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Talland House
Royal Academy, London 1919: Lily has put her student days in St. Ives, Cornwall, behind her―a time when her substitute mother, Mrs. Ramsay, seemingly disliked Lily’s portrait of her and Louis Grier, her tutor, never seduced her as she hoped he would. In the years since, she’s been a suffragette and a nurse in WWI, and now she’s a successful artist with a painting displayed at the Royal Academy. Then Louis appears at the exhibition with the news that Mrs. Ramsay has died under suspicious circumstances. Talking to Louis, Lily realizes two things: 1) she must find out more about her beloved Mrs. Ramsay’s death (and her sometimes-violent husband, Mr. Ramsay), and 2) She still loves Louis.
Set between 1900 and 1919 in picturesque Cornwall and war-blasted London, Talland House takes Lily Briscoe from the pages of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and tells her story outside the confines of Woolf’s novel―as a student in 1900, as a young woman becoming a professional artist, her loves and friendships, mourning her dead mother, and solving the mystery of her friend Mrs. Ramsay’s sudden death. Talland House is both a story for our present time, exploring the tensions women experience between their public careers and private loves, and a story of a specific moment in our past―a time when women first began to be truly independent.
Set between 1900 and 1919 in picturesque Cornwall and war-blasted London, Talland House takes Lily Briscoe from the pages of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and tells her story outside the confines of Woolf’s novel―as a student in 1900, as a young woman becoming a professional artist, her loves and friendships, mourning her dead mother, and solving the mystery of her friend Mrs. Ramsay’s sudden death. Talland House is both a story for our present time, exploring the tensions women experience between their public careers and private loves, and a story of a specific moment in our past―a time when women first began to be truly independent.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
352 pages, Paperback
Published August 18, 2020
8 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
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February 16, 2022
Lily Briscoe is an inspiring artist, she meets Eliza Stillman and they become best friends as both like to sketch and paint. Lily’s given the opportunity to stay the summer with the Ramsay family at St. Ives in Cornwall and this is the link to Virginia Woolf and her famous novel To the Lighthouse.
Mrs. Ramsay is like a second mother to Lily, she offers to paint her portrait and unfortunately she doesn’t get to finish it. The Great War starts and Lily and Eliza decide to train as nurses at the Queen Alexandra Hospital. Lily is working on Ward C, treating men with gas gangrene, trench fever and shell shock. Mrs. Beckwith comes out of retirement to run the hospital's pharmacy and Lily’s her new assistant.
In 1919, Lily is now a flourishing artist and her paintings are on display at the Royal Academy in London. She has lost touch with Mrs. Ramsay and she’s shocked when her ex tutor and first crush Louis Grier informs her she passed away. Lily reflects on the summer she spent with the family, Mrs. Ramsay the mother of eight children looked to have a wonderful life from the outside and did she? Lily noticed Mrs. Ramsay slipping something into her drink when her husband wasn’t paying attention, she looked pale, and at times the atmosphere was tense, due to Mr. Ramsay’s angry outburst and Andrew the eldest son’s fondness for knives.
Lily travels back to Cornwall to investigate the circumstances around her matriarch’s death, Talland House has been closed up for years, and Lily discovers Mr. Ramsay wouldn’t let anyone prepare his wife’s body for burial and he emptied her room of all her clothes and belongings. While helping Mrs. Nash clean the holiday house, Lily tries to piece together the possibilities of what happened to Mrs. Ramsay, using her medical and pharmaceutical knowledge.
I received a copy of Talland House by Maggie Humm from NetGalley and She Writes Press in exchange for an honest review, it’s about Lily’s experiences in the early 1900’s, from her crush on her Australian art teacher, to being a suffragette and working as a nurse during WW I, the unexpected passing of Mrs. Ramsay and of course hindsight. Four and a half stars from me and you don’t have to read To the Lighthouse to enjoy this work of historical fiction.
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Mrs. Ramsay is like a second mother to Lily, she offers to paint her portrait and unfortunately she doesn’t get to finish it. The Great War starts and Lily and Eliza decide to train as nurses at the Queen Alexandra Hospital. Lily is working on Ward C, treating men with gas gangrene, trench fever and shell shock. Mrs. Beckwith comes out of retirement to run the hospital's pharmacy and Lily’s her new assistant.
In 1919, Lily is now a flourishing artist and her paintings are on display at the Royal Academy in London. She has lost touch with Mrs. Ramsay and she’s shocked when her ex tutor and first crush Louis Grier informs her she passed away. Lily reflects on the summer she spent with the family, Mrs. Ramsay the mother of eight children looked to have a wonderful life from the outside and did she? Lily noticed Mrs. Ramsay slipping something into her drink when her husband wasn’t paying attention, she looked pale, and at times the atmosphere was tense, due to Mr. Ramsay’s angry outburst and Andrew the eldest son’s fondness for knives.
Lily travels back to Cornwall to investigate the circumstances around her matriarch’s death, Talland House has been closed up for years, and Lily discovers Mr. Ramsay wouldn’t let anyone prepare his wife’s body for burial and he emptied her room of all her clothes and belongings. While helping Mrs. Nash clean the holiday house, Lily tries to piece together the possibilities of what happened to Mrs. Ramsay, using her medical and pharmaceutical knowledge.
I received a copy of Talland House by Maggie Humm from NetGalley and She Writes Press in exchange for an honest review, it’s about Lily’s experiences in the early 1900’s, from her crush on her Australian art teacher, to being a suffragette and working as a nurse during WW I, the unexpected passing of Mrs. Ramsay and of course hindsight. Four and a half stars from me and you don’t have to read To the Lighthouse to enjoy this work of historical fiction.
https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KarrenReadsH...
August 22, 2020
This was not a book for me i am sad to say. The language was for me too "cultural'. Maybe i should read more about the book before i requested it. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest review
September 5, 2020
I haven’t read Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, the novel in which the character Lily Briscoe appears, so I came to Talland House without any knowledge of the book which inspired it. I think this probably placed me at a disadvantage when it came to appreciating how and to what extent Maggie Humm has incorporated elements of Woolf’s original into Talland House, and how much of the characterization of the individuals who appear in the book is drawn from the author’s own imagination or builds on what is in To The Lighthouse.
This is particularly the case with Mr. Ramsey who, in Talland House, is depicted as having few redeeming qualities. Described variously as ‘hot-tempered’ and ‘self-centred’, the reader witnesses sudden outbursts which, if carried out by a child, would probably be described as temper tantrums. However, since he is a grown man, and a heavily built one at that, these fits of temper, with their undercurrents of violence, are considerably more alarming. His wife’s attempts to prevent these outbursts or distract others’ attention from them I found unsettling.
Having lost her own mother, it’s no surprise when Lily finds herself drawn to Mrs. Ramsey, the very epitome of a caring mother. Not only is Mrs. Ramsay beautiful but she displays a keen interest in art, music and literature. Finding her friendship returned, Lily delights in the “rich essence of female connection, a fervent intensity because they were were both women”.
Having visited St. Ives in Cornwall, I enjoyed the sections of the book set there and could easily imagine the picturesque streets, houses and sea views inspiring artists like Lily. I could also appreciate the challenge of trying to capture the essence of the natural world in paint. For Lily, painting is a vital form of self-expression allowing her a freedom to communicate thoughts and feelings she feels unable to articulate verbally, either because of the inadequacy of words or because of social conventions. “She wanted always to paint as she’d dimly known she could paint, not imitating others but becoming herself.” Her inability to complete her portrait of Mrs. Ramsey, therefore, is more than just an irritation, it is a reflection of Lily’s doubts about her own artistic ability and, in a way, her feeling of incompleteness as a person.
The events in Talland House play out at a measured pace switching back and forth in time, from Lily’s first arrival in St. Ives in 1900 to the final scenes in 1919. This provides plenty of opportunities for descriptions of landscapes which emphasise their colours and shapes, as if seen through the eyes of an artist. I especially liked how the author captured the gloomy, eerily silent atmosphere of First World War London, such as in this passage in which Lily glimpses the tower housing Big Ben. “It was silent, the unlit white-and-black clock difficult to see in the smog. Missing the striking of hours and quarters, she felt outside of time, and the streets, too, seemed to float free, as if a grey ocean had swept up the Thames enveloping them all.”
Although a smaller element of the story than the blurb might suggest, Lily’s efforts to discover the true circumstances surrounding Mrs Ramsey’s death add a sprinkling of mystery to the final chapters of the book. However, I mean it in the best possible way when I say that I didn’t think the book needed this extra, rather melodramatic element. Personally, I found Lily’s story, as she grows in self-confidence and forges an independent path in life, sufficiently engaging in its own right. On the other hand, for those who have read To The Lighthouse, the author’s solution may provide the vital missing piece to complete the equivalent of a literary jigsaw. Or perhaps I should say, the last brushstroke on the canvas.
Rich in detail, Talland House is an absorbing story that celebrates female friendship during a period of upheaval and social change.
