book data
252 ratings,
3.69
average rating, 59 reviews
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published
January 7th 2008
by HarperPerennial
binding
Paperback
characters
isbn
0007254660
(isbn13: 9780007254668)
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avg 3.69
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in January, 2008
A humane, witty and touching story as a family comes to grips with the death of their mother, a reknowned painter to the world and something of a mysterious, wonderful, troubled soul to her family. The novel is something of a detective story as the various facets of her life are pieced together to reveal her portrait.
A fine, intelligent novel that is both humourous and affecting.
A fine, intelligent novel that is both humourous and affecting.
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Read in March, 2009
rachel was an artist, wife, mother, woman with mental illness. this story jumps around in time using the voices of her surviving family members to tell her tale and theirs. i'm enjoying it immensely.
...
every character seems to have their own story, which is a good thing. a bunch of personal stories connected by relationships, not being told in chronological time, it's ok, ok. not fabulous. but i am enjoying it.
and considering becoming a quaker. just sayi...more
...
every character seems to have their own story, which is a good thing. a bunch of personal stories connected by relationships, not being told in chronological time, it's ok, ok. not fabulous. but i am enjoying it.
and considering becoming a quaker. just sayi...more
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I'm only just starting this book but please god, Someone send Patrick Gale a big box of commas and full stops for his next birthday!
Gale seems to be allergic to punctuation which doesn't help his sloppy sentence composition, words appearing in the wrong place or lazing around the edges like a bunch of delinquents who don't care whether the reader can extract meaning or enjoyment from any given phrase. Here he is talking about the tide:
"Sometimes it carved a stealthy ...more
Gale seems to be allergic to punctuation which doesn't help his sloppy sentence composition, words appearing in the wrong place or lazing around the edges like a bunch of delinquents who don't care whether the reader can extract meaning or enjoyment from any given phrase. Here he is talking about the tide:
"Sometimes it carved a stealthy ...more
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Read in February, 2008
Haunting. What starts as a story about a Bipolar artist becomes much more than a simple tale of adversity. Moving backward and forward in time, revealing snippets of the past via the exhibit notes from the artist's post-humous exhibition, this story sucks you in and leaves you unable to walk away without knowing more. You find yourself learning more from what is left unsaid than from what is on the page.
With Cornwall as a backdrop, the narrative touches on mental illness, family, love...more
With Cornwall as a backdrop, the narrative touches on mental illness, family, love...more
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Read in April, 2009
I read this as part of a book group that I belong to and, as I'd already read the books that they had chosen, thought I actually ought to give it a go.
I didn't like it very much. It was predictable and felt artificial in its style. There were many irritating little inaccuracies that just got on my obsessive compulsive nerves (no, Petroc would not have been revising for his GCSEs in 1986 as they weren't introduced until 1988 - and he probably wouldn't have had a CD player that year ei...more
I didn't like it very much. It was predictable and felt artificial in its style. There were many irritating little inaccuracies that just got on my obsessive compulsive nerves (no, Petroc would not have been revising for his GCSEs in 1986 as they weren't introduced until 1988 - and he probably wouldn't have had a CD player that year ei...more
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Story of a bipolar artist -- story begins more or less with her death and moves back and forth in time through the third-person narratives of those in her life. A really interesting look at the internal working of a family and its constituent components.
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
One of the most subtle books I have read. The author has managed to create such human characters. There were moments that made me cringe with recognition of how self involved we can be. Very much an analysis of family.
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Lisa by:
Juliet Johnson
As always a fabulous read by Patrick Gale one of my favourite authors. Interesting story and characters. After reading this I am now going to read up on the Quaker religion.
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Read in January, 2008
Great depiction of family relationships and bipolar depression.
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It passed the time, but I didn't find it a particuraly interesting book to read, and in some places it felt something of a chore to read. The viewpoint and time changed with every chapter, a style I'm not particuraly fond of, and by the end of the book, there are still holes left unfilled. This may have been intentional, but I must admit to not being desperate for my questions I have remaining to be answered. Altogether, I would say this book is good for holiday reading, in that you don't come a...more
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recommended to Khaya by:
Ayala
Ayala lent this to me a while after our book club read another Patrick Gale book, "Rough Music." I liked "Rough Music" but found it difficult to review, for some reason. However, now that I've read two Patrick Gale books I can reference "Rough Music" as I review this one.
