Life Drawing

March 3, 2014
A middle-aged married couple, their new friend, and her daughter interact, sometimes stormily, in this emotionally complex novel from Black (If I Loved You I Would Tell You This). Beginning with the information that one of these characters is now dead, the book draws the reader in from the first page and builds narrative tension almost ceaselessly to the bitter end. Owen and Augusta, a writer and a painter, respectively, have retreated from their former cosmopolitan life in Philadelphia to a rural idyll in a farmhouse, hoping to devote themselves to their work. Soon, however, a neighbor, Alison Hemmings, moves into a nearby rental. At first, Augusta and Alison get along famously, but then Alison’s early-20s daughter, Nora, arrives for a visit and becomes infatuated with Owen. The situation threatens to reopen old wounds— Augusta previously had an affair with the father of one of her art students. Added tension accrues when Alison’s violent ex-husband, Paul, appears, creating a situation that eventually boils over. Black’s characters are three-dimensional, and her depiction of their relationships, particularly between the two women, is masterly. An astute inquiry into relationships and betrayal, this novel is nerve-wracking yet irresistibly readable.

June 1, 2014
The first novel from short story writer Black (If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This, 2010) tries to parse the intimacy, love, betrayals and resentments that comprise any long relationship.From the first sentences, it's clear that narrator Gus (short for Augusta) is writing after her husband Owen's death, although the novel covers his last months. Together since their 20s, painter Gus, now 47, and 51-year-old writer Owen didn't feel the need to marry until a few years ago, when the relationship was rocked by Gus' brief affair-an affair she blames on her distress over Owen's inability to father children. When the affair ended, she confessed all to Owen and they recommitted to each other. For the last two years, the couple, now legally joined, has lived in happy near isolation on a small farmstead somewhere outside Philadelphia. When middle-aged divorcee Alison moves in next door, she disrupts their Eden, already fraught with marital tension; despite her avowals of deep intimacy with Owen, Gus resents the fact that his writer's block means she can't discuss her work with him and she obviously can't mention the emails she's been getting from a former art student who happens to be her ex-lover's daughter. Drawing away from Owen, Gus spends increasing time with Alison, an aspiring painter whose husband abused her. The women discuss art, but Gus also starts confiding in Alison about Owen in ways that feel like a second betrayal. Then Alison's daughter Nora shows up. Gus, whose own mother died when she was a small child, is jealous of their mother-daughter intimacy. She also senses that Nora, an aspiring writer who admires Owen's books, is a sexual threat.Black captures the nooks and crannies of Gus' psyche, both self-aware and self-justifying, but doesn't allow poor Owen space to breathe; her narrow focus, while often acutely insightful, makes for a claustrophobic reading experience.

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January 1, 2014

Gus, the narrator of Black's first novel, is a painter and is married to Owen, a writer. The couple left Philadelphia to live in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania where there are no neighbors, only a vacant house nearby. For almost three years, they live in solitude, content with each other and their art. When a woman named Alison moves into the empty house, Gus realizes that she is not just alone but lonely. Gus and Alison become fast friends, and Gus confides in Alison, sharing her doubts and worries about her marriage. This intimate friendship is disrupted when Alison's daughter, Nora, an aspiring writer, comes to visit. Nora is smitten with Owen and oblivious to the effect her infatuation is having on the others. VERDICT While there is a great deal of emotional conflict here, it is never overdone. Gus is known for her precision as an artist, and this quality is evident in her narration; her clear and efficient voice undergirds the novel's lack of melodrama. The focus on friendship and family will appeal to fans of women's fiction, while the role creativity plays in the lives of the characters will attract readers of literary fiction.--Pamela Mann, St. Mary's Coll. Lib., MD

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2014
Gus, a painter, and Owen, a writer, have retreated from their cosmopolitan life in Philadelphia for a quiet life in the country in a beautiful old farmhouse. They crave the solitude in part because of Gus' affair with the father of one of her students. But then a new neighbor, Alison, upsets the couple's fragile peace. Gus, realizing that she has been lonely, confides to Alison not only the details of her affair but also her frustration with Owen's recent bout of writer's block. When Alison's beautiful daughter, Nora, develops an infatuation with Owen, the couple's marriage is threatened once again. In her debut novel, Black (If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This, 2010) skillfully conveys the way a long-term relationship can so easily shift between love and affection and a petty tallying of old hurts and disappointments. In addition, she delivers a hair-raising portrait of a poisonous female friendship. Full of emotional turmoil yet subtle in its effect, this elegant novel is sure to draw in both women's-fiction and literary-fiction fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)