This is particularly the case with Mr. Ramsey who, in Talland House, is depicted as having few redeeming qualities. Described variously as ‘hot-tempered’ and ‘self-centred’, the reader witnesses sudden outbursts which, if carried out by a child, would probably be described as temper tantrums. However, since he is a grown man, and a heavily built one at that, these fits of temper, with their undercurrents of violence, are considerably more alarming. His wife’s attempts to prevent these outbursts or distract others’ attention from them I found unsettling.
Having lost her own mother, it’s no surprise when Lily finds herself drawn to Mrs. Ramsey, the very epitome of a caring mother. Not only is Mrs. Ramsay beautiful but she displays a keen interest in art, music and literature. Finding her friendship returned, Lily delights in the “rich essence of female connection, a fervent intensity because they were were both women”.
Having visited St. Ives in Cornwall, I enjoyed the sections of the book set there and could easily imagine the picturesque streets, houses and sea views inspiring artists like Lily. I could also appreciate the challenge of trying to capture the essence of the natural world in paint. For Lily, painting is a vital form of self-expression allowing her a freedom to communicate thoughts and feelings she feels unable to articulate verbally, either because of the inadequacy of words or because of social conventions. “She wanted always to paint as she’d dimly known she could paint, not imitating others but becoming herself.” Her inability to complete her portrait of Mrs. Ramsey, therefore, is more than just an irritation, it is a reflection of Lily’s doubts about her own artistic ability and, in a way, her feeling of incompleteness as a person.
The events in Talland House play out at a measured pace switching back and forth in time, from Lily’s first arrival in St. Ives in 1900 to the final scenes in 1919. This provides plenty of opportunities for descriptions of landscapes which emphasise their colours and shapes, as if seen through the eyes of an artist. I especially liked how the author captured the gloomy, eerily silent atmosphere of First World War London, such as in this passage in which Lily glimpses the tower housing Big Ben. “It was silent, the unlit white-and-black clock difficult to see in the smog. Missing the striking of hours and quarters, she felt outside of time, and the streets, too, seemed to float free, as if a grey ocean had swept up the Thames enveloping them all.”
Although a smaller element of the story than the blurb might suggest, Lily’s efforts to discover the true circumstances surrounding Mrs Ramsey’s death add a sprinkling of mystery to the final chapters of the book. However, I mean it in the best possible way when I say that I didn’t think the book needed this extra, rather melodramatic element. Personally, I found Lily’s story, as she grows in self-confidence and forges an independent path in life, sufficiently engaging in its own right. On the other hand, for those who have read To The Lighthouse, the author’s solution may provide the vital missing piece to complete the equivalent of a literary jigsaw. Or perhaps I should say, the last brushstroke on the canvas.
Rich in detail, Talland House is an absorbing story that celebrates female friendship during a period of upheaval and social change.
February 9, 2022
Historical fiction is something that I really,really enjoy,and a historical fiction related to Virginia Woolf?...*chef's kiss*
👒
Talland House is the house where Virginia Woolf spent many a summer in her childhood. In the book,we read about Lily Briscoe and her journey through love and life. The book is based on times were women and freedom were not associated together, and in such a world,Lily searched for empowerment.
👒
The book is slow and dreamy,it reads like the golden sunlight of the afternoon feels. The plot flowed smoothly,the characters were interesting,and the romance was perfection. I'm so glad I got a chance to review this beautiful, beautiful novel.
👒
👒
Talland House is the house where Virginia Woolf spent many a summer in her childhood. In the book,we read about Lily Briscoe and her journey through love and life. The book is based on times were women and freedom were not associated together, and in such a world,Lily searched for empowerment.
👒
The book is slow and dreamy,it reads like the golden sunlight of the afternoon feels. The plot flowed smoothly,the characters were interesting,and the romance was perfection. I'm so glad I got a chance to review this beautiful, beautiful novel.
👒
October 25, 2020
Thank you NetGalley and She Writes Press for providing me with an ARC of Talland House in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Gist
Almost three years ago I took my mother on a holiday to England. We visited St. Ives for a few days and I became enchanted with Cornwall. It was beautiful, magnificent and charming.
I had a wonderful time there. We were very lucky with the weather and ever since then I have used Cornwall as my mental happy place, especially during this terrible pandemic.
So, when I received a copy of Talland House from the publisher I was excited on embarking on a mental holiday to one of my new favourite spots in this world. Throw in some historical fiction and a suspicious death and I’m your gal.
Now I’m sitting on my couch, a Hallmark Christmas movie playing in the background, because it’s October and Halloween does not exist in the Hallmark Universe, and a Scotch neat in easy reach. All to ease the agitation I’m feeling right now.
I’m asking myself “It all sounded so promising. What went wrong?” Isn’t it always the case, though?
The Details
Let me begin with the protagonist. I know, I know. I always start with the protagonist, but it’s a good way to start this hopefully mild rant.
Lilly is entitled, arrogant and cocky. Traits that I personally don’t find too amiable in a main character, but they could nonetheless work, if the story itself is well crafted and executed.
I just find it doesn’t encourage a reader to continue with a story when the protagonist keeps comparing everything that they think is better.
Lilly, from what I gathered, had a great opportunity, hence her move to Cornwall, yet her internal thoughts make it sound like she much rather be back in Paris.
Or is this just a way to establish a very snooty character, whom I don’t really care about? And if so, why would that be the object of this story? It puzzled me, but I was willing to give it a try.
What really irked me to the point of almost tearing my hair out was the writing style. For the love of everything a person may find holy, this could have benefitted with a little more patience during the writing process.
I completely understand the excitement and enthusiasm coursing through a writer’s veins as they have this great story in mind and they want to get it down on paper as quickly as possible, but the jumps in times were seriously driving me insane.
One sentence has Lilly talking with her landlady and the next she is standing inside the painting studio. No Paragraph break and no warning of the abrupt scene change.
It kept pulling me out of the reading flow, so to speak.
In addition to the quick jumps in time, the writing style couldn’t decide if it wanted to be more descriptive and verse-like or quick-acting prose. The constant switches were just as tiring as the jumps in time and space.
It became exhausting to read. And what frustrates me the most is the potential this story had. I could see it shimmering right beneath the surface of whatever the narration tried to do. It was right there, yet so far away.
The Verdict
Overall, I must say I gulped my Scotch too fast in order to numb the sadness in my heart. This could have become one of my favourite reads of 2020, but it just fell a little too short on a lot of aspects.
This just wasn’t for me. And I’m very gloomy about it.
ElliotScribbles
The Gist
Almost three years ago I took my mother on a holiday to England. We visited St. Ives for a few days and I became enchanted with Cornwall. It was beautiful, magnificent and charming.
I had a wonderful time there. We were very lucky with the weather and ever since then I have used Cornwall as my mental happy place, especially during this terrible pandemic.
So, when I received a copy of Talland House from the publisher I was excited on embarking on a mental holiday to one of my new favourite spots in this world. Throw in some historical fiction and a suspicious death and I’m your gal.
Now I’m sitting on my couch, a Hallmark Christmas movie playing in the background, because it’s October and Halloween does not exist in the Hallmark Universe, and a Scotch neat in easy reach. All to ease the agitation I’m feeling right now.
I’m asking myself “It all sounded so promising. What went wrong?” Isn’t it always the case, though?
The Details
Let me begin with the protagonist. I know, I know. I always start with the protagonist, but it’s a good way to start this hopefully mild rant.
Lilly is entitled, arrogant and cocky. Traits that I personally don’t find too amiable in a main character, but they could nonetheless work, if the story itself is well crafted and executed.
I just find it doesn’t encourage a reader to continue with a story when the protagonist keeps comparing everything that they think is better.
Lilly, from what I gathered, had a great opportunity, hence her move to Cornwall, yet her internal thoughts make it sound like she much rather be back in Paris.
Or is this just a way to establish a very snooty character, whom I don’t really care about? And if so, why would that be the object of this story? It puzzled me, but I was willing to give it a try.
What really irked me to the point of almost tearing my hair out was the writing style. For the love of everything a person may find holy, this could have benefitted with a little more patience during the writing process.
I completely understand the excitement and enthusiasm coursing through a writer’s veins as they have this great story in mind and they want to get it down on paper as quickly as possible, but the jumps in times were seriously driving me insane.
One sentence has Lilly talking with her landlady and the next she is standing inside the painting studio. No Paragraph break and no warning of the abrupt scene change.
It kept pulling me out of the reading flow, so to speak.
In addition to the quick jumps in time, the writing style couldn’t decide if it wanted to be more descriptive and verse-like or quick-acting prose. The constant switches were just as tiring as the jumps in time and space.
It became exhausting to read. And what frustrates me the most is the potential this story had. I could see it shimmering right beneath the surface of whatever the narration tried to do. It was right there, yet so far away.
The Verdict
Overall, I must say I gulped my Scotch too fast in order to numb the sadness in my heart. This could have become one of my favourite reads of 2020, but it just fell a little too short on a lot of aspects.
This just wasn’t for me. And I’m very gloomy about it.
