The Art of Her Life

My thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to read The Art of Her Life by Cynthia Newberry Martin. An amazing, beautiful, heartbreaking book.

This is a breathtaking book on Art, specifically, Matisse, longing, and a mother's life. I am a Cynthia Newberry Martin fan since her book, "Love Like This" which I highly recommend. "The Art of Her Life" is full of quiet reflections, that like the brush strokes in a painting, culminate in the larger masterpiece of one women's life. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

"That night in the kitchen, working with reason alone, I told myself to feel nothing, and I let him go. So now I'll make my own happiness. I'll be like the woman in my painting— having a nice breakfast in her hotel room and then reading. Having a perfectly fine time by herself"
—The Art of Her Life

"The Art of Her Life" is an exquisite embodiment of poetic brilliance, deftly capturing an extraordinary penchant for life despite it's peculiar composition. The author meticulously summons the presence of Henry Matisse to illustrate this beautiful tragedy. In its core, it's a holy manifestation of the salvation of art. Throughout the entire novel, life is painted with spasms of catastrophe, juxtaposing the beauty of existence with the inherent cynicism of decay. "The Art of Her Life" vehemently accommodates Matisse's melancholic blue to capture the nuances of ordinary life. Not only that, the narration blatantly borrows colours of his palette to metaphorize the emotional complexities of the human experience. Within the tapestry of this novel, there's an overwhelming presence of comforting monotony but the harsh realities of life's vices are not completely glossed over. There are echoes of gnawing loneliness and grief. The narrative pulses with a poignant honesty, inviting readers to confront the spectrum of human emotions that define our existence. "The Art of Her Life" is undeniably a humbling experience for its readers, immersing them in a world of exquisite tragedy. While the promise of a conventional happy ending remains absent, this novel didn't fail to show the opulent beauty of mundane life.

My thanks to NetGalley and to Fomite publisher for giving me the opportunity to read "The Art of Her Life" by Cynthia Newberry Martin.

As someone who loves art history and especially the era of Matisse, I found this endlessly interesting. I read over the course of two days and could not put it down.