Margaret Forster Books

Reading through this volume I find it difficult to become deeply engaged. Something in the archaic, quaint language of much of the poetry deters.
Yet there is a poem, the poem of all the anthologies that is a great and memorable one, one that justifies a life- work.
" How do I love thee , Let me count the ways" is one of the most beautiful and inspiring love- poems ever written.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry, especially the "Sonnets from the Portuguese," is beautiful, intelligent, and honest love poetry. Anyone who has experienced the doubts, fears, and transformation of love will recognize the truth of the poet's struggle to trust and to love.

Daphne du Maurier was a consummate artist and Forster's excellent biography portrays her sympathetically, yet realistically. To begin to understand du Maurier one must understand that she considered fantasy more exciting than the real world. A child of privilege, Daphne grew up in a highly social and colorful artist's family, yet she greatly valued being alone. Her work was very lucrative, yet she spent much more money to help family and friends than on herself. Her writing is part of college curriculum and extremely popular. She was accepted into the Order of Knighthood for her contribution to the arts. Forster's apparently well-researched biography is written in a casual style, often humorous. Many people have something to say about Daphne and I found her own quotes the most interesting, yet, chameleon-like, she eludes the reader and remains mysterious.

This is a novel written in the form of an edited diary. It is a convincing, beautifully written account of the life of an ordinary Englishwoman from 1914 until 1995. You gradually build up a picture of Millicent's life in the diary which Forster writes with great clarity. It covers all majors events from the Great War onwards and it is a triumphant depiction of an independent 20th century woman, warts and all. I started this after reading Margaret Forster's biography of her grandmother and mother and I am full of admiration for her clear uncluttered style of writing and intend to read all the rest of her books now.

In this excellent memoir, Margaret Forster has succeeded in writing about death and dying without the usual cliches or overwrought sentiments. She tells two stories of people she loves; her fifty-six year old sister-in-law dying of cancer and her ninety-six year-old father dying of old age. Told with honesty and humor, we can admire her father's tenacity and determination to maintain his identity without having to believe that he has suddenly acquired great wisdom. We can also grieve for the younger person as she endures her cancer treatments without being asked to see her as a soldier losing a battle. Ms Forster is equally forthright in describing her own conflicted feelings of loving compassion mixed with the desire to see the end of her loved ones suffering as they struggle through the last days of their precious lives. The reader will find no angels or great epiphanies in this absorbing book but just might find it all the more inspiring for it's unsentimental look at the human spirit.

Charles Edward Stuart is one of the most romanticized figures in Scots history - more kitch history has been made of Bonnie Price Charlie than virtually anyone else in the eighteenth century.

As Forster makes clear from the outset, he was far from romantic in real life: he beat his mistress, he was paranoid, vain, profligate, often drunk (especially in his late years), politically inept and utterly deluded as to his future prosects. In this narrative, we follow Charlie through all the phases of his odd life: upbringing in Rome, life in Paris, arrival in Scotland in 1745, initial triumph at Prestonpans, the march on England, the retreat, defeat at Culloden, life on the run in the Hebrides, escape to the Continent, then gradual decline and relative obscurity back in Italy. Forster's pen is sure; she has had access to the Stuart's family papers, and her grip on the era and general understnading of eighteenth cenruty Europe is superb.

There are some truly odd things about Charles' life: why, for instance, did he so flippantly abandon Catholicism AFTER 1746, when an earlier conversion to Protestantism would have aided his cause in the uprising - whereas a later conversion simply damaged his chances of winning Papal recognition as King of England? Yet there are inspiring things too: his poise and bravery in 1745, his ability to inspire loyalty, his elusion of his Hanoverian pursuers in 1746 (special thanks here to Flora MacDonald), are to his everlasting credit, notwithstanding his later failngs.

Charles' psychological problems seem to stem from one essential truth: his entire life's predicament (as king-in-exile) was bizarre. The central and irrefutable fact of Charles' existence was that he was, by any legal definition, the rightful and direct male heir to the English and Scottish thrones; yet save perhaps for a few fleeting months in 1745, he was never accepted as such. In other words, since the world refused to behave normally, small wonder that Charles himself never could. In this context, perhaps Forster's verdict, while magnificently rendered, is somewhat harsh.

this is an excellent and riveting tale of the depressing lives of the author's mother and grandparents. But, at the end it is akin to turning the last page of an Agatha Christie and reading "and thus the identity of the murderer remains a mystery". The fundamental questions raised in the first pages are never resolved.