ElliotScribbles
October 31, 2020
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Talland House
Author: Maggie Humm
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommended For...: historical fiction fans
Publication Date: August 18, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Recommended Age: 16+ (romance, slight sexual content)
Publisher: She Writes Press
Pages: 352
Synopsis: Royal Academy, London 1919: Lily has put her student days in St. Ives, Cornwall, behind her―a time when her substitute mother, Mrs. Ramsay, seemingly disliked Lily’s portrait of her and Louis Grier, her tutor, never seduced her as she hoped he would. In the years since, she’s been a suffragette and a nurse in WWI, and now she’s a successful artist with a painting displayed at the Royal Academy. Then Louis appears at the exhibition with the news that Mrs. Ramsay has died under suspicious circumstances. Talking to Louis, Lily realizes two things: 1) she must find out more about her beloved Mrs. Ramsay’s death (and her sometimes-violent husband, Mr. Ramsay), and 2) She still loves Louis.
Set between 1900 and 1919 in picturesque Cornwall and war-blasted London, Talland House takes Lily Briscoe from the pages of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and tells her story outside the confines of Woolf’s novel―as a student in 1900, as a young woman becoming a professional artist, her loves and friendships, mourning her dead mother, and solving the mystery of her friend Mrs. Ramsay’s sudden death. Talland House is both a story for our present time, exploring the tensions women experience between their public careers and private loves, and a story of a specific moment in our past―a time when women first began to be truly independent.
Review: For the most part this was a good book. The world building and character development was well done. The pacing was on point and it really flowed with the book. The book also had a great plot that kept me motivated to read.
However, the protagonist makes reading the story really hard. I didn’t vibe with her cocky and mean attitude and it made me really want to stop reading the book several times over. The book also was written weirdly. The book was descriptive in some parts and the just quickly wrote in others. I think it needs to just be edited a bit more.
Verdict: It was good just weird.
Book: Talland House
Author: Maggie Humm
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommended For...: historical fiction fans
Publication Date: August 18, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Recommended Age: 16+ (romance, slight sexual content)
Publisher: She Writes Press
Pages: 352
Synopsis: Royal Academy, London 1919: Lily has put her student days in St. Ives, Cornwall, behind her―a time when her substitute mother, Mrs. Ramsay, seemingly disliked Lily’s portrait of her and Louis Grier, her tutor, never seduced her as she hoped he would. In the years since, she’s been a suffragette and a nurse in WWI, and now she’s a successful artist with a painting displayed at the Royal Academy. Then Louis appears at the exhibition with the news that Mrs. Ramsay has died under suspicious circumstances. Talking to Louis, Lily realizes two things: 1) she must find out more about her beloved Mrs. Ramsay’s death (and her sometimes-violent husband, Mr. Ramsay), and 2) She still loves Louis.
Set between 1900 and 1919 in picturesque Cornwall and war-blasted London, Talland House takes Lily Briscoe from the pages of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and tells her story outside the confines of Woolf’s novel―as a student in 1900, as a young woman becoming a professional artist, her loves and friendships, mourning her dead mother, and solving the mystery of her friend Mrs. Ramsay’s sudden death. Talland House is both a story for our present time, exploring the tensions women experience between their public careers and private loves, and a story of a specific moment in our past―a time when women first began to be truly independent.
Review: For the most part this was a good book. The world building and character development was well done. The pacing was on point and it really flowed with the book. The book also had a great plot that kept me motivated to read.
However, the protagonist makes reading the story really hard. I didn’t vibe with her cocky and mean attitude and it made me really want to stop reading the book several times over. The book also was written weirdly. The book was descriptive in some parts and the just quickly wrote in others. I think it needs to just be edited a bit more.
Verdict: It was good just weird.
August 24, 2020
Talland House takes inspiration from Virginia Woolf's, To the Lighthouse. You will also be surprised to know that Talland House is also where Woolf spent 13 summers with her family.
Centering on Lily Briscoe’s coming-of-age and offering a plausible resolution to one of the twenty-first century’s greatest literary mysteries - the sudden death of Mrs. Ramsay - Talland House partly follows the time structure of Woolf’s novel, but weaves into this frame a prequel, and many fictions of Woolf’s life including her family, the artists and friends she knew, and Lily’s fictionalized life and career outside of the novel.
The book was a beautiful description of the town of St. Ives and the life of the protagonist Lily. The entire story revolved around Lily, Mrs, Ramsay and of course the Talland House. It's a very slow paced book going back and forth between the present day life of Lily and the of her time before and during the first World War.
Many a times you may almost feel like Lily thinks too much but I feel that is an apt depiction of her artistic mind. The character development of Lily is also appropriate to a time when women in the western world were trying to become independent beings.
The book will take you through her journey as a student in Paris, to a student in St. Ives where she first meets Mrs. Ramsay, to journey of coming back to Talland House as an artist, as a suffragette, as a nurse during World War 2 and finally having her artwork being displayed at the Royal Art Gallery being almost lost and clueless through it all.
The story carries with itself the mystery of Mrs. Ramsay's death and Lily's determination to complete her portrait as well as figure out the reason behind he sudden untimely death which gives you something to look forward to. If you have an interest in art, you'll also be in awe of the artistic descriptions in the book because I sure was.
I rate the book 3.5 bookmarks out of 5 because of the slow pacing of the book, of course the book has instigated and even inspired me to look into more of Virginia Woolf's works, but this title itself could've been slightly fast paced as some details felt unnecessary.
Centering on Lily Briscoe’s coming-of-age and offering a plausible resolution to one of the twenty-first century’s greatest literary mysteries - the sudden death of Mrs. Ramsay - Talland House partly follows the time structure of Woolf’s novel, but weaves into this frame a prequel, and many fictions of Woolf’s life including her family, the artists and friends she knew, and Lily’s fictionalized life and career outside of the novel.
The book was a beautiful description of the town of St. Ives and the life of the protagonist Lily. The entire story revolved around Lily, Mrs, Ramsay and of course the Talland House. It's a very slow paced book going back and forth between the present day life of Lily and the of her time before and during the first World War.
Many a times you may almost feel like Lily thinks too much but I feel that is an apt depiction of her artistic mind. The character development of Lily is also appropriate to a time when women in the western world were trying to become independent beings.
The book will take you through her journey as a student in Paris, to a student in St. Ives where she first meets Mrs. Ramsay, to journey of coming back to Talland House as an artist, as a suffragette, as a nurse during World War 2 and finally having her artwork being displayed at the Royal Art Gallery being almost lost and clueless through it all.
The story carries with itself the mystery of Mrs. Ramsay's death and Lily's determination to complete her portrait as well as figure out the reason behind he sudden untimely death which gives you something to look forward to. If you have an interest in art, you'll also be in awe of the artistic descriptions in the book because I sure was.
I rate the book 3.5 bookmarks out of 5 because of the slow pacing of the book, of course the book has instigated and even inspired me to look into more of Virginia Woolf's works, but this title itself could've been slightly fast paced as some details felt unnecessary.
June 30, 2020
Like artist strokes on a canvas, Talland House effuses with lush sensory details. From 1900 to 1919 Lily Briscoe navigates loss, love and an independent lifestyle in search of a fulfilling existence at a time most women were not encouraged to do so. An intriguing mystery keeps the story moving along.
August 10, 2020
I really enjoy historical novels and this was an excellent read. We follow the lead character, Lily Briscoe, as she deals with love, loss and a free thinking lifestyle in search of fulfillment and meaning at a time that most women we're not encouraged to do so. I enjoy books that are written in the early 1900s, and felt that the author did a good job with setting up the tone and mood of the book. It has a well-defined storyline with interesting characters. I read it in one sitting because I didn't want to put the book down. The author did a great job and I will definitely be on the lookout for more books by her.
I would like to thank Maggie Humm, She Writes Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I would like to thank Maggie Humm, She Writes Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
September 2, 2020
3.5 stars
Okay, so… this novel was a whirlwind.
First off, I will say that I have not read To The Lighthouse, on which this book is based, and although it can be read as a standalone, it will likely make more sense (and be more enjoyable) if you read To The Lighthouse first.
It was written in the style you’d expect for a novel set in 1910s England, and I will say right now that the writing and general aesthetic of this book carried the weight of everything else, thus earning it the stars it was given (also the character of Lily Briscoe, but we’ll get to that). The writing was eloquent with the perfect amount of big words–enough to sound pretentious, but not so many that I was overwhelmed. At times, I found myself needing to reread certain paragraphs, though the fact that I read most of this in the evening likely contributed to that. If you are a serious artist (specifically a painter), you’ll love this. There was a bit of terminology I didn’t understand, and the detail in which Lily described art was too specific for me to grasp, but I thought the inclusion of it was nice.
As for our characters, I assume that most, if not all of the characters were from To The Lighthouse, so the general lack of character development can be excused in that light. That being said, having never met these characters until now, seeing Lily Briscoe grow throughout the book was pretty cool. She quite literally drove the entire story, and I really want to read To The Lighthouse now because from my understanding, this novel was about her life outside of that story, and I would l would like to spend more time with her.
