The synopsis was intriguing as well as this being set during WWI. Pacing as a tad slow for my liking.

The Sculptress is a historical fiction book by V. S. Alexander about a sculptress who goes to France to make masks for horribly disfigured solders during World War I. I listened to the audiobook version which was narrated by Sarah Mollo-Christensen. When I listened to Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig there was a scene set in a hospital where masks were made for soldiers, and I found the subject fascinating. When I heard about this, I jumped on the chance to read it. Alas, only about a quarter of the book dealt with this subject. I could have done without the rest.

Emma Lewis Swan was a sculptress living in Boston. Though her work was good, she had trouble with faces. Her husband Tom, a surgeon, went to France to do his patriotic duty serving wounded soldiers. Emma stayed behind, moving in art circles and being savaged by critics. She meets Linton Bower, a handsome blind painter, and the two are deeply drawn to each other. Tom writes and suggests she should go to Paris and use her talents to make masks for severely disfigured soldiers, so she leaves Linton and Boston and off she goes. While working in Paris, she confronts a man who forces her to deal with her past.

I so wanted to love this story; truly I did. However, Emma Lewis Swan has got to be one of the most unlikable "heroines" I've come across in a long time. The time she spent sculpting masks was interesting, and she was doing something that made a difference to many lives. Besides that, she traveled through life with a "poor me" attitude. Anything bad that happened was someone else's fault. Her romantic entanglements showed her poor judgment. She fell in love with a boy as a teenager and they had relations. He basically wanted nothing to do with her after their time together, so she threatens to tell on him unless he keeps sleeping with her. Ah, the romance! Yet for years afterwards, she goes on and on about the young love she had and how wonderful their "making love" was. She marries Tom for security; yet she's upset that they don't have a grand passion. She falls in love with Linton while her husband was saving lives in France. She goes to France and eventually confronts someone from her past. What happens with that situation rather turned my stomach. After more drama, the story ends rather abruptly. I wish it had ended hours earlier.

Sarah Mollo-Christensen's narration was basically okay. She did fine voicing Emma and a few of the foreign characters, but she didn't have much range and it was extremely hard to distinguish different characters from one another.

Skip this one, and look for other books by V.S. Alexander instead.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publishers and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

The premise of the Sculptress was very intriguing to me as it had a strong female lead and was historical fiction set during war time. Typically this is my go to genre, but I found this particular story hard for me to read and get into it overall. I found myself wanting to read more about her sculpting and less in regards to relationships with men that seemed to drown the book. This is the first V.S. Alexander book I have read, so I would be open to other novels.

sadly, before i could download this title, netgalley took it off their catalog. that means i can’t review this one. HOWEVER, i will be checking in with my library to see if i can get a copy and review it that way

There is so much going on in this historical novel it's really hard to know where to start.
Young Emma Swan becomes a sculptress during WW1 in a male dominated field.
Taking us from the art galleries of Boston to the war raging across Europe in the 1910's we find ourselves immersed in history.
The author has written with an authenticity in all of his historical novels and continues the tradition with this one as well.
Emma is a chaarcter who is hard to get a handle on, she has relationships with men and she either doesn't care about them or they don't care about her. The one man she loved didn't give her the love and respect she needed so she has soured on men.
Despite how much she has going for her I don't think she is a truly happy person.
Emma settles into making masks for disfigured soldiers returning from war so they can have a somewhat normal life after the ravages of war.
There is so much betrayal taking place here, from a friend,from men,she herself doing it.
I enjoy reading about flawed characters but I want to see how they have spiritual and mental awareness and growth and it was not shown in this book.
There are also some hard to read about subjects here.
Overall I did enjoy the book.

Pub Date: 23 Feb 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

The Sculptess is an interesting romantic historical novel following the Boston artist Emma and the mask she makes for wounded soldiers. It is an enjoyable book more on the romance side though.

Thank you #NetGalley, #KeningtonBooks and #V.S.Alexander for the advance readers copy for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for kindly providing me with a digital copy of this book for review.
Unfortunately I really struggled to connect to this book. It may have been timing as when I first picked it up, we suffered a family bereavement, so given the sombre subjects covered in this book, I didn’t feel like carrying on with it so I put it down for a while. Then when I picked it up a few months later to try again, we unfortunately suffered another, and bigger family bereavement. So I think my dislike of the book may be connected to the very sad personal experiences I was having when reading it, and may be no fault of the book at all. It could just have been the wrong time for me to read it.

