Customer Reviews

Life Mask

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

In her previous novel, Slammerkin, Ms.Donoghue created a superbly realized piece of literature based on a tiny historical footnote: one Mary Saunders, a prostitute, in 1760's England, was put to death at the age of 16 for murdering her benefactor. Out of this tidbit came a vivid, engrossing and deliciously lurid tale.

In this, her latest novel, she is quite a bit more ambitious. For now her tale encompasses the lives of not one, but three characters in 18th century England, each of whom is far more complex than poor Mary, being as they are at the forefront of London society, politics and culture. Although the historical record gives Ms. Donoghue more to work with, there is still plenty of room for her imagination to soar, and soar it surely does in this magnificent novel.

The notable accomplishment here, and the thing which historical fiction aficionados most desire, is that it wholly transports one to another time and place. More than just recounting events or the clothes one wore, the reader wishes to come to know people. What were their thoughts, their motivations, their fears, their hopes in this long ago period? How were they able to cope, and what were society's expectations of and limitations on them?

Ms. Donoghue expertly brings this era to life--the ten year period beginning in 1787 London--through the lives of her three main characters. They are: Eliza Farren, the premiere comedic actress of her day; the Earl of Derby, her suitor, a member of the House of Lords, and the richest man in England; and Anne Damer, a member of the nobility, and a noted sculptress.

Eliza Farren was not born to the nobility but finds her ticket out of the dregs is her beauty and superb composure on the London stage. She attains fame, but interestingly in these times, fame does not necessarily translate into wealth, although she does well enough. Nevertheless, she is morbidly aware that a slip, a slur, a misstep, could end her career in a heartbeat. Life in the colorful London theater was fraught with anxiety.

During this time she is courted by Lord Derby, who is married but estranged from his wife. We learn that a lady's virtue in 18th century London was of extreme importance, and fascinatingly, throughout the entire lengthy courtship, Ms. Farren never has a single meeting with Lord Derby without the accompaniment of her chaperone mother. In today's day and age, this is almost hard to believe, but back then, a lady's reputation was quite often her only asset. In Miss Farren's case, everything depended on it.

But the novel does not simply leave it at that. Their contrived behavior has a profound effect on their relationship. Derby must be almost inhumanely patient, and occasionally boils over with suppressed desire. Eliza over time becomes brittle and distant, resisting as she must the advances of her suitor, while at the same time sublimating ever more deeply the longing in her heart.

Derby, as a member of the House of Lords, has vital, political concerns. George III is on the throne, and resistant to the reforms England so desperately needs. To come into power he and the members of the Whig party to which he belongs feel they must court and cajole the Prince, the loutish, debt-ridden, indecisive "Prinny," an enormously complicated task. In the meantime, events are occurring across the water in France, which also cause a great deal of concern. The narrative, again, makes these events very personal. To us, Marie Antoinette was the woman who said, "Let them eat cake." To Derby, Marie was an acquaintance. News of her lonely execution was both shocking and horrifying, and sent a collective chill of fear throughout his circle.

The most fascinating character in the novel, however, is the widowed sculptor, Anne Damer. Ms. Damer is a member of the nobility, putting on dinners, sponsoring plays, and visiting her clever and distinguished relatives, but always moving with a sense of trepidation in, "the tiny universe of rules and whispers," she inhabits. She eventually becomes ensnared. You see, Ms. Damer is a lesbian, and in the England of the late 18th century, such a thing was not acknowledged, even to oneself. Ms. Damer, emotionally complex and hugely sympathetic, never even considers the possibility. The reader, however, begins to suspect this long before she does. In reaction to her sharp criticism on an unrelated matter, the tabloids unfairly accuse her of "sapphism." Even the whisper of such a thing could bring catastrophic consequences to one's life, and for Anne it brings to her an agonizing journey of self-discovery. When her moment finally arrives, the reader reacts with an almost palpable sense of relief, of joy even. It is an emotionally wrenching, subtle, and intensely erotic scene.

It becomes apparent that the "Life Mask" of the title is quite a bit more telling than simply being a description of the method by which Anne begins her sculptures. In this rigid, rule-bound society, wearing a life mask in one's daily affairs was practically a necessity. And perhaps only slightly more so than the ones we ourselves wear today.