In terms of everyone else, they didn’t get a lot of development, but a) as were were jumping across the years every couple of chapters, it makes sense that we wouldn’t get the full scape of every character, and b) everyone had a distinct enough personality that it was pretty easy to distinguish between everyone, so I was fine on that count.
So what was the plot? You ask. And well… I don’t know. After rereading the synopsis, it’s clear that the story was meant to be completely centered around Lily, specifically what her life was like outside of To The Lighthouse. Therefore, the story was very character driven, and maybe it just made less sense because I haven’t read the original book, but a big part of the story’s premise–solving Mrs. Ramsay’s murder (which, yay spoiler lol)–was not addressed until just before the end of the book….and they didn’t solve it. The synopsis teases a “plausible resolution to one of the 21st century’s greatest literary puzzles: the death of Mrs. Ramsay,” but honestly… let’s just say if you are a To The Lighthouse megafan then the “plausible resolution” is not gonna be satisfactory. I don’t think this book even has any spoilers, to be honest, unless you want to talk about the romantic sub-sub-subplot. Which had a very unsatisfying conclusion, in my opinion, though others may beg to differ. It wasn’t very significant, though, as it affected literally no one, but I digress.
On the whole, I think I’m going to read To The Lighthouse and come back to this someday (maybe I’ll even review it again). I highly recommend taking that same course of action (read Lighthouse first, then Talland House) if you want to read this book. I loved the setting, writing, and characters, and it was a nice read for the end of summer. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and just wants a calm, casual read.
**I received a physical ARC to review. This does not change my opinion**
Okay, so… this novel was a whirlwind.
First off, I will say that I have not read To The Lighthouse, on which this book is based, and although it can be read as a standalone, it will likely make more sense (and be more enjoyable) if you read To The Lighthouse first.
It was written in the style you’d expect for a novel set in 1910s England, and I will say right now that the writing and general aesthetic of this book carried the weight of everything else, thus earning it the stars it was given (also the character of Lily Briscoe, but we’ll get to that). The writing was eloquent with the perfect amount of big words–enough to sound pretentious, but not so many that I was overwhelmed. At times, I found myself needing to reread certain paragraphs, though the fact that I read most of this in the evening likely contributed to that. If you are a serious artist (specifically a painter), you’ll love this. There was a bit of terminology I didn’t understand, and the detail in which Lily described art was too specific for me to grasp, but I thought the inclusion of it was nice.
As for our characters, I assume that most, if not all of the characters were from To The Lighthouse, so the general lack of character development can be excused in that light. That being said, having never met these characters until now, seeing Lily Briscoe grow throughout the book was pretty cool. She quite literally drove the entire story, and I really want to read To The Lighthouse now because from my understanding, this novel was about her life outside of that story, and I would l would like to spend more time with her.
In terms of everyone else, they didn’t get a lot of development, but a) as were were jumping across the years every couple of chapters, it makes sense that we wouldn’t get the full scape of every character, and b) everyone had a distinct enough personality that it was pretty easy to distinguish between everyone, so I was fine on that count.
So what was the plot? You ask. And well… I don’t know. After rereading the synopsis, it’s clear that the story was meant to be completely centered around Lily, specifically what her life was like outside of To The Lighthouse. Therefore, the story was very character driven, and maybe it just made less sense because I haven’t read the original book, but a big part of the story’s premise–solving Mrs. Ramsay’s murder (which, yay spoiler lol)–was not addressed until just before the end of the book….and they didn’t solve it. The synopsis teases a “plausible resolution to one of the 21st century’s greatest literary puzzles: the death of Mrs. Ramsay,” but honestly… let’s just say if you are a To The Lighthouse megafan then the “plausible resolution” is not gonna be satisfactory. I don’t think this book even has any spoilers, to be honest, unless you want to talk about the romantic sub-sub-subplot. Which had a very unsatisfying conclusion, in my opinion, though others may beg to differ. It wasn’t very significant, though, as it affected literally no one, but I digress.
On the whole, I think I’m going to read To The Lighthouse and come back to this someday (maybe I’ll even review it again). I highly recommend taking that same course of action (read Lighthouse first, then Talland House) if you want to read this book. I loved the setting, writing, and characters, and it was a nice read for the end of summer. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and just wants a calm, casual read.
**I received a physical ARC to review. This does not change my opinion**
June 6, 2020
Lily Briscoe is a woman caught in the time period when all that was considered correct for a female was to be married and look after her family, however, she was a spinster, a woman who loved with her whole heart, but perhaps it could be said that she loved the wrong people who were never available to her. She was a woman who lived to a certain extent what was expected of her by looking after her elderly father, but she was brave enough to find meaning in her life through her art as she grew into adulthood and the new independence women enjoyed after the Victorian period.
This novel has been written to explain the possible reasons for the death of Mrs Ramsay, a much-loved character in Virginia Woolf’s book To the Lighthouse, it follows the life of Lily Briscoe as a youthful student of art to grown woman ranging in the time frame of 1900 to 1919. We follow Lily’s journey from a young impressionable art student at St Ives in Cornwall, where she meets both the Ramsay family with the gentle Mrs Ramsay who she begins to see as a substitute mother and woman to emulate and the ever-volatile Mr Ramsay alongside Louis Grier, the effervescent art teacher who she develops a lasting crush on. During the intervening years, Lily becomes both a suffragette and works as a nurse in London during World War One with all its brutality and sometimes beauty. Through it all, Talland House, the summer house of the Ramsay’s is the touchstone to Lily and her hopes for the future. After the war Lily, now a grown woman with a certain level of success as an artist unexpectedly discovers that Mrs Ramsay has died in an apparently questionable manner, with all suspicion falling on her husband. Lily is determined to find the truth to the passing of her beloved mother figure, but nothing is as she held to be true in her heart over the course of so many years, and answers lead to further, perhaps deeper understandings of her own life and its meaning.
This novel is not a ‘piece of fluff’ to be read easily whilst enjoying a summer day by the beach but rather it requires concentration from the reader, but the payoff for this level of concentration is well worth the commitment as the story unravels as an “I wonder what” is answered. It has beautiful prose, such as “Lily wanted the minutes ahead to stretch out before her like of roll of velvet.”, which is rich in visual imagery to powerful imaginings of domestic violence and its effects on the victims such as
“Why on earth did he throw the plate?”
“Probably an overcooked egg,” Eliza said. “Poor soul. She carries the weight of Mr Ramsay’s explosions. It’s draining her. You must have seen how drawn and pallid her face has become since we first arrived at Talland House. Sometimes her head resembles a skull, her eyes as so deep-set.”
Nothing is as it seems, and Lily is to a large extent, quite the innocent babe in the world, shocked at the behaviour of men in many different situations and the relationships people forge that deviate from the societal expectations that she herself carries around. It is a thoughtful piece on the growth of a woman emotionally and developmentally. It is a study of a woman coming into her own in a time when women were just starting to experience independence in any true manner and it reveals that there are issues that are truly as old as the hills.
Charming.
This novel has been written to explain the possible reasons for the death of Mrs Ramsay, a much-loved character in Virginia Woolf’s book To the Lighthouse, it follows the life of Lily Briscoe as a youthful student of art to grown woman ranging in the time frame of 1900 to 1919. We follow Lily’s journey from a young impressionable art student at St Ives in Cornwall, where she meets both the Ramsay family with the gentle Mrs Ramsay who she begins to see as a substitute mother and woman to emulate and the ever-volatile Mr Ramsay alongside Louis Grier, the effervescent art teacher who she develops a lasting crush on. During the intervening years, Lily becomes both a suffragette and works as a nurse in London during World War One with all its brutality and sometimes beauty. Through it all, Talland House, the summer house of the Ramsay’s is the touchstone to Lily and her hopes for the future. After the war Lily, now a grown woman with a certain level of success as an artist unexpectedly discovers that Mrs Ramsay has died in an apparently questionable manner, with all suspicion falling on her husband. Lily is determined to find the truth to the passing of her beloved mother figure, but nothing is as she held to be true in her heart over the course of so many years, and answers lead to further, perhaps deeper understandings of her own life and its meaning.
This novel is not a ‘piece of fluff’ to be read easily whilst enjoying a summer day by the beach but rather it requires concentration from the reader, but the payoff for this level of concentration is well worth the commitment as the story unravels as an “I wonder what” is answered. It has beautiful prose, such as “Lily wanted the minutes ahead to stretch out before her like of roll of velvet.”, which is rich in visual imagery to powerful imaginings of domestic violence and its effects on the victims such as
“Why on earth did he throw the plate?”
“Probably an overcooked egg,” Eliza said. “Poor soul. She carries the weight of Mr Ramsay’s explosions. It’s draining her. You must have seen how drawn and pallid her face has become since we first arrived at Talland House. Sometimes her head resembles a skull, her eyes as so deep-set.”