Sadly, I did not enjoy this book. I made it 135 pages and was troubled by the content (open door romance, an abortion, adultery, etc). The main character's constant thoughts of nudity in her art. I'm not a prude, but the description and book cover didn't relate to the actual content, much of which was very depressing. I absolutely adored Alexander's book "The Irishman's Daughter," but was sadly disappointed in this book.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Expected more. the story itself wasn't horrible but doesn't mean there isn't a lot to unpack. The book was long enough looking over something was easy, but the more repetitive things were pretty annoying ngl. We get it, author thinks abortion is a sin and that it should literally haunt women through life until they eventually.... rape the man they blame for it, again? Like she wanted to have sex with him, did, then tried to black mail him into having more sex with her. She then get pregnant from forcing him to continue having sex with her, and again blames him for her going to get an abortion. She blames him and getting an abortion for her inability to capture faces correctly. She marries a man out of convivence, catches feelings for another man when her husband leaves her to go to war. and eventually exbaby daddy gets messed up in the war(in just the way she can fix!!!) and comes finds her, pretending to not be him. Gaslights her with his replies and then stalks her. Follows her one night and confesses it was really him(and hey HE can has just the thing that can fix her husband not being able to give her kids!) he wants to knock her up again! to "Fix things", like thats how it works? so she decides later to go show up, rape him, and then again black mail him to keep doing it. Her dickless husband had gotten another woman pregnant before he lost his balls and never told wife bc surely her indiscretions were worse? i mean i could just go on but like still so much to unpack.

this book could have been way better but it ended up way too preachy and annoying about it. books like this make me happy i listen to them quickly and i didnt waste 12ish hours reading this and only like 4.

The Sculptress is a historical fiction set in Boston and Paris in the years leading up to and during WWI. It focuses on Emma, a trained sculptress who cannot seem to master faces. When her husband, a doctor, goes to France to work as a surgeon for the war Emma is left on her own. Rumors begin and then she is asked to come to France to use her skills to create masks for wounded soldiers.
The concept was interesting but I found the characters boring and annoying. It is a story of rich people problems during a time where those mean the least. It was a okay book. No one specific I would recommend it to but it was not bad.

I want to thank Netgalley & V. S. Alexander for my copy of The Sculptress, for an honest review. I was so glad to start this book.. it had all the potential of being one of my favorite books this year. It starts in May of 1917, in the wealthy part of Boston. The war is raging on the western front and yet things are seemingly calm here. Emma Lewis Swan’s husband, Thomas, decides to go to France to help as a doctor. Emma, the Sculptress stays behind. She intends to continue her art and finds herself being watched by an old friend of Tom’s, Linton Bower. Linton has all the right connections in Boston. She offers her friendship to Emma. Yet from the start they keep each other at arms length. Emma try’s to fit into Tom’s world but it doesn’t feel right. She tends to find friendship with a different kind of person. The story was slow for me. I felt like I read in place for some time. The author has a unique way to tell a story. I had a hard time relating/liking the characters. I wanted to see so much more of Emma and Tom. It just felt like there was to much time spent on Emma. Over all this book was ok. Not my favorite, I did finish it. Ironically the ending was very good. I love the opportunity to read Arc’s and I would love to read more works by V. .S Alexander. This was a 3 star read for me. I did feature this on my Instagram page.

I am sorry to say that I just didn't enjoy this book. I guess its because I am so used to reading books from the WW2 era. I did not connect to the characters, and it was just hard to stick with this one.

The Sculptress by V. S. Alexander
⭐/5

Set in 1917 we follow Emma, who is a Sculptress, through many questionable decisions in her life. Her husband goes over to the war to give aid as a surgeon and invites her to come over to help make masks for injured soldiers.

The synopsis sounded great! I was excited to read about a strong woman who is a Sculptress during time that only men were, and her overcoming her struggles. Instead I read this character that was whiny, self centered, and harsh.

I say it all the time I don't mind a dislikable character. However, this book was written for us to feel sorry for her in the end and I just couldn't get there. I could probably rant about this but I don't want to spoil to much.

