Customer Reviews

Afterimage

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read. I found this book difficult to put down, it was like reading a long poem. Not only was the plot intriguing and the characters interesting, but the syle and language employed by the author was nothing less than beautiful. She is able to evoke complex images with a minimum of words. The book tells the story of Annie Phelan, a destitute young woman who works as a maid for the well-off couple, Isabelle and Eldon Dashell. She becomes a muse to both of them, and profoundly changes by this process. The themes throughout the book are familiar ones. Love, greed, ambition, etc., all played out against a backround of class difference. There are no startling revelations, but still you find yourself holding your breath until the last page, when you let it out with a sigh, wanting more.

I finally got this book (It's a pain to live in Finland where no GOOD foreign books are available!) and from the minute I laid my hands on it, it was almost impossible to put it down. It is a powerful book, its power lies in the wonderful poetic language and in the atmosphere that makes you want to hold your breath in order to avoid disturbing it.

It is a very reader-friendly book, it in many ways lets the reader decide what exactly happens in the end. In that way it's much like a poem. And I love it.

Humphreys has a wonderful way of describing emotional worlds. I think that some may be put off by the so called lack of plot, because on the outside, many things don't happen. However, what I think Afterimage clearly points out, is that usually the inner self and psychological maturing are much more... Dare I say, valuable things to describe in prose. TV and movies present action, let literature give insight!

And even though nothing "really" happens between Annie and Isabelle, I think the intimacy of their relationship might even exceed the intimacy of a normal, sexual relationship. I think, as a reader, what they had was something more than that. (Moving on to speculation at this point, I guess) One can't always act out emotion, but it doesn't make it any less valuable.

It's one of the best books I've read. Please, give me more!

This is one of the best recent novels I have read this year, and one of the most successful attempts ever to imagine the Victorians from a contemporary point of view. Hughes introduces us to the inner lives of an Irish servant who has lost her family; a rebellious upper-class woman struggling to realize her artistic vision and ambitions;and a weak husband who has relinquished his dreams of mapping the world. The language is beautiful, dense, revelatory, and Hughes shows us the Victorians as they could not show themselves.

Helen Humphreys' Afterimage is a beautiful, lyrical novel that tells the story of Annie Phelan a young Irish woman who takes a job as a maid in 1865 for an eccentric pair in England. Isabelle is a photographer who desperately desires to be taken seriously as an artist and her husband Eldon is a cartographer who faces similar dilemmas. Annie's intelligence and beauty endear her to the couple, for varying reasons. She ultimately becomes a subject for Isabelle's photos and almost a friend to Isabelle. The conflict between what role Annie plays in the household and with her employers is a source of confusion for young Annie. The story is interesting, mesmerizing and well written. Enjoy.

This novel has not much of a plot, but that does not really matter; rather, it can actually be seen as a strength. Annie Phelan is hired as a new maid by a somewhat strange couple: Isabelle, photographer and Eldon, writer. Isabelle is struggling against people's prejudices (the novel is set in Victorian England and it shows): she is a woman, she does not have any children and she does not care much for class distinctions. On top of the above, she is a photographer, and a talented one. However, when she gets some success, she realizes, finally, that it does not matter, she is still her father's daughter and that is all. Her husband, Eldon, is very supportive of her art, although distant in other matters. They have had three children together, none of which lived. Eldon dreams about exploring the world, but his health makes that impossible, so he reads and writes instead. Both Isabelle and Eldon are infatuated by Annie. Isabelle uses her as a model, and Eldon talks with her about books.

I consider this to be a very beautiful novel. Reading it increases your understanding of human beings. This is not a very dramatic story, but there is much to think about. I cannot get this novel out of my head.

In 1865, Annie Phelan leaves London to become housemaid for the Dashells, an artistic couple who've grown distant from each other after a succession of stillbirths. Eldon Dashell dreams of becoming a great cartographer and explorer, and Isabelle Dashell is determined to create her art through photography, in spite of the ridicule she receives from her peers. Isabelle uses Annie as a model, and the young woman quickly becomes her muse, inspiring her to greater heights with her portraits of Guinevere, Ophelia, Sappho, the Madonna, and other iconic images. Annie also connects with Eldon and his fascination with Sir John Franklin's disastrous Arctic exploration, and she becomes a catalyst for transformation for everyone in the house, including herself. Annie has awoken the passions of Isabelle, and the sudden flames burst through their love triangle and prove the undoing of all. "Afterimage" is a luxurious novel about awakening, love, art, and freedom in a time when nothing seemed possible. It's as if Charlotte Brontė's "Jane Eyre" were mixed with Sylvia Brownrigg's "Pages for You" to create a unique, moving story.

Humphreys can write - there is no doubt about it and this outing only further solidifies her as someone to watch out for. She has a very sparse way of writing, something similar to Lily Tuck and an inferior Margaret Duras, but has a way of conveying emotion to varying degrees of success with very little prose. When done well in this book, it is marvelous, when done poorly, a 10 year-old may as well have written it.

The story reminds me of Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day" in that it is primarily from the viewpoint of a servant in an upper class household. What ensues is a pseudo-love triangle between Annie (the maid) and Isabelle and her husband, in which both turn to her for a type of solace. Isabelle and her husband originally married for numerous reasons including what they thought was love, only to realize that they didn't really care for one another beyond the circumstances that brought them together. Where Isabelle turns to photography,Eldon turns to his mapmaking. Annie becomes close to both of them and the triangle ensues.

I don't know what the New York Times saw in this book to make it one of their notable books of the year. It's good, but nothing that warrants any real attention. The story is OK as is the commentary on art and its place in the world, but the repressed love that is seemingly the strongest aspect of the novel is also the weakest, as no climax or carthasis is reached and it ends in a convoluted attempt to come across as having more depth than it actually has.

Loved the characters - especially Isabelle. The photography and cartography 'hobbies' made for a terrific vein through which the characters lived.
I give it 4.5 stars.

Afterimage, by Helen Humphreys, is a beautiful description of a married couple (Eldon and Isabelle), whose love has tarnished a bit, then is shaken up by the entrance of Annie, a lovely, orphaned Irish immigrant who is taken into their employ. Isabelle, whose life is reminiscent of the Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, begins to photograph and simultaneously become infatuated with Annie, while the husband, at times, bonds with this young girl through intense conversations. Annie becomes a princess, walking through the forest of her employers' lives, thoughts, and fantasies.

The author's command of language, and her writing skills are excellent, but the story was far from what I expected.

It does give a good description of English life in the countryside in the 1800's. The characters are well drawn and seem very real, as does the atmosphere surrounding them.

The problem is--nothing much happens in the way of plot.

I had thought the book was going to be about this maid, Annie Phelan, and her employers, Eldon and Isabelle Dashell (a husband & wife)both becoming romantically interested in her to the point where her position in the household changes and she gains power over both of them. But this situation never fully develops. One kiss is exchanged between Isabelle and Annie and that is the extent of any romantic relationship between them.

The book bogs down with dwelling on Isabelle's interest in photography and Eldon's interest in expeditions and map making.