Nothing is as it seems, and Lily is to a large extent, quite the innocent babe in the world, shocked at the behaviour of men in many different situations and the relationships people forge that deviate from the societal expectations that she herself carries around. It is a thoughtful piece on the growth of a woman emotionally and developmentally. It is a study of a woman coming into her own in a time when women were just starting to experience independence in any true manner and it reveals that there are issues that are truly as old as the hills.
Charming.
September 19, 2020
Clever, rich, and brilliant writing. It is like stepping inside the frame of an impressionist painting and connecting with the light, colour, and texture of emotion of the scenes. Each word is a brushstroke on canvass creating an impression of Lily’s life.
Mesmerised by the rich language and ebb and flow of thoughts, I felt as if I had stepped back into the world of the Ramsay’s created by Woolf. I was fascinated by Lilly’s visual literacy and the way it shaped her view of the world. Lily became ‘lost in the hard work of looking’ as I became lost in the world of the novel with its kaleidoscope of colour and emotions.
Lily’s artistic perspective immerses the reader in the historical scenes as each detail is observed.
‘Directly ahead, a church steeple was bathed in gold by the last rays with the town’s low buildings, sinking into stupefied sleep, clustered around the base…’
The words painted this scene so accurately that I recognised St Ives instantly. However, I was also taken into a view of St Ives from another era when Lily ‘breathed in the scent of fresh dew on the cobbles, she nodded when men in their leather aprons doffed their caps.’ It was wonderful to visit St Ives before the decline of industry and popularity of tourism.
At the beginning she is ‘on the edge of time, where nothing seemed to matter but everything might’ – a feeling reminiscent of youth. And throughout Lily has a series of significant epiphanies as her emotions and experiences add texture to her life. As an artist, Lily is sensitive to her environment and aware of how she is changing. She mentions ‘changes she felt inside - …the unexpected feelings brought by the colours of the sea, trying to capture the golden light.’ And I adore the way Lily explains how ‘each colour has its own language’ and how she tries to capture ‘ the ‘thisness’ of each thing rather than every detail’ as a daring, thoroughly ‘modern’ painter influenced by the impressionists.
Lily is a modern woman finding her voice in an oppressive patriarchal world, but because of the loss of her mother she is soothed by the matriarchal presence of Mrs Ramsay. She views the dynamics of the male and female roles in the Ramsay household, observations adding to her identity. Besides Lily’s painting development, there is the backdrop of the historical period and the powerful sense that she and Eliza ‘are part of a modern tide’.
In London, life speeds up with ‘the whirl of life’ and Lily finds herself. She is taken into the world of the suffragettes when one of them rips a painting that appears to signify the end of an era. She trains as a nurse and faces the harsh reality of life and death. Reality is evident in the black shadows and the impact of the bombing, forcing Lily to become independent. But she never loses the artistic sensitivity or perspective and feels ‘a strange sense of things falling into place’.
She moves from an innocent woman and amateur painter to an independent artist confident in her own skin. With her confidence, she is able to solve the mystery of Mrs Ramsay’s death. Clues are threaded throughout the narrative and finally the mystery is solved.
Though this novel captures and significant historical era, I believe this book captures the inner turmoil we experience between our creativity, emotions and desire.
Mesmerised by the rich language and ebb and flow of thoughts, I felt as if I had stepped back into the world of the Ramsay’s created by Woolf. I was fascinated by Lilly’s visual literacy and the way it shaped her view of the world. Lily became ‘lost in the hard work of looking’ as I became lost in the world of the novel with its kaleidoscope of colour and emotions.
Lily’s artistic perspective immerses the reader in the historical scenes as each detail is observed.
‘Directly ahead, a church steeple was bathed in gold by the last rays with the town’s low buildings, sinking into stupefied sleep, clustered around the base…’
The words painted this scene so accurately that I recognised St Ives instantly. However, I was also taken into a view of St Ives from another era when Lily ‘breathed in the scent of fresh dew on the cobbles, she nodded when men in their leather aprons doffed their caps.’ It was wonderful to visit St Ives before the decline of industry and popularity of tourism.
At the beginning she is ‘on the edge of time, where nothing seemed to matter but everything might’ – a feeling reminiscent of youth. And throughout Lily has a series of significant epiphanies as her emotions and experiences add texture to her life. As an artist, Lily is sensitive to her environment and aware of how she is changing. She mentions ‘changes she felt inside - …the unexpected feelings brought by the colours of the sea, trying to capture the golden light.’ And I adore the way Lily explains how ‘each colour has its own language’ and how she tries to capture ‘ the ‘thisness’ of each thing rather than every detail’ as a daring, thoroughly ‘modern’ painter influenced by the impressionists.
Lily is a modern woman finding her voice in an oppressive patriarchal world, but because of the loss of her mother she is soothed by the matriarchal presence of Mrs Ramsay. She views the dynamics of the male and female roles in the Ramsay household, observations adding to her identity. Besides Lily’s painting development, there is the backdrop of the historical period and the powerful sense that she and Eliza ‘are part of a modern tide’.
In London, life speeds up with ‘the whirl of life’ and Lily finds herself. She is taken into the world of the suffragettes when one of them rips a painting that appears to signify the end of an era. She trains as a nurse and faces the harsh reality of life and death. Reality is evident in the black shadows and the impact of the bombing, forcing Lily to become independent. But she never loses the artistic sensitivity or perspective and feels ‘a strange sense of things falling into place’.
She moves from an innocent woman and amateur painter to an independent artist confident in her own skin. With her confidence, she is able to solve the mystery of Mrs Ramsay’s death. Clues are threaded throughout the narrative and finally the mystery is solved.
Though this novel captures and significant historical era, I believe this book captures the inner turmoil we experience between our creativity, emotions and desire.
September 6, 2020
“To The Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf is a favourite book of many, with influence on many writers and thinkers ever since its publication early in the twentieth century. Humm’s brilliantly written book takes a character from that novel, gives her not only a back story but an entire novel, and makes her life a vibrant part of the mystery of the Ramsays’ family life in their Cornish holiday home. Lily Briscoe is a new woman, choosing a life beyond a suitable marriage, determined to live as an artist, but still irresistibly drawn to one of her tutors, almost hypnotised by the memorable Mrs Ramsay, and trying to find a way to live in a violently unstable world. This is a lyrically written, gorgeously textured book, as Lily is shown looking at her surroundings through the colours, shapes and images of potential paintings. Lily’s feelings for people, her art and her life before, during and after the First World War are brilliantly realised in this book which is on the edge of Woolf’s masterpiece, but also contrives to be a brilliant read in its own right. I was extremely pleased to have the opportunity to read and review this fascinating book.
The book opens with a later date in the narrative, as Lily and her friend Eliza visit the Royal Academy exhibition in 1919. When they meet with some old friends, there is terrible news that both throws Lily off balance, and leads into a recollection of her first arrival in St Ives, fresh from an extended visit to France following the death of her much loved mother. She is to study painting with two teachers, the highly critical Mr Olsson and the sympathetic Louis Grier. While she makes a friend of Emily, her confidence is severely shaken by criticism. When she is persuaded to stay, her friendship group expands as Mrs Ramsey buys one of her paintings and invites her to visit Talland House where her family is staying for the summer. While hugely enjoying the presence of Mrs Ramsey and indeed her children, fascinated by her other guests and inspired to begin a portrait, Lily is aware of undercurrents of unease in the relationship between Mrs Ramsey and her mercurial husband. As life begins to change for everyone Lily leaves the vividly described Cornish town, and finds new tasks and new stimulation for her life and work.
This novel is a very enjoyable and memorable read, full of images that linger in the mind. It is a thoroughly absorbing book, doing far more than telling a story of a young woman seeking inspiration, as it captures a moment in time as the world descends into war and women have new opportunities. There are references to the suffragette movement and the wider challenges faced by women in many respects, as they have to adjust to new expectations and opportunities. The vivid descriptions of the coastal town, the colourful gardens, the way that an artist sees her subject, all infuse the story with life. This is a novel full of ideas and life, with a sadness at its core, and a lyrical power of its own. I recommend it as a really strong read, especially for those who love Woolf’s novels, but also anyone who enjoys sophisticated historical fiction with a strong narrative drive and a wonderful setting.
The book opens with a later date in the narrative, as Lily and her friend Eliza visit the Royal Academy exhibition in 1919. When they meet with some old friends, there is terrible news that both throws Lily off balance, and leads into a recollection of her first arrival in St Ives, fresh from an extended visit to France following the death of her much loved mother. She is to study painting with two teachers, the highly critical Mr Olsson and the sympathetic Louis Grier. While she makes a friend of Emily, her confidence is severely shaken by criticism. When she is persuaded to stay, her friendship group expands as Mrs Ramsey buys one of her paintings and invites her to visit Talland House where her family is staying for the summer. While hugely enjoying the presence of Mrs Ramsey and indeed her children, fascinated by her other guests and inspired to begin a portrait, Lily is aware of undercurrents of unease in the relationship between Mrs Ramsey and her mercurial husband. As life begins to change for everyone Lily leaves the vividly described Cornish town, and finds new tasks and new stimulation for her life and work.