I really enjoyed this book. It moved me to think about all the people in my life and all the people before me. Margaret Forster writes with so much feeling and depth. She guides you through the people and the events surrounding these characters and it seems you too may have family relatives just like hers somewhere. Margaret Forster is a highly skilled writer. The strength of this memoir I felt was in is the detail and the social commentary. It is also a great tribute to women and their work and their many roles in life.

Hidden Lives is the story of four generations of women in Forster's own family. She uses her brilliance as a novelist to create a fascinating and emotionally compelling history. Without going into dry statistics she gives us a picture of the lives of working class women in Carlisle, England from the late 1800s to her own successful life today. It tells social history through the ordinary details of everyday lives, but on another level, the book is just a great read and highly recommended.

This book keeps the reader enthralled in its content. It tells parallel stories of two abandoned babies,searching for the missing link. A curiosity that only their real mother can provide.Kept in tune with their adventures, you will be surprised at how it comes together in the end.

I was adopted as a child, at the age of six (both parents killed in a car accident when I was four). I found this story of two orphaned children to be well worth reading. I enjoyed it more than another book by the same author, Hidden Lives. What I enjoyed most was looking at how the two mothers felt about their illegitimate children, and how the two daughters felt about having been abandoned. It explores all four of these women's lives and feelings for the entire course of all four women's lives. I was fortunate to remember my real mother, and have people tell me about my real parents. This book made me reflect on the various possiblities of how different parents and children react to adoption, and I thought it was quite realistically done, even though all four women's cases were drastically different from my own. It is a book that really explores lives and feelings.

Shadow Baby is the story of two illegitimate daughters - one in contemporary Scotland, the other a century earlier, in the north of England. It's very compulsive reading, a brilliantly told story that looks at the relationships between mothers and daughters and the social attitudes and economic conditions that can have a profound impact on our personal choices and everyday lives. The characters are beautifully drawn and easy to identify with. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys writers like Margaret Atwood, Carol Shields, Margaret Drabble.

I came across this book through "the reading group, by Elizabeth Noble". She has a great list of books to read.

Margaret Forster takes us on a wonderful journey through Catherine's discovery of her dead mother. The 'memory box' her mother leaves her daughter as she dies, when the child is only six months old, reminds us of the importance of personal history and the sense that it gives us all of our grounding in life. The journey that Catherine undertakes leads her to question her own lifestyle and the relationships with her father, stepmother and Tony her boyfriend. To the very end she reconciles her feelings for the mother she tried to ignore and discovers unexpected truths about herself. The box for thirty years enclosed and contained within the attic of her family home, once opened like Pandoras Box, couldnt be closed again. An engaging story which will make you question your history.

I was expecting a very interesting read from this book, but just could not finish it. The characters were dull and the storyline was monotonous and never seemed to go anywhere. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was just plain depressing. I kept hoping something exciting would happen, so I kept on reading, but stopped before I reached the halfway mark. Just too tedious.

Told from the intriguing perspective of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's maid, Wilson, this book asks us to look at the relationship between the English upper-class and their personal servants in the nineteenth century. Where close bonds can develop, as they do here, what are the obligations of a maid to her mistress, and what are the obligations of a mistress to her maid?

Here, the Brownings (especially Elizabeth) do not necessarily come off well, at some points seeming to deliberately throw up obstacles to the happiness of Mrs. Browning's maid, even though to help her would come at little or no cost to themselves, and would seem to be no more than she deserves after years of loyal and devoted service. But Wilson also makes poor choices; is she relying on the Brownings for their help inappropriately? That she continually chooses her employers over herself and her family is frustrating, as is the Browning's continuing inability to recognize the sacrifices she makes.

The resolution of the book is not entirely satisfactory. After a lengthy, drawn-out process, Wilson more or less accepts that she is on her own and that the Brownings owe her nothing. But it feels more as though she was forced to this realization, rather than coming to it naturally, and showing some growth as a character.

This book was our book club pick last month. I would say only half of us read it . It was so slow in starting , I almost did not finish it. However, I loved Elizabeth Barrett and Robt Browning when I was younger . So I gave it another try and finished it. I felt it was too drawn out and very slow to start. This is the reason why I only gave it 2 stars.

Dr. Phil is right in that you teach people how to treat you, and that is the lesson this "lady's maid" needs to learn. She spends the whole book letting her famous employer deprive her of a human existence (the dog has a better life), whining all the while but rarely taking the necessary steps to ensure a life of her own. Or even believing that she deserves a life of her own. She's mostly content (whatever her whining) to bask in vicariously living through what crumbs her employer throws her. I lost patience with her very quickly. What little she learns is mostly too little and too late. As for those who say "this is how life was for maids -- sure, for some. But they aren't the ones worth a novel. I can't recommend this book at all. I do recommend "Not in front of the servants" which is a fascinating description of true life tales "in service" that doesn't involve hair shirt flagellation.