This book is a masterpiece. It is complex, detailed and with multi-layered, nuanced, painfully human characters. At the same time it is a very readable and engrossing entertainment. Admittedly, the opening is little daunting, as one is introduced quickly to a rather large number of Earls and Lords and Ladies and Dukes, but after fifty pages or so, it moves along painlessly. With her previous novel and now this, Ms. Donoghue has established not only that she is an outstanding writer of fiction, she has established that she is currently among the finest writers of fiction in the English language.

I've read reviews complaining of this novel's length. In my view that's one of its strengths. It's like a gourmet meal with unfamiliar dishes, as opposed to a fast-food burger and fries. It helps to be familiar with 18th century British history--I found all the characters to be marvelously drawn. Although I was familiar with most of the historical figures, her rendering of Walpole, Fox, Sheridan and the others made them come alive. It would be useful to have read the wonderful recent bio of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (exact title and author escape me). I picked "Life Mask" up in an airport bookshop, looking for a quick read on a plane, never having heard anything about it and knowing nothing about the author. I was wrong about the "quick read", but delightfully so. I'm so sick of novels that can be read pretty much in one sitting and/or lack complexity. So many novels seem to be written with a screenplay in mind. This one took over a week to read, and I was sorry when it was done.

I was introduced to Emma Donoghue through her previous novel "Slammerkin", and am currently reading everything she else she has written so far.
"Life Mask" is a complex novel, both in it's characters as well as in it's settings. The story follows the loves and lives of Eliza Farrow, actress, Lord Derby who is in love with Eliza, and Anne Damer, a sculptor who also appears to be in love with Eliza. Thus we are introduced to their triangluar relationship and become privy to open and closed secrets.
The book is fascinating, although at times the politics of the time overwhelm the story somewhat. I am familiar with European politics having grown up in Austria, but I imagine it could be challenging to someone less familiar. Still, a smashing read!

Judging by Emma Donoghue's second novel, the rabid London scandal sheets haven't changed a bit in the last 200 years. She opens each chapter with a titillating bit of tattle from a (fictional) tabloid focused on the "beau monde" of London high society, or, as they like to dub themselves, "the World." Set during the decade from 1787 to 1797, Donoghue's ("Slammerkin") story revolves around a real-life scandal concerning an actress, an earl and an aristocratic female sculptor.

From this vantage point, Donoghue's view encompasses the turbulent politics of the time, from the madness of King George III to the French Revolution. She explores the stratifications of class and the restricted lives of women as she ventures from Parliament to the stage, from the sculptor's studio to the drawing room. While clearly copious, her research never gets in the way as she dresses her characters for intimate dinners of ten, and sets them to talking gossip and politics over lobster au gratin and mutton with gherkins.

Eliza Farren is the actress, the Queen of Comedy at Drury Lane who has caught the eye of the Earl of Derby, a man of small stature and huge fortune. He is also, unfortunately, a man in possession of a wife, albeit a disgraced and estranged invalid of a wife.

Derby is eager to introduce Eliza to Anne Damer, "an original; she reads Latin better than most of us Etonians." Widowed, Anne enjoys her independence, in every sense of the word. She is a serious sculptor who has always followed her muse and never taken a commission.

To their mutual surprise, the women become fast friends. Anne is a well-connected, well-educated aristocrat and Eliza has clawed her way up from the gutter on talent and determination. But in Donoghue's capable hands, neither is a stereotype; both open new worlds for the other. Their friendship is warm, fresh and energized.

And then it all comes to a crashing end with one nasty little verse hinting at a lesbian relationship between the two. It's the sort of tabloid innuendo Eliza, who maintains her elegant Mayfair home on her earnings, cannot afford.

Meanwhile, Eliza's relationship with Derby is famously platonic. Unlike other actresses of her time, Eliza guards herself from any whiff of scandal. She is never alone with the Earl and accepts no presents other than the use of his carriage. And as the years pass, Derby remains doggedly faithful, waiting for his wife to die so he can marry Eliza.

Derby and Anne introduce Eliza to politics, another arena, like friendship, she has never had any time for. Whigs who oppose the autocratic rule of King George III and his Prime Minister William Pitt, they favor expanded suffrage (though not quite to women), more equitable taxes and more freedom in general.

