Forest Lover, The

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Summary: *A GLORIOUS ADVENTURE FOR READERS*
Review: After being immersed in delicious piles of children's & YA books I changed course long enough to read "The Forest Lover." 1st, because long ago I was intrigued by Emily Carr's art; 2nd, our lifetimes overlapped; 3rd, the author's "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" is near the top of my *Vermeer List*; and 4th, for the joy of reading about a woman with great talents who overcame many obstacles including three inflexible, stuffily 'religious' sisters.

In the *Author's Afterword* Vreeland says her story is a look at Carr's 'courageous and extraordinary life'(p.329). My favorite quotation by the artist is when she exclaimed late in life: "DON'T PICKLE ME AWAY AS A DONE" (p.331). Even after two heart attacks and a stroke Emily Carr was pushing herself around on a makeshift wheeled crate in order to keep painting. She died in 1945 at age 74.

Her paintings reflected her spirit as well as the spirit of the forests and native people she grew to love. She was intrepid; the paintings astonishing. She was 'gutsy' and her art could be disturbing. They sometimes mirrored her melancholy; hers was a lonely life. I see echoes of Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible" in Vreeland's commentary on the miserable treatment natives were handed out by bureaucrats and 'men of God'. The torments they caused!

Susan Vreeland was writing this book for 17 years. She said "In paint and words, Emily Carr casts a tall shadow, one which has accompanied me in western forests" - this from her experience kayacking into the north country to search for remnants of the totem poles Carr had sacrificed so much to capture on canvas.

Some reviewers have carped about Vreeland introducing fictional characters and relationships in her story. 1st, let's remember this IS FICTION; 2nd, writers often do this to entice a wider audience. If this book serves to introduce hundreds more readers to Emily Carr and the wrongs she fought against, then I say "Amen" - "so be it"; 3rd, the author, in trying to portray the artist's spirit felt she could take 'certain liberties' because Emily, herself, altered facts and chronology in her own writings. And why shouldn't someone as passionate about her painting as Carr also have passionate relationships? One Amazon reviewer has gone a step beyond objecting to fictional love scenes; he/she ridicules the actions and language used as though anyone can say what is a "proper" way of writing about love!

Vreeland describes (Part II) Carr's experiences in France in a most engaging way. It was the time of Monet and Van Gogh although Carr did not meet these men. The author captures vividly the critical eye of Parisians and the manner in which Carr's art evolved. Carr's was a truly amazing achievement, as a Canadian and a woman, to have a painting shown in the prestigious Salon d'Automne. She returned to British Columbia with a new confidence in her technique.

Late in life Emily Carr was gratified to receive acclaim: "Hers is the greatest contribution of all time to historic art of the Pacific slopes. Miss Carr is essentially of the Canadian West *not by reason of her subject matter alone but by her approach to it*"(from the Ottawa "Citizen"). I find her paintings to be spirit-filled and/or spiritual (according to your individual interpretation); her colors bold and lush. When you come to the end of this book - a glorious adventure for the reader - remember it as a fictionalized account told with love and admiration for someone who lived 'before her time' and captured the true essence of her surroundings.

REVIEWER mcHAIKU remains in awe of the subject and heartily applauds the author.

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Summary: A Missed Opportunity
Review: Susan Vreeland's GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE, which showcases the life of Johannes Vermeer (or at least one of his paintings) was released at about the same time as was Tracy Chevalier's GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING. While GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING gained most of the attention, by far, I thought GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE was the better book. Vreeland's second book, THE PASSION OF ARTEMISIA was, however, a very lackluster attempt at capturing the life of the 17th century Italian artist, Artemisia Gentileschi and it can't begin to compare with French writer, Alexandra Lapierre's wonderful book, ARTEMISIA. Vreeland's third novel, THE FOREST LOVER, like her previous two, combines fact and fiction in an attempt to take readers into the world of an artist...this time, however, the artist is far less well-known that either Vermeer or Gentileschi.

The subject of THE FOREST LOVER is Canadian artist, Emily Carr, who was born in 1871 and died in 1945. While Carr isn't well-known in the US and virtually unheard of in Europe, she's quite well-known and highly thought of in her native Canada and her Fauvist paintings of the forests and seascapes of British Columbia are both melancholy and gorgeous.

Even though Carr is now revered in Canada (one of her paintings sold for more than one million dollars a few years ago), like many artists she was almost unknown during her own lifetime and worked under harsh conditions during which she had little or no financial or emotional support. She was a lonely figure with few acquaintances and even fewer real friends. Vreeland does a beautiful job of making us feel Carr's isolation and her loneliness, her struggles and her pain. But, sadly, there the beauty ends.

One of the problems with THE FOREST LOVER, for me, is that it is quite uneven. When Vreeland is writing about Carr's painful isolation and lonely struggles, the book is luminous, intense and poetic, but when she's writing about Carr's interactions with others, the narrative becomes dull, flat and sometimes boring. The book is downright terrible when Vreeland fictionalizes romantic encounters for Carr. I actually laughed out loud (something I rarely do when reading a book) when reading about Carr's fictitious French fur trader lover, Claude Serreau. He was so totally unbelievable he was ludicrous (and hilarious), although I'm sure Vreeland meant for us to find him touching instead. Another romantic encounter that simply didn't work for me was the fictional one between Carr and New Zealand painter, Frances Hodgkins. It seemed as though Vreeland just wanted to infuse a dose of lesbianism into her book and the book didn't need it. In fact, the romantic encounters detracted rather than added. Emily Carr was fascinating enough; Vreeland needn't have made up fictitious lovers for her in order to make her interesting. I felt that Vreeland, herself, was only interested in Carr, so the other characters were given far less attention during their creation than they should have been if they were going to "come alive."

The pacing of the book is erratic as well. Some sections are slow and dreamy while others rushed ahead like a train careening down an Alpine mountainside. I didn't feel Vreeland had her subject matter and her writing under control. Dialogue was another big problem in this book. It was so stilted and unrealistic.

Overall, I think Vreeland missed a wonderful opportunity with this book. In the sections where Vreeland is writing about Carr and her inner life...about her hopes, her dreams, her pain, her struggles, her isolation, her intense love of Canada's western forests and shores, the book simply soars. Had she focused on Carr's inner life throughout the book rather than inventing (badly) ludicrous fictitious love affairs for her protagonist, I think she might have given us an intense, dreamy and poetic novel and one that was, in the end, far more romantic as well.

Rating:
Summary: As rich as the soil that produced Emily Carr's inspiration
Review: Thank you, Susan Vreeland, for taking me into the world of yet another artist. After reading THE PASSION OF ARTEMESIA, I could hardly wait for THE FOREST LOVER. I was not disappointed! Ms. Vreeland has an extraordinary ability to get into the shoes of another and have us feel what Emily Carr did during her struggle to find herself, her art, and her recognition. To give specific examples of when my heart either sank or exploded while reading the novel might give away too much. You'll just have to find out for yourself! I loved how the story unfolded. I enjoyed the beauty and the mystery of both the forests and the Native Americans as described by the author. Ms. Vreeland took me to a place I never expected to be--early to mid 20th century British Columbia AND introduced me to an artist I never expected to meet--Emily Carr.