Notes from an Exhibition

by Patrick Gale

From the author of A Perfectly Good Man, the bestselling story of an artist tormented by depression and the toll of creativity.

When troubled artist Rachel Kelly dies she leaves behind an extraordinary body of work – but for her family there is a legacy of secrets and painful revelations.

Rachel exerts a power that outlives her. To her children she is both curse and blessing, as they cope with the inheritance of her passions – and demons. Only their father's gift of stillness can withstand Rachel’s destructive influence and the suspicion that they all came a poor second to her art.

Piecing together the clues of her life – as artist, lover, mother, wife and patient – takes the reader from Cornwall to Canada across a span of forty years. What emerges is a tender story of enduring love, and a portrait of a family coping with the sometimes too dazzling brilliance of a genius.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Contemporary, Art, Mental Health, Literary Fiction, British Literature

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2007

About the author

Patrick was born on 31 January 1962 on the Isle of Wight, where his father was prison governor at Camp Hill, as his grandfather had been at nearby Parkhurst. He was the youngest of four; one sister, two brothers, spread over ten years. The family moved to London, where his father ran Wandsworth Prison, then to Winchester. At eight Patrick began boarding as a Winchester College Quirister at the cathedral choir school, Pilgrim's. At thirteen he went on to Winchester College. He finished his formal education with an English degree from New College, Oxford in 1983.

He has never had a grown-up job. For three years he lived at a succession of addresses, from a Notting Hill bedsit to a crumbling French chateau. While working on his first novels he eked out his slender income with odd jobs; as a typist, a singing waiter, a designer's secretary, a ghost-writer for an encyclopedia of the musical and, increasingly, as a book reviewer.

His first two novels, The Aerodynamics of Pork and Ease were published by Abacus on the same day in June 1986. The following year he moved to Camelford near the north coast of Cornwall and began a love affair with the county that has fed his work ever since.

He now lives in the far west, on a farm near Land's End with his husband, Aidan Hicks. There they raise beef cattle and grow barley. Patrick is obsessed with the garden they have created in what must be one of England's windiest sites and deeply resents the time his writing makes him spend away from working in it. As well as gardening, he plays both the modern and baroque cello. His chief extravagance in life is opera tickets.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You don’t get over sorrow; you work your way right to the centre of it.”
― Patrick Gale, Notes from an Exhibition.
The writing was seamless and almost hypnotic as it took me into the heart and mind of Rachel Kelly, a tortured bipolar artist (captured so well), her past, her family, her art and the nature of her creativity. Each chapter focuses on her or a family member, usually in how they relate to Rachel... as each chapter progresses more is revealed about Rachel and/or her family. In addition there are wonderful renditions of the local art scene, art pieces, the world from a child's point of view and so much more, such as very well thought out portrayals of artistic creativity and inspiration, bipolarity, sibling relationships and homosexuality, wonderfully balanced alongside the main themes of the book, without either swallowing them or appearing token-istic. Loved this! 8.5 out of 12.

2021 read; 2008 read

[Angela M · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I wondered if this novel was going to be just another telling of a dysfunctional family where the children return home after the death of a parent and make peace with their past and each other . But this was different - it was definitely not predictable. The center of the story is Rachel Kelly, an artist who is bipolar. The narrative moves back and forth in time, not in chronological order, from multiple points of view - Rachel , her husband Anthony, a stoic and devout Quaker , their four children , and others , each beginning with a description of one of her works.

There are poignant moments when her youngest son carries home from the beach stones representing each of the family members and doesn't want to leave any behind even the heavier ones because "it's us." There are sad moments when a traditional birthday celebration with Rachel and each of her children turn out not as happy as we would have hoped . There are learning moments as I knew very little about Quakerism. Their individual stories unfold slowly through their chapters as well as those of their siblings and parents ,and reveal how they have been affected by their mother , their wife and how they were inevitably affected by her mental illness, by her art and creatively. It is just as much their story as it is Rachel's.

There are things we don't know for a while. We know little about Rachel's past and neither does her family until more than halfway through. We don't know until close to the end what happened to Petroc and for most of the book we know little about her daughter Morwenna, who has inherited her mother's talent as well as her illness. This was a compelling read for me because from the beginning I wanted to know these things and to understand these characters. It's not an easy subject matter to portray, but Gale has elegantly done so. This is the first book I have read by Gale and I will almost certainly read more.

Thanks to Open Road Media for making available this previously published novel , which I may not have found if it were not made available on NetGalley.

[Kaye Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't want to say too much about this - it should be a discovery that all readers make on their own, with no preconceptions. It's not easy to categorise - it's not a romance, although there are romantic elements. It's not a biography, although at times it feels like one and from the author's notes, certainly uses aspects of his own experience. It's a slice of life - from fairly ordinary and yet so very extraordinary characters. It's beautiful and painful and sweet and fulfilling and gut-wrenchingly real. But most of all, I have never read an ending quite like this. Even now, the moment described haunts me and I can't for the life of me determine if it's the very saddest, or the most euphoric ending I have experienced. Certainly one of the most affecting I have ever read and desperately human. Read it, then read the author notes to gain greater understanding. Definitely in this order - not the other way round, or you will spoil your adventure. Patrick Gale I salute you. A thing of beauty.

[Kirsty Darbyshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books are great and you want to turn the pages faster and faster because you are so enjoying reading them but then other books are really fabulous and you want to turn the pages slower and slower to make them last. This story is one of the latter. Only when I discovered that Patrick Gale has a decent sized back catalogue to look into did I allow myself to keep reading to the end at a reasonable pace. I know I'm going to keep thinking about this story for weeks to come (at least).

