The Light Possessed

by Alan Cheuse

Educated at the Art Institute of Chicago, Ava Boldin marries a successful, older New York photographer who introduces her to the international art world, and leaves her husband and New York for the harsh landscapes of the New Mexico desert

Genres: Art

325 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

American writer and critic.
For more than two decades, Alan Cheuse has served as NPRs voice of books. He is the author of three novels, including The Grandmothers Club and The Light Possessed, several collections of short stories, and a pair of novellas recently published in The Fires. He is also the editor of Seeing Ourselves: Great Early American Short Stories and co-editor of Writers Workshop in a Book. Stories and co-editor of Writers Workshop in a Book."
Forthcoming in March, 2015, the novel
Prayers for the Living...
Born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Cheuse grew up in a Jewish family, the son of a Russian immigrant father and a mother of Russian and Romanian descent

Reviews

[Julie Seager]

“I got to think of him a lot that night after bedtime when I stole from my room and went out onto the patio and stood beneath a great cascade of stars — stars stars stars stars stars — a balcony of stars — more stars — wondering what was to become of me.”

“That life was nothing but these encounters with the light.”

[Ellen Johnson]

I lost interest about halfway through and gave up, can't really say why. It is hard to keep the characters straight, being written from several different points of view. Interesting learning more about Ga O'Keefe's life, but didn't really know what was real and what fiction.

[Joann]

I throughly enjoyed reading this book. I thought it was beautifully written and let me into to parts of lives that I could never have visited without this novel which is really a connection of stories. It was a delightful and fascinating read.

[David Michael]

I just love this book.