This novel is a very enjoyable and memorable read, full of images that linger in the mind. It is a thoroughly absorbing book, doing far more than telling a story of a young woman seeking inspiration, as it captures a moment in time as the world descends into war and women have new opportunities. There are references to the suffragette movement and the wider challenges faced by women in many respects, as they have to adjust to new expectations and opportunities. The vivid descriptions of the coastal town, the colourful gardens, the way that an artist sees her subject, all infuse the story with life. This is a novel full of ideas and life, with a sadness at its core, and a lyrical power of its own. I recommend it as a really strong read, especially for those who love Woolf’s novels, but also anyone who enjoys sophisticated historical fiction with a strong narrative drive and a wonderful setting.
October 22, 2022
Once my husband and I discovered a roll of film in a drawer. When we had it developed, we were astonished to see photos of us in our first apartment twenty years before. It was unexpected; it was delightful. It was both new and old. I had that same experience reading Talland House.
Written by Woolf scholar Maggie Humm, this, her first novel, is destined to please Woolf fans as well as entertain those who are unfamiliar with her work. Talland House does not take up where Lighthouse left off, but it does revisit not only some of the novel’s key scenes, but also updates us on Lily Briscoe’s full life regardless of her marital status. (Still single, and we’re happy about that, because of Mrs. Ramsay’s insistence that she marry in Lighthouse.)
A line by Humm, “In bed, Lily was tired by the weight of everything she didn’t understand…” could well have come from Lighthouse. While Humm does not use stream of consciousness, there is something Woolfian about her prose.
In Lighthouse, Lily closely observes her hosts, the Ramsay family and their summer visitors, but mostly she scrutinizes Mrs. Ramsay, the mother of eight and wife to one irascible academic.
Humm paints the essence of her Lily with the same close attention in which Lily attempted to paint Mrs. Ramsay in Woolf’s novel. What results is a harmonious portrait of the two “Lilys.”
No one who has read Lighthouse will be surprised to learn that Lily is, in Talland House, an accomplished painter whose work is displayed at the Royal Academy in London. What might surprise the reader but fits with the time period is the revelation that she nursed soldiers during the war as well as trained with a pharmacist, something that ties nicely with a plot point regarding Mrs. Ramsay’s mysterious death, a death that unsettled many an original reader of Lighthouse by its unexpected and nearly buried notice, occurring in parentheses as it did. (This could well be the most striking instance of understatement in literature, something to be discussed in depth elsewhere.)
A tender connection mentioned in the author’s note is the author’s loss of her mother at the same age that Woolf lost hers. The reader can’t help but think of that along the journey, and it deepens the feeling in the story.
A novel that fills a gap in literature, a lingering question about a character, is a genre I find particularly satisfying, and this example does not disappoint. (If there is a name for this genre, I do not know it. If there is not, I suggest we choose one.)
Many thanks to Maggie Humm for this bonus peek into Lily Briscoe’s life. Talland House will please Woolf fans as well as entertain those who are unfamiliar with her work.
Written by Woolf scholar Maggie Humm, this, her first novel, is destined to please Woolf fans as well as entertain those who are unfamiliar with her work. Talland House does not take up where Lighthouse left off, but it does revisit not only some of the novel’s key scenes, but also updates us on Lily Briscoe’s full life regardless of her marital status. (Still single, and we’re happy about that, because of Mrs. Ramsay’s insistence that she marry in Lighthouse.)
A line by Humm, “In bed, Lily was tired by the weight of everything she didn’t understand…” could well have come from Lighthouse. While Humm does not use stream of consciousness, there is something Woolfian about her prose.
In Lighthouse, Lily closely observes her hosts, the Ramsay family and their summer visitors, but mostly she scrutinizes Mrs. Ramsay, the mother of eight and wife to one irascible academic.
Humm paints the essence of her Lily with the same close attention in which Lily attempted to paint Mrs. Ramsay in Woolf’s novel. What results is a harmonious portrait of the two “Lilys.”
No one who has read Lighthouse will be surprised to learn that Lily is, in Talland House, an accomplished painter whose work is displayed at the Royal Academy in London. What might surprise the reader but fits with the time period is the revelation that she nursed soldiers during the war as well as trained with a pharmacist, something that ties nicely with a plot point regarding Mrs. Ramsay’s mysterious death, a death that unsettled many an original reader of Lighthouse by its unexpected and nearly buried notice, occurring in parentheses as it did. (This could well be the most striking instance of understatement in literature, something to be discussed in depth elsewhere.)
A tender connection mentioned in the author’s note is the author’s loss of her mother at the same age that Woolf lost hers. The reader can’t help but think of that along the journey, and it deepens the feeling in the story.
A novel that fills a gap in literature, a lingering question about a character, is a genre I find particularly satisfying, and this example does not disappoint. (If there is a name for this genre, I do not know it. If there is not, I suggest we choose one.)
Many thanks to Maggie Humm for this bonus peek into Lily Briscoe’s life. Talland House will please Woolf fans as well as entertain those who are unfamiliar with her work.
January 21, 2021
Any fans of Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, will love how Talland House develops Lily Briscoe’s adventures in a rich counterpoint to the events of that novel. But it does much more than fill in the gaps. This is compelling and immersive historical fiction which gives a vivid and detailed picture of the changing role of British women in the tumultuous early twentieth century. Through a time-frame that moves back and forth from 1900 to 1919, we see Lily thrust into the realities of the modern age without a blueprint and without a mother to guide her. Maggie Humm wears her scholarship lightly and the story is, above all, one of a shy but talented young woman trying to understand, grow into and stay true to her vocation as an artist, while being drawn to various charismatic men along the way. Descriptions are brilliantly conveyed in the language and sensibility of a painter, for whom art is a way not just of experiencing life, but making sense of it.
Talland House is prefaced by a note from the author tracing the parallel between her own experience of losing her mother and Woolf’s, and the book cleverly and illuminatingly weaves together fiction, history, biography and autobiography in a way that is reminiscent of Michael Cunningham’s The Hours. Real-life historical figures such as Louis Grier, Emily Carr, Roger Fry and Eliza Stillman bring the story alive, as Lily creates her own family from artistic community of her peers in the richly evoked settings of both war-time London and arty St Ives.
This is an enjoyable, moving and thought-provoking read. Highly recommended.
Talland House is prefaced by a note from the author tracing the parallel between her own experience of losing her mother and Woolf’s, and the book cleverly and illuminatingly weaves together fiction, history, biography and autobiography in a way that is reminiscent of Michael Cunningham’s The Hours. Real-life historical figures such as Louis Grier, Emily Carr, Roger Fry and Eliza Stillman bring the story alive, as Lily creates her own family from artistic community of her peers in the richly evoked settings of both war-time London and arty St Ives.
This is an enjoyable, moving and thought-provoking read. Highly recommended.
September 5, 2020
Set between 1900 and 1919, Talland House has a great sense of place. Based on the actual house which Virginia Woolf spent time in her youth, in St Ives, you can visualise the environment, sensing the colours and sounds and almost smell the sea air. You look at the place through the eyes of a painter, Lily Briscoe, who is learning her craft at the beginning of the story. On the surface, the Ramseys seem a conventional couple and a contrast to the single life which Lily is forging for herself. Of course, as the story progresses, you realise that surfaces are deceptive.
The book blends together literary allusions, historical events and thoughts on the aesthetic life. As the century moves on, Lily's life changes as she becomes a nurse in First World War London. She never gives up her need to express herself through Art. Her painting of Mrs Ramsey, unfinished for so many years, points to her lack of belief in her ability to show her thoughts through painting. Aware of others' opinions, she needs to find her place in the world. There is an authenticity to the writing which captures the time and poses some interesting questions in your mind, concerning the passage of time and the difference between what you see and what actually 'is'.
In short: a coming of age novel which evokes an era.
Thanks to the author for a copy of the book
The book blends together literary allusions, historical events and thoughts on the aesthetic life. As the century moves on, Lily's life changes as she becomes a nurse in First World War London. She never gives up her need to express herself through Art. Her painting of Mrs Ramsey, unfinished for so many years, points to her lack of belief in her ability to show her thoughts through painting. Aware of others' opinions, she needs to find her place in the world. There is an authenticity to the writing which captures the time and poses some interesting questions in your mind, concerning the passage of time and the difference between what you see and what actually 'is'.
In short: a coming of age novel which evokes an era.
Thanks to the author for a copy of the book
October 11, 2020
Grief is not a prerequisite for reading, Talland House by Maggie Humm; neither is Virginia Woolf’s, To The Lighthouse for that matter. The reader does not have to suffer parental loss to identify with Lily Briscoe’s character or friendship with Mrs.Ramsay which triggers reminders of her own deceased mother. Even though Lily is mourning her dead mother during her visit to Cornwall, it is her surprising brief friendship with Mrs.Ramsay that pulls Lily out of her sadness, that is until her unexpected death which leaves Lily with an unfinished portrait painting of Mrs.Ramsay to complete.