The storming of the Bastille is a seminal event for British Whigs - they cheer the new liberality and women wear stone fragments of the smashed prison as pendants. Fashions change to reflect the simplicity of the more egalitarian French society. Donoghue manages to catch the heady fervor of these early days, which coexists, paradoxically, with aristocratic complacency toward their own privileged status quo. English peasants are far better off than their repressed French counterparts, after all.

But as the French Revolution grows more bloody and the English economy falters while the wheat harvest fails, threatening famine, it becomes clear the English mob do not see egalitarian principles as compatible with aristocratic privilege. Some Whigs, like Anne, retreat from liberality, others, like Derby, while wavering, remain steadfast as the party splinters.

Donoghue draws the reader into the heady politics of the time in large part by keeping the perspective firmly contemporary. Derby, Anne and Eliza are products of their era, not ours. And Donoghue keeps the characters true to themselves as individuals as well. Eliza, reflecting on the chaotic news from France, reflects: "It was like trying to put together the plot of a five-act tragedy by eavesdropping on the crowd as it surged out of a theatre."

That said, there are a couple of glaring exceptions. Would King George really have termed the new Draconian security measures "homeland security"? Would anyone have used the phrase "weapons of mass destruction"? Other than these eye-poppers, Donoghue's perspective is impressively anchored in the 18th century and her story engages the reader with her characters, the details of daily life and the broad sweep of history.

I made it through 400 pages of this book and I'm not sure how or why I got that far and I can't muddle up the energy to finish it. I found the characters to be overly stereotypical, completely predictable and just plain dull. The only one who had any depth at all was Anne. The conversations were boring, especially the political ones. The entire scandal about lesbianism was anticlimactic and dull - how did anyone find it enticing or exciting?
I expected to love this book as I was captivated by Ms. Donoghue's SLAMMERKIN. This does not even compare. I only wish I hadn't run out and bought it so quickly-should have borrowed it from the library and saved a bundle.

I was a 17-year-old lesbian in 1953, when it was worth your life to let even a hint emerge that you might be 'that way'. It was like being a member of the French resistance in Berlin during WW2.

To me, the erotic longings of the three main women characters, Anne, Eliza, and Mary, are the linchpin, the actual plot, of this pleasantly meandering novel, a study of how deeply forbidden lesbian love was.

Take one beautiful comedic actress, Eliza Farren, add the married Twelfth Earl of Derby, stir in widowed sculptor Anne Damer (the niece of Horace Walpole). To these add a dash of political intrigue, a sprinkling of what passes for love in the late 18th century, a smattering of captivating supporting characters, and the requisite amount of scandal, jealousy and gossip.

Emma Donoghue has stirred these ingredients together to form this historically based and highly plausible work of fiction.
Although this novel is lengthy, it is well worth your time, especially if your are have an affinity for entertaining and intelligent writing

This novel was quite long, I'll admit. However, it was throughly engrossing. Donoghue managed to take a historical footnote and create a rich, 600 page novel that showcases the Beau Monde, theater, and scandalmongering during the late 1700's in England. The effects of the French Revolution on British society and government were interesting. The correlations between British government at that time and contemporary politics was fascinating--Lord Derby ca 1770 mentions "WMD!" A sly social commentary!

Emma Donaghue has written a beautifully layered, exhaustively researched and all-round enjoyable historical novel.

While some readers may consider the book to be too long and rambling in telling its story, I never experienced a moment of boredom.

From the lesbian love story of Anne Damer, to the tales from the political scene of a late 18th century England - all strands of the plot were immensely entertaining.

I was fascinated with the fate of every character and delighted to discover that all of the cast are indeed based on real historical figures.

Very interesting was also the parallels the author has drawn to the modern day, including the issue of homeland security and its consequences, as well as the fascination with the tabloid press.

Emma Donaoghue takes her time developing the delicious characters in her book which minces along for 190 pages before she opens the door to the intricacies of these people even a crack. Interwoven with a nice slice of English history at the time of the French Revolution, Donoghue strolls through a hefty dose of classist/elitist thinking through her character of Lord Derby and Anne Damer, as they interact with the common actress Eliza Farren. With twists and turns, the heart of the book slowly reveals itself as Mrs Damer begins to understand and accept her true nature. What is amazing about this book is that it is so tame, twisted, and subtley erotic that the reader gets caught in the tale and is forced to reflect instead of burn through the pages. A great read.