Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 06, 2023 Tony rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own-loanable, novels, setting-europe, setting-england

William Boyd's first "whole-life" novel was 1987's The New Confessions, followed by the prize-winning Any Human Heart, and then this third one (since followed by two more: Nat Tate and Love Is Blind). The conceit of this form is that most novels follow a portion of a life or lives -- very few are full cradle-to-grave in scope as this is. Meanwhile, biography must be written within the boundaries of established fact and autobiography and journals are naturally constrained by the subject's own mem William Boyd's first "whole-life" novel was 1987's The New Confessions, followed by the prize-winning Any Human Heart, and then this third one (since followed by two more: Nat Tate and Love Is Blind). The conceit of this form is that most novels follow a portion of a life or lives -- very few are full cradle-to-grave in scope as this is. Meanwhile, biography must be written within the boundaries of established fact and autobiography and journals are naturally constrained by the subject's own memory (both actual and selection). Of this form, Boyd has written: "It’s the haphazard rollercoaster of a life that is key in the whole-life novel rather than a particular plot, theme or central relationship."

The life here is -- for the first time in Boyd's writing -- a woman's. Born in 1908, Amory Clay's haphazard rollercoaster of a life spans most of the 20th century, weaving in and out of many social and geopolitical conflicts of the time. Her first-person narration shifts between the past and her 1977 "Barrandale Journal" -- written during her retirement to a remote Scottish coastline. Her family are formative: her father with PTSD from World War I, two younger talented siblings, and the uncle who introduces her to both photography and the first glimpses of unconventionality. We watch her try and find a path through life that navigates responsibility with independence, financial security with being true to oneself, and most of all, living a life worth living.

Her life passes through many different stages: junior society photographer, chronicling sex cabarets of Weimar Berlin, the blackshirts of the British Union of Fascists, working for an American new agency during World War II, marrying into a wealthy family with domestic melodramas, an astonishing late renaissance as a photographer during the Vietnam War, not to mention an attempt to intercede in her daughter's life in a grotty California commune/cult. Intercut with these incredibly vivid experiences, filled with fully-realized characters who also weave in and out of her life, are the contemplative, end of life journal entries.

It's an astonishingly rich life story, one that forces the reader to contend with their own life choices to date, and consider what form their final years might also take. The book has one other element that may or may not work, depending on your taste. Throughout are black and white photos both of Amory and by her, referred to in the text. They are not essential, but are an interesting flourish -- I'm so curious to know if Boyd found the photos and crafted bits of the story around them, or vice versa. A fantastic read. ...more

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Jul 03, 2017 Lara rated it liked it · review of another edition

I felt manipulated by this book. It was like a William Boyd book--epic, historic, strong women--without any of the heart. The 2nd half was much better than the first at least.

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