Another thing I should mention, there is a sex scene that is very problematic toward the end of the book. Not okay!

I was so disappointed because I have another of his books on my shelf and I enjoyed The Taster by him.

TW: Suicide, combat, disfigured soldiers, sexual assault

Thank you @netgalley and @kensingtonbooks for providing me this free ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

Complex!

Oh my! I was almost speechless by the time I finished this. I was exhausted by the gamit of emotionally charged situations. I felt like I’d run a marathon. I’m still wondering about that. Is being played out like this the sign of a great read or a super complicated read, or both? Or is this the story of a person subjugated by and subjected to social rules made by male traditions taken to another level.
This story of a woman’s life journey begins with fifteen years old Emma Lewis, gifted with artistic talents, a young girl with dreams that soured. Of falling in love too young, leading to secrets and tragedies. Eventually Emma becomes a female sculptor striving for acceptance in the hidebound, male dominated world of the arts in the traditional Boston society of the early 1900’s. Beyond that, this is a story of relationships, of marriage, of betrayals and near betrayals, of unforgiveness and heartache, and a woman who has huge regrets and anger.
Eventually Emma marries a doctor, Thomas Evan Swan. Prior to the United States entering the war Tom leaves for the France working at the frontline trenches out of Paris during World War I. Emma eventually goes to Paris. Tom persuades her to use her skills of sculpting to make masks for armed forces personnel whose faces have been severely damaged.
I must admit my first glimpses of Emma were not flattering. Shaped by an overbearing mother, fearful of going against social mores, and a father who quietly encouraged her talent, in many ways Emma seesaws through life either looking for acceptance or standing strong. And when Emma decides to take back, to set right in her own mind that time of anguish in her early years, it’s forceful to the point of shockingly unexpected. Is she meting out punishment or being coldly expedient?
As things come full circle, the idea of self forgiveness, of rising beyond being mired in actions of the past, of exonerating those who’ve deceived her—all this is prominent. There were moments when I found this a hard read. Sometimes frustrating at other times appalling.
The author’s note and research gives gravitas to this most unusual and often harrowing story.

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

I have enjoyed all of this author's books and was excited when i saw that he had a new book. It wasn't one of my favorites but I still recommend that you read it to learn more about a strong woman artist in the early part of the 20th century.

My main problem with this book is that I never connected with Emma. She wanted to be an artist but she seemed to be more interested in being part of high society and falling in love than she did with her art. However, it was great to read about a strong female who was determined to practice art in a style that women at the time didn't do. Her early sculptures were dismissed by the critics not because of her work but due to her sex. She did redeem herself when she started working with disfigured soldiers from the war. If you enjoy books about WWI, you need to read The Sculptress!

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Know in advance that this is more about Emma's love life- starting with Kurt when she was a teen- than it is about WWI or sculpture, both of which feel more like backdrop than integral to the story. Emma is an artist who, while her husband Tom , a doctor, is in France treating the troops, finds herself interested in making clay masks for men who have been maimed. She ultimately does travel to France to assist the men there but the story focuses more on her secret (well, the secret she kept from someone) and her crumbling marriage. That's not to say, btw, that I didn't find this both interesting and informative, just that I would have liked more focus on art. Alexander has managed to wrap in issues that are usually avoided in books about this period and that's a good thing. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of historical fiction.

In the Author's Notes, it states the inspiration for this book was from Flaubert's novel, Madame Bovary. I haven't read Madame Bovary, so I was completely "blind" while reading this.

The story begins in 1905, when Emma was a teenager and follows her life until the year of 1919. Emma is a strong willed, albeit selfish, woman who goes through life looking for "true" love. She has made questionable choices, and now has to deal with consequences.

Her one passion is art. She loves drawing and sculpting. She wasn't afraid to stand up for her work when she was told sculpting was a man's art. She put her art to great work during WWI when she went overseas to Paris.

I enjoyed reading this story. I didn't really love Emma. Some of her choices, made me want to yell at her! The time she spent in Paris was my favorite part of the book.

I would recommend this to someone who enjoys historical fiction with strong female leads.

