus John until well after her death. The painting Forster has chosen was one of a series. The artist kept the final painting and never exhibited it. The book begins with the death of Gwen's mother when she and Augustus are children. Forster perfectly captures a child's intense, bewildered grief, full of energy and fear. "Gwen longed to be outside, anywhere. Inside the walls pressed in on her and the ceilings lowered toward her and the doors came to meet her. She felt she would burst....'Gwendoline has not wept a single tear,' she heard Aunt Lily say to their father." After a lonely childhood with her chilly and remote father, Gwen goes off to s study painting, first in London, then in Paris. Aloof, determined and ambitious, she hides a mind racing "with millions of violent and spectacular thoughts and ideas, and in the center of herself she stored a passion which might terrify people if they suspected it." This dormant passion is unleashed, finally, in Paris, in a torrid love affair with the very much married sculptor, Rodin. But Rodin finds Gwen's towering passion and impulsiveness exhausting. He counsels tranquility and discipline, but as he withdraws from her she becomes more desperate and demanding. She begins work on a small painting of the corner of her room, a table and chair, a small bunch of primroses. "She wanted to record how things might have been and so nearly were. Contentment, peace, a life lived sweetly and quietly. No mess, no trouble, no agonizing. The person who lived in this room was in perfect control of her emotions." This is how Rodin wishes her to be and how she wishes to present herself to him. But Rodin does not come and the painting does not quite succeed. She starts another and gives the first to a friend. Who packs it in a valise, which goes astray, never to be returned. But when young, ungainly Charlotte Falconer sets eyes on the painting - found in a valise left at Victoria Station - she must have it. The valise is not claimed and Charlotte hangs it in her little room, imagining herself an artist in a garret, rather than a wealthy young lady whose fashionable mother despairs of her. And as the years pass, leading to World War I then World War II and up to the present day, the painting - stolen, sold, given away - makes its way through a succession of women. Many people, particularly men, see little in it. Regarding it as pretty or insignificant, even lonely and depressing, these people are mystified at the feeling it arouses in others. The women who own it, most of them with artistic yearnings, find inspiration and comfort. Some view it and feel their own i

Luminous and lovely

Luminous and lovely, this portrait of the artist as a young woman traces the journey of an actual painting by early 20th century artist Gwen John from its creation through the many lives it joins. John was a talented painter (although less well known than her brother Augustus) of canvases of stillness and light, as well as Rodin's model. Seeming to echo Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, this work describes woman as muse, creator, patron and gaze - as well as daughter, sister, mother, wife, widow, lover, mistress and hermit. The life-altering moments that a singular work of art can capture, distill and provoke are movingly rendered. While the male characters are less finely drawn, they also describe a range of ages and type that neatly sidestep cliche. The stories and lives overlap - and kept me reading with thought-provoking pleasure. I look forward to sharing this title with my book group.