I picked up this book at a used book store not really knowing anything about Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I loved this book. It was an interesting point of view, one I truly enjoyed, perhaps more than if it had been from EBB herself. The book is long but did not seem it; it did slow down just a tad in the end, but I have nothing but good things to say about this book. The author really captured the language of the time and it was excellently written. If you like historical fiction, I highly recommend this one.

Keeping the World Away is a well written novel which explores art--the image, the artist and the observers, caretakers and lovers of the image. Also explored is human intimacy, love, fear and courage. Nothing is simple in this book; intimacy is complex, as is the drive to create. Swirling around the various stories of women struggling to be quiet with themselves, their art, their love, is the theme of synchronicity in life and success.

Because this is a complex book, I recommend it to all independent readers, especially those interested in art and love..... There are no right answers or denouement in this book, and so, I believe, it will make a great Book Club read. It has consistent 5 stars in AmazonUK and 4 in AmazonCa. Please read it and pass the word on.

Bestselling memoirist, biographer and historical novelist Margaret Forster hasn't published anything in the U.S. (she lives in London) in quite some time. KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY is her first work for an American audience in 15 years --- and you wonder why. Although her writing can sometimes seem slow or unnecessarily drawn out, it is only because Forster has taken the time to construct a quietly resonant story --- one that allows for a stroll, a silent meditation, a well-needed nap between chapters. This isn't the type of book you can sit down and digest in one sitting, but one that requires thinking beyond what is written in its pages in order to grasp its multi-layered meaning.

In the prologue, a young girl named Gillian (the same Gillian, readers will notice, who is the subject of the book's final section, although at an older age) is on a field trip to the Tate Gallery with her class. After looking at the paintings and being captivated by their presence, she finds herself wondering about the lives of the paintings themselves. "I was wondering where it had been, who had owned it, who had looked at it," she says. "I mean, what effect did it have on the people who have looked at it? What has it meant to them, how have they looked at it, did they feel the same as I did, did they see what I saw...?" These are the questions that shape the remainder of the novel.

Although KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY takes a while to dive into, readers will soon get the hang of the plot's formula, and with each subsequent chapter, the book's intentions will unfold on an increasingly deeper level. The first section focuses on Gwen John, a lonely, often destitute painter (both in the story and in real life) and the sister of the more famous artist, Augustus John. In these chapters, Forster paints a vivid portrait of Gwen's reclusive character, her passion for painting and her illicit affair with the sculptor Rodin. Forster also vaguely describes Gwen's thoughts and feelings during the time she created the painting of her room, although she takes great care in not spelling anything out for her readers so that they can form their own conclusions. It's this painting that then becomes the subject of the following five sections, named after each of the women who comes into contact with the painting: Charlotte, Stella, Lucasta, Ailsa and Gillian.

As the painting is passed on from woman to woman, and from generation to generation, it affects each lady (and the people she loves or is involved with) in both similar and disparate ways. For many of the characters, the simple but expressive painting represents a longing for something different, a door to another life. For both Charlotte and Stella, the painting initially made them want the life of an artist, one that would enable them to squire away their worries in favor of putting paint on a canvas. For Ailsa, the painting initially represented everything she had given up for her marriage --- a marriage that suffered through much unhappiness and many affairs before her husband's death. No matter what the circumstances are, readers will relish in learning each woman's thoughts on where the painting came from, who painted it and what it was supposed to "mean." These observations offer great insight into each of the character's personalities, her hopes and her dreams.

By anchoring the story around an inanimate yet incredibly powerful object, Forster raises timeless questions about the nature of art. What makes art art? Why are the lives of starving artists who are most often poor, depressed and discontent seen as glamorous and therefore paths that should be envied? What makes a work of art meaningful? Does meaning stem from the artist's intention or what the beholder takes away from it? Can an artist live a well-balanced life (practice monogamy, raise a family, have other interests) or must he/she devote his/her complete self to his/her art? While each of the characters attempts to answer these questions, they stumble often, proving that there is no right or wrong answer, which is what makes art --- and its creation --- so alluring and the book a worthwhile read.

After finishing KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY, readers may not feel bowled over...but that's not the type of book this is. Instead, many will probably feel grateful for the opportunity to take a break from the day-to-day to ponder the mysteries of art and to read a story about an actual painting --- and how it changed the lives of its owners --- that is still hanging in the city of Sheffield's art gallery to this day.

--- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

Luminous and lovely, this portrait of the artist as a young woman traces the journey of an actual painting by early 20th century artist Gwen John from its creation through the many lives it joins. John was a talented painter (although less well known than her brother Augustus) of canvases of stillness and light, as well as Rodin's model. Seeming to echo Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, this work describes woman as muse, creator, patron and gaze - as well as daughter, sister, mother, wife, widow, lover, mistress and hermit. The life-altering moments that a singular work of art can capture, distill and provoke are movingly rendered. While the male characters are less finely drawn, they also describe a range of ages and type that neatly sidestep cliche. The stories and lives overlap - and kept me reading with thought-provoking pleasure. I look forward to sharing this title with my book group.

This is a strange book with an overlying sense of depression to it. Gwen John, sister of the famous artist and sculptor, Augustus John, paints a small picture of a corner of her garret in Paris where she is struggling to "find" herself in the world of art. She is one of the many mistresses of Rodin and is totally obsessed by him, even when he discards her for other women. When women, rather than men, view her painting, they seem to recognise her unhappiness, and so begins a tale of a painting through the next 100 years, to different continents and through two world wars. I had thought that this would be a fascinating tale of artists and art lovers, but the overiding sense of unhappiness and depression swamped all of my interest in the book, even though it takes the reader through many owners, all of whom are living unsatisfactory lives. Now I need either a rollicking good yarn or a bloody murder to cheer myself up!

British author Forster's latest novel centers around a small, unsigned Gwen John painting and the women who own it over the next century. Forster's posits an earlier version of the actual painting, "The Corner of the Artist's Room in Paris," and imagines its genesis.

Gwen John (1876 - 1939) rarely showed her work and was best known as the sister of Augustus John until well after her death. The painting Forster has chosen was one of a series. The artist kept the final painting and never exhibited it.

The book begins with the death of Gwen's mother when she and Augustus are children. Forster perfectly captures a child's intense, bewildered grief, full of energy and fear. "Gwen longed to be outside, anywhere. Inside the walls pressed in on her and the ceilings lowered toward her and the doors came to meet her. She felt she would burst....'Gwendoline has not wept a single tear,' she heard Aunt Lily say to their father."

After a lonely childhood with her chilly and remote father, Gwen goes off to s study painting, first in London, then in Paris. Aloof, determined and ambitious, she hides a mind racing "with millions of violent and spectacular thoughts and ideas, and in the center of herself she stored a passion which might terrify people if they suspected it."

This dormant passion is unleashed, finally, in Paris, in a torrid love affair with the very much married sculptor, Rodin. But Rodin finds Gwen's towering passion and impulsiveness exhausting. He counsels tranquility and discipline, but as he withdraws from her she becomes more desperate and demanding.

She begins work on a small painting of the corner of her room, a table and chair, a small bunch of primroses. "She wanted to record how things might have been and so nearly were. Contentment, peace, a life lived sweetly and quietly. No mess, no trouble, no agonizing. The person who lived in this room was in perfect control of her emotions." This is how Rodin wishes her to be and how she wishes to present herself to him.

But Rodin does not come and the painting does not quite succeed. She starts another and gives the first to a friend. Who packs it in a valise, which goes astray, never to be returned.

But when young, ungainly Charlotte Falconer sets eyes on the painting - found in a valise left at Victoria Station - she must have it. The valise is not claimed and Charlotte hangs it in her little room, imagining herself an artist in a garret, rather than a wealthy young lady whose fashionable mother despairs of her.

And as the years pass, leading to World War I then World War II and up to the present day, the painting - stolen, sold, given away - makes its way through a succession of women. Many people, particularly men, see little in it. Regarding it as pretty or insignificant, even lonely and depressing, these people are mystified at the feeling it arouses in others.

The women who own it, most of them with artistic yearnings, find inspiration and comfort. Some view it and feel their own inadequacy as artists; embarking on new paths in life. Others are inspired to work harder and define their own artistic voices.

Forster makes serendipitous connections between the painting's owners so the reader follows, glancingly, the turns their lives have taken after the painting has passed on. While fashions change, people fall in love, suffer, find peace and die, the painting arouses feelings that connect each generation to the one before and on back to the artist.

The writing is painterly and immediate, immersing the reader in each woman's life and circumstances and her place at that moment in history and that stage of her life. Some of the owners are youthful and full of ambition, others are wives, mothers, widows, grandmothers, carrying the baggage of a lifetime and girding themselves for change.

The novel, like the painting that inspired it, has an understated timelessness, which encompasses the moments of energy and emotion and subsumes them into a larger lyric of life.