Keeping the World Away: A Novel [Paperback]

Margaret Forster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 3, 2007

A classic Margaret Forster novel with the same satisfying appeal as her bestselling Diary of an Ordinary Woman — the story of an actual early 20th century painting and its fictional adventures through the century and of the women whose lives it touches.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An enigmatic painting by Gwen John created as the young English artist pined for her neglectful lover, Rodin, connects the disparate characters in this century-spanning sentimental tale. Forlorn Gwen paints a canvas of a corner of her Paris flat intended to "signify herself—calm, peaceful, content" and gives it to a friend, who misplaces it. So begins the painting's journey as it ends up in the possession of an artistically bankrupt teenager, an impoverished nurse, a downtrodden farmer, a scorned wife, an aging woman returning to Paris after a long absence and, finally, a promising art student, all of whom find either strength or solace in the valuable work. Though the men characters are less than convincing, Forster captures a wide swath of 20th-century European womanhood. (Aug.)
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From Booklist

Based on an actual painting, The Corner of the Artist's Room in Paris by Gwen John, Forster's novel recounts the history of how the painting came to be and imagines its effect on the women who have owned it. The story begins with Gwen herself, an independent, intelligent, and spirited artist. She loses herself in a passionate affair with the sculptor Rodin, and as the years pass and his visits become less and less frequent, she does the one thing she knows best--she paints a picture that represents the woman her lover wished Gwen could be: quiet, serene, and content. Gwen gives the painting to a friend and so launches its journey into the hands of several women across different countries and generations. Writing beautifully and seamlessly weaving each woman's story into the one before, Forster gives the painting a life of its own, evoking passion, yearning, and even hope in the women who possess it. This is a lovely and compelling work of literary art. Carolyn Kubisz
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (July 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345496337
• ISBN-13: 978-0345496331
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,755,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Luminous and lovely, July 10, 2007

By 

LiLa "Library Lady" (Monterey, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeping the World Away: A Novel (Paperback)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile read, January 18, 2008

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeping the World Away: A Novel (Paperback)

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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An imaginative riff on Gwen John's legacy, September 13, 2007

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keeping the World Away: A Novel (Paperback)

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.