Sweet Caress

July 20, 2015
Throughout his career, and especially in his masterly Every Human Heart, Boyd has excelled in depicting the life of a talented artist who suffers more failures than triumphs yet generates significant art. Here he has invented a spunky heroine named Amory Clay, born in Britain in 1908, educated at a boarding school, and determined to become a professional photographer. Amory is restless, rash, impulsive—and way ahead of her time. Her job as a society photographer ends in scandal, as does her next adventure in decadent prewar Berlin, where she infiltrates secret sex clubs and snaps the debauched antics there. Another scandal ensues when her photos are confiscated as pornographic and she is arrested for obscenity. (In a nice touch, Boyd scatters 70 snapshots throughout the novel as examples of Amory’s work.) A dashing lover brings her to the U.S. for magazine assignments; another lover appears, and she begins a second relationship. WWII is the crucible in which Amory finds her true calling as a war photographer. In Germany she meets army officer Sholto Farr, a Scottish aristocrat, whom she later marries, but soon she is unmoored once more. In addition to the psychologically rich characterization, a wealth of atmospheric details—what the characters wear, the brands of cigarettes they smoke, and the whisky they knock back—add depth, immediacy, and authenticity to an engrossing, moving story of Amory’s turns of fortune.

July 1, 2015
The life of a renowned war photographer forms the basis of Boyd's romantic saga. The trajectory of Boyd's heroine, Amory Clay, encompasses both world wars and Vietnam. Amory is born into one of those English families whose affluence is a bit ragged around the edges. She begins to find herself when she heads for London and a job as assistant to her photographer uncle. Boyd quickly places Amory amid the decadence of Weimar Berlin, the bustle of prewar New York City, and then in various locales in war-torn Europe. The book is punctuated by the elderly Amory's reminiscences from her rural retreat. Boyd (Solo, 2013, etc.) clearly wants to do a large-scale romantic melodrama akin to what Sebastian Faulks achieved in Charlotte Gray or, on a more pop level, what Ken Follett manages in wartime thrillers like Jackdaws and Night Over Water. The trouble is that events shuffle by without making any particular impression. D-Day follows so quickly upon Pearl Harbor that most of the war seems to have taken place between chapters. Nor do the rather undistinguished photos illustrating the text add much flavor. The idea for Amory may have been based on the American photographer Lee Miller (who was wartime correspondent for Vogue), but she remains a device rather than a character, flitting from war to war and among several longtime lovers. This should have been a story to sink into, but it turns out to be at least a few sizes too small.

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Starred review from August 1, 2015

As recounted in this powerful new novel by the multiaward-winning Boyd (A Good Man in Africa), Amory Clay was born during England's Edwardian era and spent her entire extraordinary life defying conventions. Introduced to the power of the camera by her photographer uncle, she quickly grew bored shooting high-society events. By the time she was in her 20s, a photo shoot in an after-hours German strip club caused an international scandal, got her arrested, and launched her career as a serious photographer. A few years later, she was badly beaten by the Blackshirts in the London street riots of 1936. Amory's passion for her work and the men in her life who influenced her achievements brought her to the battlefields of World War II, where she met her husband. Settling down with him on his Scottish estate was the beginning of a whole new chapter, abounding with tragedies and challenges. VERDICT The authenticity of Boyd's research, the mix of historical events and real-life figures such as Hannelore Hahn and Margaret Bourke-White with pure literary invention, as well as the captivating photos that illustrate this sweeping, glorious novel will confound readers into believing that this bold, brilliant woman photographer did have a place in history. Simply stunning.--Beth Andersen, formerly with Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI

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