I felt as if I was meeting Lily for the first time. She was free spirited and carefree when painting as a part of her group while in St.Ives. The juxtaposition when she would visit Talland House and her conversations with Mrs.Ramsay were fascinating.
The novel itself is filled with wonderful art scenes as Lily Briscoe becomes a professional artist. I really enjoyed Lily and Louis possible love story carrying through to London, World War I between 1914-1918. Nothing is predictable in Talland House; not the parental themes of death and grief, not the love story and especially not the constant friendship between Lily and Emily. Talland House is an absolutely beautifully written refreshing story of love, life and grief.
I felt as if I was meeting Lily for the first time. She was free spirited and carefree when painting as a part of her group while in St.Ives. The juxtaposition when she would visit Talland House and her conversations with Mrs.Ramsay were fascinating.
The novel itself is filled with wonderful art scenes as Lily Briscoe becomes a professional artist. I really enjoyed Lily and Louis possible love story carrying through to London, World War I between 1914-1918. Nothing is predictable in Talland House; not the parental themes of death and grief, not the love story and especially not the constant friendship between Lily and Emily. Talland House is an absolutely beautifully written refreshing story of love, life and grief.
September 1, 2020
The author's attention to historical detail and knowledge of the world of art and literature makes this story vivid and vibrant despite its gentle pacing. I know little about Virginia Woolf or the story that inspires this book, but that didn't dim my enjoyment.
The plot is a medley of historical, literary characters, events and settings. It explores the early twentieth century, a time in England of great change, especially for women. The heroine Lily Briscoe experiences loss, love, nursing in wartime, life as a suffragette whilst still following an artist path. The society in St Ives, known for its artistic community and London is brought to life and give this story a great sense of time and place.
There is also a mystery to solve with the mysterious death of Mrs Ramsey. This is a coming of age novel and shows all aspects of Lily's life against a turbulent historical period of English twentieth-century history.
This is an intricately detailed, fascinating story that captures the social history and the personal development of a young woman in the early twentieth century.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.
The plot is a medley of historical, literary characters, events and settings. It explores the early twentieth century, a time in England of great change, especially for women. The heroine Lily Briscoe experiences loss, love, nursing in wartime, life as a suffragette whilst still following an artist path. The society in St Ives, known for its artistic community and London is brought to life and give this story a great sense of time and place.
There is also a mystery to solve with the mysterious death of Mrs Ramsey. This is a coming of age novel and shows all aspects of Lily's life against a turbulent historical period of English twentieth-century history.
This is an intricately detailed, fascinating story that captures the social history and the personal development of a young woman in the early twentieth century.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.
September 3, 2020
London 1919. Lily is a very mixed up woman. Torn between her love for her tutor Louis and then her love for the lady whom she considers a mother Mrs. Ramsay, she is heartbroken to overhear that her half done portrait of the lady is not pleasing to her. For Lily has put her heart and soul into this painting and this almost destroys her.
The story with its strong connections To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf draws its world from St Ives in Cornwall and London and the ten missing years of the story. Lily Briscoe was very much part of the Woolf scene visiting the Isle of Skye before the War, then during the War and then after the War returning to Skye after the death of Mrs. Ramsay.
The feeling of such a close connection between Lily and Mrs. Ramsay - almost spiritual despite the aggressiveness of the Mr. Ramsay in the story. Lily's unfortunate love for Louis which was never reciprocated because as she discovered at the very end that he was gay are very well enumerated in the story.
The book mixes historical fiction, as well as actual history with a lot of imagination and combines all the elements to give you a very factual story.
The story with its strong connections To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf draws its world from St Ives in Cornwall and London and the ten missing years of the story. Lily Briscoe was very much part of the Woolf scene visiting the Isle of Skye before the War, then during the War and then after the War returning to Skye after the death of Mrs. Ramsay.
The feeling of such a close connection between Lily and Mrs. Ramsay - almost spiritual despite the aggressiveness of the Mr. Ramsay in the story. Lily's unfortunate love for Louis which was never reciprocated because as she discovered at the very end that he was gay are very well enumerated in the story.
The book mixes historical fiction, as well as actual history with a lot of imagination and combines all the elements to give you a very factual story.
October 4, 2020
This book of historical fiction will be welcomed by those who enjoy stories about women trying to find their way in the world. The main character, Lily is an artist and a product of her times; she is aware of the expectations for women and what she wants for herself. Given the time frame of the story, readers learn more about nursing during the Great War and the movement for women’s right to vote.
With a bow to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Ramsay, Lily becomes involved in wanting to understand what led to her demise. Mrs. Ramsay was a key figure to Lily who painted a portrait of her that was not completely well received by its subject. In addition, the reader watches Lily as she falls in love with her tutor, Louis.
There is a lot going on in this well-told narrative. I enjoyed the book’s Cornwall setting, the characters and the insight into women’s lives at that time. I also admire the author’s understanding of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and how this was incorporated into the story.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
With a bow to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Ramsay, Lily becomes involved in wanting to understand what led to her demise. Mrs. Ramsay was a key figure to Lily who painted a portrait of her that was not completely well received by its subject. In addition, the reader watches Lily as she falls in love with her tutor, Louis.
There is a lot going on in this well-told narrative. I enjoyed the book’s Cornwall setting, the characters and the insight into women’s lives at that time. I also admire the author’s understanding of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and how this was incorporated into the story.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
March 7, 2023
It was nice. It was well written but it didn’t go anywhere. It was supposed to be an investigation into her friends death but I feel that miss sold the book as the investigation only happened in the final chapter. Bit of a damp squid really
October 20, 2020
Talland House by Maggie Humm landed on my to read list well before I was given the opportunity to read an advanced copy from NetGalley and from Smith Publicity, Inc. I was attracted to the cover--the historical feel--and the the subject--the story of Lily Briscoe outside the pages of Virginia Woolf's novel To The Lighthouse, that made Lily Briscoe a character in literary history. I love historical fiction, and thought Talland House would teach me a bit more about the essence of Virginia Woolf and this particular story. I remembered an article in the New York Times a few years back about Talland House, the home in St. Ives, Cornwall where Virginia Woolf spent a few summer months each year. I was enamored with the way that the freedom of open space affected Woolf, swimming, running through the gardens, spying stars in the night sky, mirrored her freedom of thought as an adult and member of the Bloomsbury Group. This summer life was so much an opposite of Victorian life in London.
First, if you haven't read To the Lighthouse, it is perhaps the most autobiographical novel Woolf authored, taking place over the course of ten years and spanning the Great War. Part One has the Ramsays and their 8 children going to Hebrides on the Isle of Skye for the summer, and enjoying several visitors, including Lily Briscoe, a young painting student determined not to marry. Part Two sees the Great War break out and Mrs. Ramsey's death, and Part Three finds the Ramsays and some of their guests returning to the Isle and sailing for the Lighthouse.
Talland House tells Lily's story outside the pages; Humm imagines her role and gives us Briscoe's perspective. Humm introduces us to Lily the student, the painter, the friend, the lover, the daughter grieving her mother's death and finally the detective trying to solve the mystery of Mrs. Ramsay's death. Talland House doesn't just fill in the gaps; it tells a new story in the context of one that is likely familiar, giving the reader a more complete frame of reference and deeper understanding of the characters. It is almost like joining new friends on a vacation and sharing a vacation home. You will know your friends differently after sharing a home; you will know Lily Briscoe and Virginia Woolf differently after reading Talland House.
I am a volume reader, closing one book and opening the next in the same breath. Talland House slowed me down, pushed me to match the pace of the novel and to savor the writing. Maggie Humm is Emeritus Professor at the Univeresity of East London in the UK, and a respected Virginia Woolf scholar. Her talent for mixing academic knowledge with compelling historical fiction is impressive.
First, if you haven't read To the Lighthouse, it is perhaps the most autobiographical novel Woolf authored, taking place over the course of ten years and spanning the Great War. Part One has the Ramsays and their 8 children going to Hebrides on the Isle of Skye for the summer, and enjoying several visitors, including Lily Briscoe, a young painting student determined not to marry. Part Two sees the Great War break out and Mrs. Ramsey's death, and Part Three finds the Ramsays and some of their guests returning to the Isle and sailing for the Lighthouse.
Talland House tells Lily's story outside the pages; Humm imagines her role and gives us Briscoe's perspective. Humm introduces us to Lily the student, the painter, the friend, the lover, the daughter grieving her mother's death and finally the detective trying to solve the mystery of Mrs. Ramsay's death. Talland House doesn't just fill in the gaps; it tells a new story in the context of one that is likely familiar, giving the reader a more complete frame of reference and deeper understanding of the characters. It is almost like joining new friends on a vacation and sharing a vacation home. You will know your friends differently after sharing a home; you will know Lily Briscoe and Virginia Woolf differently after reading Talland House.
I am a volume reader, closing one book and opening the next in the same breath. Talland House slowed me down, pushed me to match the pace of the novel and to savor the writing. Maggie Humm is Emeritus Professor at the Univeresity of East London in the UK, and a respected Virginia Woolf scholar. Her talent for mixing academic knowledge with compelling historical fiction is impressive.
