Scan barcode
latyz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
babybirdnoco's review against another edition
5.0
As part of my year of books I had decided I wanted to read a book recommend by an author I enjoy. Scrolling through Instagram I saw that Claire Fuller (who wrote Swimming Lessons; if you haven't read it you should) had just posted about Life Drawing by Robin Black. I decide this would be the author recommended book I read. This book is amazing well written, throughout the entire book I could feel the various emotions while the story was told. I 100% recommend this story to those who like more realistic love stories, who know it's not all butterflies and rainbows but it's loving someone through the difficult times.
etches's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
greenadex's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't finish this one. I would have wanted to but I just lost interest about halfway through the book. Ended up skimming through, just to find out what happens in the end. The writing is good, the characters are realistic and complex enough. The story is intriguing at the beginning and I wouldn't say it's a bad one knowing how it progresses. I just think the pacing is way. too. slow. even for a 250-pages or so book. I probably would have ended up finishing it under different circumstance, when I would be more in the mood for a highly introspective book
cassandralovesfeta's review against another edition
4.0
Well written, clear voice, great ending. Definitely worth your time.
cathiedalziel's review against another edition
5.0
This book is page after page of tension building, taut, snapshot of a middle aged couple's life. And so much more. It could have been titled: "O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive ..."
Gus (Augusta) and Owen live very quiet, secluded lives, alone in the countryside until a woman moves in next door and upsets the equilibrium of their pretend tranquility.
This book has so many layers, I don't even know where to begin: I'll list a few of the more prominent ones.
1)What we do to each other does matter.
2) We put people through hell just to relieve our own conscience.
3) The ripple effect is true.
4) People are multi-faceted; you take many of you's into every room / relationship you enter.
5) We only usually see or know just a fraction of a person's self.
6) Never underestimate the power of "family" (or the blindness of family)
Robin Black is an excellent writer, with a lot of patience.
Gus (Augusta) and Owen live very quiet, secluded lives, alone in the countryside until a woman moves in next door and upsets the equilibrium of their pretend tranquility.
This book has so many layers, I don't even know where to begin: I'll list a few of the more prominent ones.
1)What we do to each other does matter.
2) We put people through hell just to relieve our own conscience.
3) The ripple effect is true.
4) People are multi-faceted; you take many of you's into every room / relationship you enter.
5) We only usually see or know just a fraction of a person's self.
6) Never underestimate the power of "family" (or the blindness of family)
Robin Black is an excellent writer, with a lot of patience.
judithdcollins's review against another edition
4.0
A special thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Robin Black’s LIFE DRAWING is one of relationships and betrayal, packed with emotional intensity for a compelling read, with tension mounting throughout.
A novel of complex characters, a middle-aged couple who have been together since their early 20s. Gus a painter (age 47) and Owen (age 51), a writer. Gus had a brief affair, she blames on her distress over Owen’s inability to father children. When the affair ended, she confessed and they recommitted.
The couple have retreated from their former cosmopolitan life in Philadelphia to a rural idyll in a farmhouse, hoping to devote themselves to their work, and create a balance between personal and business. Their martial tension is always lingering from the past.
Soon after a neighbor—Alison moves into a nearby rental. They get along great until Alison’s twenty-something daughter, Nora arrives and becomes enamored with Owen.
With a past, and insecurities which continue to rear its ugly head, causes problems, as she previously had an affair with the father of one of her art students. Pulling away from Owen, Gus spends more and more time with Alison, an aspiring painter whose husband abused her. Then Alison’s violent ex-husband Paul appears which adds to the drama. Gus also starts confiding in Alison about Owen.
Gus, whose own mother died when she was a small child, is jealous of their mother-daughter intimacy. She also senses that Nora, an aspiring writer who admires Owen's books, is a threat.
The couple strive to make sense of their issues of fidelity, guilt, and honesty, as Black dives into the complexities of a marriage—life is not easy and it is messy, painful, and difficult.
I particularly enjoyed the way Black used the emotional turmoil between the different characters, while looking deep into the female friendship, as well as the family dynamics.
These questions would be ideal for a book club, as there is so much to discuss from different perspectives and the what ifs?
The question would be—can you live with your past and your partner’s past? Is it holding you back from a future? As usual when you are in a relationship, you are so close to it—you unable to take a step back and see it more clearly. As Gus tells her story after Owen has died, the focus is clearer. Whether hating or loving we see the good or bad.
A gripping novel exploring human feelings—rich developed, flawed characters trying to exist in a world of love, jealousy and betrayal— a portrait of two people equally devoted to their marriage and their art.