I generally enjoy books about art and artists, so I was intrigued by The Sculptress, which is based on the life of the real-life sculptress, Anna Coleman-Ladd. It is set in post-Gilded Age, pre-World War I America, later moving to France in World War I.

The protagonist, Emma Lewis, has enough “wobble” in her personality to be interesting; however, some readers may be uncomfortable with her as she is quite calculating and not particularly likable. I also found her character to be rather inconsistent. In late adolescence, she and Kurt, a young man on whom she’s had a crush since she was fifteen. When he realizes she’s a virgin (after their first sexual encounter), he bluntly states he’s not interested in marriage as he has college and law school to get through. They compromise: no marriage, yet she bargains with him, telling him he has to be available for sex whenever she desires him (as the horse is already out of the barn, so to speak).

During this time, at fifteen, she begins to study under Daniel Chester French, the world-renowned sculptor. Later, she moves to Boston and studies art there, hobnobbing with such notables as Isabella Stewart Gardner and John Singer Sargent. Beyond this, there is little about her growth as an artist. She marries Thomas Swan, a physician. He’s a good provider, but a lackluster lover. She has a studio at home but is rarely seen working in it. We hear nothing about her studies, and her artistry seems more like a side note as opposed to something that truly drives her. Rather, she spends most of her time bemoaning her love life (or lack there of), the baby (Kurt’s) she aborted, and her infatuation with the young blind painter, Linton Bower. Before she takes off to France, only three works of art are mentioned: the faun she lets melt in a rainstorm, her Diana which finally sells to an unknown buyer, and the Narcissus which she sees as a symbol of modern nations driving themselves to war, for which she plans to use Bower as a model.

This book seemed to be more about social issues (her pre-marital sexual experiences), infidelity, women’s issues (women weren’t felt to have the necessary range of artistic ability to become sculptors), and discrimination (Emma took her Irish housekeeper to a social event just to rile her hostess); however, I never saw her development as a sculptress.

Emma goes to France at her husband’s request. He describes how an English physician is making masks for soldiers with damaged faces, and Thomas feels her skills as a sculptress might help her help them (this despite her lack of skill with faces). There she further explores her sexuality.

COMMENTS ON THE AUDIOBOOK:
Sarah Mollo-Christensen, the narrator of The Sculptress, has a very pleasant speaking voice. She is able to assume different voices for each character, though her male voices tend to all sound alike. She does a great job on Emma’s voice, that of Emma’s best friend, and the Irish maid.

2.5 stars

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Sculptress is my first book by V.S. Alexander, and I hope to read more of his books in the future. I did, however, find this one to be a bit of a mixed bag.

Prose wise, it’s fairly engaging, and immersed me in its world. Alexander clearly has done a lot of research into World War I, and it comes through in the story, even if the story does focus more on Emma and her personal relationships with the war as a backdrop.

However, I’m not sure if I ever connected with the story. Emma never fully interested me as a protagonist, and finding out about her inspiration in her namesake character, Emma Bovary, made me feel even more disenchanted, given it’s among the list of tragic romantic classics by Dead White Men that get lionized as the only important books in the Western Canon. While Alexander appears to have tried to subvert it slightly through transplanting the story to a more recent time, it still remains lacking.

I do think some will enjoy it, especially if they have enjoyed the author’s books in the past, but something about it just felt off to me.

War, Love and Heartache

The time is 1917 and WWI is raging on overseas. In Boston it is not felt so much. Emma's doctor husband goes to France to help with the injured soldier with the Red Cross.
Emma wants to work as a sculptress, making art from lumps of clay. She is very good at it except she cannot get the faces correct. I love the part where she goes to Paris and make masks from clay for soldiers that have lost part of their face in the War. That was very interesting and I would have liked to have read more about it.

I have to say I love V.S. Alexander's books, this one I was a bit disappointed in. I need to write an honest review. I would have liked to hear more about her sculpted masks and perhaps some of the stories of the men she helped. However, the storyline was of her different love's and it appeared to be the focus of the story rather than her sculpting which the title would lead you to believe. There were some sexual scenes and one at the end that just really didn't add to the story and personally I felt like it didn't belong.

I will continue to read V.S. Alexander's books and I did enjoy part of the story.
Thanks to V.S. Alexander, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy for an honest review.