August 21, 2020
Disclaimer: this review is coming from someone who has never read any of Virginia Woolf's works. So I'll be reviewing this book without any comparison to Woolf's To The Lighthouse, the book that inspired Talland House and its characters.
The story fluidly goes to and from different phases in Lily's life - her life as a student in Cornwall, her life as a renowned artist, her life as a nurse during the WWI and her life after Mrs. Ramsay's death when she goes back to Talland House to investigate her death. Maggie Humm beautifully captures the life of a struggling independent woman in the 1900s through Lily's story - her heart-flutter infatuation for Loius, contemplating the missed opportunity of a possible love affair, and her time as a student who fought to stand out amongst her male peers. The author also showed the dynamics of a married woman with her husband, though Mrs. Ramsay's story.
An air of mystery hangs around since the first page itself. The story grips you and puts you under a spell of lyrical writing and a picturesque setting. I loved how the author explores the intricacies of a young woman in love and a woman in a man's world trying to make a name for herself. Even though the mystery aspect of the story is not the driving factor of the plot, Lily's adamancy to unearth the mystery surrounding Mrs. Ramsay's death, highlights Lily's sheer determination. Her relationship with Mrs. Ramsay as a mother-daughter bond stands out in the book as Lily reminisces about her dead mother, and Mrs. Ramsay in turn takes Lily under her wings.
At this point I'm running out of words. All I can say is that you need to read the book. It's not a light read exactly, you need to read every inch of this book, but I promise you are not going to be disappointed. This book is like a pleasant breeze, like an evening walk on the beach. It's meant to be enjoyed at its own pace.
Read my full review here - https://www.diaryofabookgirl.in/2020/...
The story fluidly goes to and from different phases in Lily's life - her life as a student in Cornwall, her life as a renowned artist, her life as a nurse during the WWI and her life after Mrs. Ramsay's death when she goes back to Talland House to investigate her death. Maggie Humm beautifully captures the life of a struggling independent woman in the 1900s through Lily's story - her heart-flutter infatuation for Loius, contemplating the missed opportunity of a possible love affair, and her time as a student who fought to stand out amongst her male peers. The author also showed the dynamics of a married woman with her husband, though Mrs. Ramsay's story.
An air of mystery hangs around since the first page itself. The story grips you and puts you under a spell of lyrical writing and a picturesque setting. I loved how the author explores the intricacies of a young woman in love and a woman in a man's world trying to make a name for herself. Even though the mystery aspect of the story is not the driving factor of the plot, Lily's adamancy to unearth the mystery surrounding Mrs. Ramsay's death, highlights Lily's sheer determination. Her relationship with Mrs. Ramsay as a mother-daughter bond stands out in the book as Lily reminisces about her dead mother, and Mrs. Ramsay in turn takes Lily under her wings.
At this point I'm running out of words. All I can say is that you need to read the book. It's not a light read exactly, you need to read every inch of this book, but I promise you are not going to be disappointed. This book is like a pleasant breeze, like an evening walk on the beach. It's meant to be enjoyed at its own pace.
Read my full review here - https://www.diaryofabookgirl.in/2020/...
June 16, 2020
My thanks to Maggie Humm, She Writes Press, and NetGalley for the ARC of TALLAND HOUSE.
Talland House is set in the years before the First World War and during 1914 -1918, and documents the life of a young woman, Lily, who has had a sheltered upbringing, but wants to be an artist. She is clearly aware that to be so she must broaden her horizons, so goes to Paris for tuition, and then St. Ives in Cornwall where she meets Louis, a tutor, a fellow artist, and a man she comes to love. He occupies her thoughts at every turn of her life. She wonders why, when he had the opportunity to kiss her he doesn't as his interest appears to match hers.
During her stay in St. Ives, she meets Mrs. Ramsey who reminds Lily of her mother, deceased, the death of whom haunts her. She becomes very close to Mrs. Ramsey and her family and is often invited to Talland House, where she paints and meets other artists. Mrs Ramsey's husband appears to be a bad-tempered, explosive man with little control, and Lily and her friends are concerned at his treatment of his wife. Fast forward twenty years and Lily is exhibiting at The Academy, a painting of the dahlias in Mrs. Ramsey's garden. She is surprised to see Louis at the exhibition, and it is on this occasion he delivers some devastating news.
A beautifully written novel, with language that sweeps the reader to the harbour of St. Ives and the garden at Tallon House. There was some repetition, the similarity between Lily's mother and Mrs. Ramsey was pressed, but a minor thing. Recommended
Talland House is set in the years before the First World War and during 1914 -1918, and documents the life of a young woman, Lily, who has had a sheltered upbringing, but wants to be an artist. She is clearly aware that to be so she must broaden her horizons, so goes to Paris for tuition, and then St. Ives in Cornwall where she meets Louis, a tutor, a fellow artist, and a man she comes to love. He occupies her thoughts at every turn of her life. She wonders why, when he had the opportunity to kiss her he doesn't as his interest appears to match hers.
During her stay in St. Ives, she meets Mrs. Ramsey who reminds Lily of her mother, deceased, the death of whom haunts her. She becomes very close to Mrs. Ramsey and her family and is often invited to Talland House, where she paints and meets other artists. Mrs Ramsey's husband appears to be a bad-tempered, explosive man with little control, and Lily and her friends are concerned at his treatment of his wife. Fast forward twenty years and Lily is exhibiting at The Academy, a painting of the dahlias in Mrs. Ramsey's garden. She is surprised to see Louis at the exhibition, and it is on this occasion he delivers some devastating news.
A beautifully written novel, with language that sweeps the reader to the harbour of St. Ives and the garden at Tallon House. There was some repetition, the similarity between Lily's mother and Mrs. Ramsey was pressed, but a minor thing. Recommended
August 30, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyed this story of what happened to Lily Briscoe before and during the ten missing years of To the Lighthouse. The author's thorough erudition sits lightly underneath the many authentic cultural details of the book (who else has bothered to imagine London streets during the war when the ubiquitous railings had been removed and melted down?), her years of scholarship on Woolf herself producing a number of engaging surprises for others who know the biography well. Aside from the vivid images of London and St Ives, I think what I enjoyed the most is the exhilarating freedom with which Humm mixes fact and fiction, turning real people into characters and making characters real. It gave me a dancing sense of the freedom of my own imagination. Why can't I imagine a world where my favorite novelists meet my favorite artists and they have tea with my favorite characters?
August 3, 2020
Title: Talland House
Author: Maggie Humm
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.8 out of 5
I’ve never read To the Lighthouse, but I did enjoy this book. However, it’s very slow-paced, almost dreamy—which seems sort of appropriate for Lily and her artistic mindset. I feel like she was a bit obsessive over everything in her life—Louis, Mrs. Ramsay, painting, nursing—and a bit clueless, too. However, this was an enjoyable read, even if the answer to the mystery was anti-climatic and downplayed quite a bit.
(Galley courtesy of She Writes Press in exchange for an honest review.)
More reviews at Tomorrow is Another Day
Author: Maggie Humm
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.8 out of 5
I’ve never read To the Lighthouse, but I did enjoy this book. However, it’s very slow-paced, almost dreamy—which seems sort of appropriate for Lily and her artistic mindset. I feel like she was a bit obsessive over everything in her life—Louis, Mrs. Ramsay, painting, nursing—and a bit clueless, too. However, this was an enjoyable read, even if the answer to the mystery was anti-climatic and downplayed quite a bit.
(Galley courtesy of She Writes Press in exchange for an honest review.)
More reviews at Tomorrow is Another Day
August 18, 2020
Talland House is my first introduction to Maggie Humm writing. I thought it was a pretty good piece of historical fiction. The historical details were so vivid, I felt like I was transported back in time living among the characters. I enjoyed the mystery and suspense involved in it, as well.
I am giving Talland House four and a half stars. I recommend it for readers who love historical fiction, particularly World War I era England. I would love to read more like this one by this author in the near future.
I received this book from the publisher, but was not required to write a review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
I am giving Talland House four and a half stars. I recommend it for readers who love historical fiction, particularly World War I era England. I would love to read more like this one by this author in the near future.
I received this book from the publisher, but was not required to write a review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
August 25, 2020
This book is full of artistic descriptions and lots of colors. This takes place when the women of the world are beginning to realize that they should have a say in their lives. This book shows how Lily learns to become an artist and she grows as a person over the years. I enjoyed all the characters and the way this was written. This shows how these women blossom. I received a copy of this book from Smith Publicity for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
August 18, 2020
This is a great novel of a woman that tries to live an independent lifestyle in a time when women were expected to leave their parents' home and get married and start their own families. Lily's journey is full of love and loss, but her strength keeps the reader rooting for her to succeed in her dream of being an artist.
August 18, 2020
I found this historical fiction absolutely fascinating and beautifully written! The reader follows Lily as she l navigates her way into adulthood at a time when women were just beginning to become independent - turning societal expectations upside down.
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