Gale is a great writer, and an insightful observer of family dynamics and people's psyches. His books are well-crafted, especially "Rough Music" which was an incredibly laye...more
Gale is a great writer, and an insightful observer of family dynamics and people's psyches. His books are well-crafted, especially "Rough Music" which was an incredibly laye...more
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Read in January, 2008
I'm actually finding myself struggling to write a review on this book as nothing really happens. This is the first Patrick Gale I have read and it may just be that I'm not used to his style of story telling but as I read this I felt I was constantly waiting for something to happen and it never really did.
I don't mean to sound too harsh about this book, after all the writing was beautiful and reading throught the other reviews on this book I can see what appealed to some, but to be h...more
I don't mean to sound too harsh about this book, after all the writing was beautiful and reading throught the other reviews on this book I can see what appealed to some, but to be h...more
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Read in February, 2008
A Richard and Judy pick which I usually enjoy.
Novel concerning the life of Rachel Kelly, an artist, and her family. Based in Cornwall it has a good sense of the landscape and you could probably find your way round using this book as a map. The artist is bipolar and this topic is dealt with really well detailing the effects it has on the whole family. The novel covers art (great descriptions of paintings), illness, death in a family and Quakerism.
The structure of the bo...more
Novel concerning the life of Rachel Kelly, an artist, and her family. Based in Cornwall it has a good sense of the landscape and you could probably find your way round using this book as a map. The artist is bipolar and this topic is dealt with really well detailing the effects it has on the whole family. The novel covers art (great descriptions of paintings), illness, death in a family and Quakerism.
The structure of the bo...more
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12/30/07
_inbetween_
added it
dynamics about speaking at Q Meeting
enormous cats
soothing depressives
cp. Kundera?
glitch in Hed's flashbacks?
after much thought still dislike that need to have every woman raped/sexually abused though; too much, all the other real historical badness of those places enough
want to know if Gale craves having a child
cp. Walter's to having voice of Pet only at the end, though less harrowing it's painful because you just have to l... him
eta 3:...more
enormous cats
soothing depressives
cp. Kundera?
glitch in Hed's flashbacks?
after much thought still dislike that need to have every woman raped/sexually abused though; too much, all the other real historical badness of those places enough
want to know if Gale craves having a child
cp. Walter's to having voice of Pet only at the end, though less harrowing it's painful because you just have to l... him
eta 3:...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to KiwiKathleen by:
Reading Seals
(in response to Lisa):
This was my first Patrick Gale novel, and I certainly will be reading more of his!
I have a friend who is a Quaker, and she's very like Gale's portrayal of Antony - always calm and always seeing and reacting to the best in everybody. I toyed with it myself some years ago, but felt I didn't have enough patience to be uncritical. I'm older now - maybe I should try out the local group...
(and on my blog):
I think I'm reading this book for Reading Seals, ...more
This was my first Patrick Gale novel, and I certainly will be reading more of his!
I have a friend who is a Quaker, and she's very like Gale's portrayal of Antony - always calm and always seeing and reacting to the best in everybody. I toyed with it myself some years ago, but felt I didn't have enough patience to be uncritical. I'm older now - maybe I should try out the local group...
(and on my blog):
I think I'm reading this book for Reading Seals, ...more
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The story of a bi-polar artist and her family life. Though it is in fact more about how her life and illness has impacted those around her. The book lends itself a little mystery in discovering the artists secret past, but the real story is how her known past molded the lives of her children. The last chapter was my favorite and really felt subtly brought the whole book together.
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Read in July, 2008
I am an artist so was curious about this book aand determined to hate it!!! Didn't though - I enjoyed the quiet complexities, the family relationships, the way the story effectively went backwards and the focus on paint and the act of painting.
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Read in February, 2009
This was good, just a different writing style than I'm used to. Kind of fractured. And the ending felt not so much like an ending but just that he'd stopped (although after cogitating on it awhile, I can see why he ended there).
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Elaine by:
Richard and Judyrecommends it for: anybody interested in family relationships, art, mental health issues, Cornwall
I enjoyed this book although I was given a false impression about what the book was about from the information on the back! The elements of the book I particularly enjoyed were:
1. a powerful description of being bipolar and the effect it has on family/friends. The book is told from various different family members/friends perspectives.
2. the introduction to each chapter which is "Notes from an exhibition". The painting descriptions came various different exhibition...more
1. a powerful description of being bipolar and the effect it has on family/friends. The book is told from various different family members/friends perspectives.
2. the introduction to each chapter which is "Notes from an exhibition". The painting descriptions came various different exhibition...more
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Read in November, 2008
I really enjoyed the first two thirds of this, but felt it got away from him a bit at the end. His writing has great integrity, but I think there were a couple too many POV characters and they weren't always that distinct.
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