As in art, drawing from life is far more complex and challenging due to movement and changing of the artist’s point of view. As mentioned by some of the other reviewers, LIFE DRAWING is serious literary fiction, and one those fans will devour for a powerful and compelling debut novel.
Robin Black’s LIFE DRAWING is one of relationships and betrayal, packed with emotional intensity for a compelling read, with tension mounting throughout.
A novel of complex characters, a middle-aged couple who have been together since their early 20s. Gus a painter (age 47) and Owen (age 51), a writer. Gus had a brief affair, she blames on her distress over Owen’s inability to father children. When the affair ended, she confessed and they recommitted.
The couple have retreated from their former cosmopolitan life in Philadelphia to a rural idyll in a farmhouse, hoping to devote themselves to their work, and create a balance between personal and business. Their martial tension is always lingering from the past.
Soon after a neighbor—Alison moves into a nearby rental. They get along great until Alison’s twenty-something daughter, Nora arrives and becomes enamored with Owen.
With a past, and insecurities which continue to rear its ugly head, causes problems, as she previously had an affair with the father of one of her art students. Pulling away from Owen, Gus spends more and more time with Alison, an aspiring painter whose husband abused her. Then Alison’s violent ex-husband Paul appears which adds to the drama. Gus also starts confiding in Alison about Owen.
Gus, whose own mother died when she was a small child, is jealous of their mother-daughter intimacy. She also senses that Nora, an aspiring writer who admires Owen's books, is a threat.
The couple strive to make sense of their issues of fidelity, guilt, and honesty, as Black dives into the complexities of a marriage—life is not easy and it is messy, painful, and difficult.
I particularly enjoyed the way Black used the emotional turmoil between the different characters, while looking deep into the female friendship, as well as the family dynamics.
As mentioned in the readers’ guide, “How would you describe the condition of Owen’s and Gus’s marriage at the point of Alison’s arrival? What do you think would have happened to them if they’d just gone on living in solitude? Were the resentments bound to bubble up without a third person involved, or did they seem settled into a good life? If there were problems that were bound to come up, what were some warning signs?”
These questions would be ideal for a book club, as there is so much to discuss from different perspectives and the what ifs?
The question would be—can you live with your past and your partner’s past? Is it holding you back from a future? As usual when you are in a relationship, you are so close to it—you unable to take a step back and see it more clearly. As Gus tells her story after Owen has died, the focus is clearer. Whether hating or loving we see the good or bad.
A gripping novel exploring human feelings—rich developed, flawed characters trying to exist in a world of love, jealousy and betrayal— a portrait of two people equally devoted to their marriage and their art.
As in art, drawing from life is far more complex and challenging due to movement and changing of the artist’s point of view. As mentioned by some of the other reviewers, LIFE DRAWING is serious literary fiction, and one those fans will devour for a powerful and compelling debut novel.
emilyisreading2024's review against another edition
5.0
I loved Black's short story collection, IF I LOVED YOU, I WOULD TELL YOU THIS, so I was really looking forward to LIFE DRAWING and it certainly didn't disappoint. It's a compelling domestic drama written in gorgeous, memorable language. Here are a few of my favorite passages (page #s from hardback edition):
"Regret and its accompanying conviction that there is a perfect, placid life, one's own alternate existence, pristine and simple, existing in a neighboring reality in which certain turns in the road were never set upon. And it isn't true. Any of it. I knew that. I had learned it. But it is an irresistible fantasy, if only because it implies that we have some control over our fates." (p. 91)
"A lie, I remembered right away, is a physical thing, like a new body part that has no proper way to fit." (p. 157)
"That sometimes life demands things of you, that just the fact of being alive means allowing for possibilities that may be far from what you'd planned or even hoped." (p. 197)
"Regret and its accompanying conviction that there is a perfect, placid life, one's own alternate existence, pristine and simple, existing in a neighboring reality in which certain turns in the road were never set upon. And it isn't true. Any of it. I knew that. I had learned it. But it is an irresistible fantasy, if only because it implies that we have some control over our fates." (p. 91)
"A lie, I remembered right away, is a physical thing, like a new body part that has no proper way to fit." (p. 157)
"That sometimes life demands things of you, that just the fact of being alive means allowing for possibilities that may be far from what you'd planned or even hoped." (p. 197)
bahoulie's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed the way the book was put together, the way the main characters' work integrated so fully into the story, despite it not really being a story I wished to read. It also put me in a pretty bad mood.