The central character here is Rachel Kelly: an artist living in Cornwall, mother to four children, married to a Quaker, suffering from manic depression, with origins on the other side of the Atlantic. All these things become clear early in the book and yet the story is still a delicately told unwrapping and revealing of her life. The characters of the four children are wonderful, it's a completely convincing and realistic portrait of a family anchored around someone who is in many ways entirely unsuitable as an anchor.

The storytelling is perfect, dipping backwards and forwards in time without jarring and details being uncovered all the way through. I can't think of anything bad to say about the book except I could have read a lot more of it!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5) Nonlinear chapters give snapshots of the life of bipolar Cornwall artist Rachel Kelly and her interactions with her husband and four children, all of whom are desperate to earn her love. Quakerism, with its emphasis on silence and the inner light in everyone, sets up a calm and compassionate atmosphere, but also allows for family secrets to proliferate. There are two cameo appearances by an intimidating Dame Barbara Hepworth, and three wonderfully horrible scenes in which Rachel gives a child a birthday outing. The novel questions patterns of inheritance (e.g. of talent and mental illness) and whether happiness is possible in such a mixed-up family. (Our joint highest book club rating ever. We all said we’d read more by Gale.)

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I add to the many reviews here - except perhaps that I have read most of Patrick's work (not in order I hasten to add) and this is one of his best. This author is one of, if not the most consistent current writers who just lives and breathes life, particularly family life with so much fine detail and with such warmth and emotion. Every one of his novels takes you on a journey, sometimes sad, sometimes funny, always with a depth and clarity his fellow novelists don't match. Cornwall is as ever given star billing, and his uncanny viewpoints from a woman's perspective are, once again, incredibly accurate and beautifully drawn. Rachel just talked to me from his words, the artist, the mother, the twist at the end. Wonderful stuff Mr Gale. I doubt you will ever surpass Rough Music for me (for those who have never read it, do so) but this came close. Every time I read Patrick's work I just wish I could write like him. Stunning language, feeling and incredible detail on all manner of subjects. I have never read any of his work without wanting to cry or cheer the hero(ine) home. Look forward to my next treat, his new work.

[John Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen Fry said of it: “This book is complete perfection” and I can’t disagree with his expert opinion, given that a central theme of the novel is bipolarism. This ‘afflicts’ the central character, Rachel, aka Jeanie and Ray, her husband and family.

Rachel is a talented artist, some of whose best work is produced at the height of her illness, often when she is pregnant and choosing not to take her medication. Quakerism is a further important theme and coping mechanism as well as the art world in general and in particular. Much of the book is set in Cornwall where Rachel lives and works, alongside, though apart from, the St Ives community. GBH (as the formidable Dame Barbara Hepworth is known locally – it stands for ‘God, Barbara Hepworth’) will make some memorable appearances. The author’s note at the end of the novel will shed light on these.

Patrick Gale writes effortlessly and the effect is a joy to read. The sensivity of his writing pays rich dividends as he is able to capture and share a gamut of emotions. The characterisation is spot on and I sense that Gale is a lover of souls inasmuch as I found myself liking everyone, with one exception, the shadowy villain who only appears fleetingly.

The title of the novel refers to the explanatory notes which mark the books chapter headings and form the dialogue accompanying a retrospective exhibition of Rachel Kelly’s work. A tremendous story line evolves effortlessly and leaves behind much to ponder on. This is heading for my ‘favourites’ list. Recommended!

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Description: When troubled artist Rachel Kelly dies painting obsessively in her attic studio in Penzance, her saintly husband and adult children have more than the usual mess to clear up. She leaves behind an extraordinary and acclaimed body of work - but she also leaves a legacy of secrets and emotional damage that will take months to unravel.

Opening: Rachel was woken by a painting or, rather, by the idea of one. Her first response on waking was anguish such as one felt when torn from any dreaming rapture and she shut her eyes again, breathing deeply in an effort to return to sleep at once and recapture the dream where she had left off. But she was awake and her brain was fizzing in a way that would have had Jack Trescothick testing her blood and reviewing her prescription had he known.

This didn't resonate as much as I had hoped: a flatline 3 is all that it is worth.

4* A Perfectly Good Man
3* Notes from an Exhibition
WL A Place Called Winter

[Betsy Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t have strong positive or negative feelings about this story of a bi-polar artist and her family. It is told out of chronological order, and it felt as if the haphazardness of the chapters was to create some kind of plot tension that didn’t really succeed for me.

I like the title a lot because it is accurate: the family and the relationships are an exhibition, and the text is notes.

The writing is serviceable. I was interested and entertained and probably would have finished this book even if it weren’t my book club’s pick for this month. But I’m not sure I would have picked the book in the first place.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I'd say this one is strictly for readers who love literary fiction. If you need lots of excitement and a fast pace, it probably won't work for you. If you enjoy careful, gradual character development and a masterful examination of family dynamics, you might love this novel.

Here we follow Rachel Kelly, an abstract artist who suffers from manic depression (bipolar disorder). She's prone to suicidal behaviors. Although it's not explored in detail, she also seems to be mildly schizophrenic, as she sees people and things that aren't there.

Although Rachel is the center of the carousel around which the family revolves, the poignancy of the novel comes from the way each of her four children adapts to her mental illness. They know from a very young age that their mother is "not well", and their father Anthony keeps the family together and provides stability during her episodes and hospitalizations. Each child learns to identify the signs that indicate Rachel's current mental state, and each has to find his or her own ways to navigate around or cope with their mother's instability.

The story is not given in a linear fashion, which can be a bit confusing at the start. It's like a giant Polaroid photo slowly developing before your eyes. It starts out vague and hazy. Gradually things become more clear, and by the end everything's in focus. If you have the patience and the faith to stick with it to the end, it may just break your heart. But not in a sentimental or mawkish way. (No crying, please, we're British!)

Patrick Gale is a superb storyteller. I could envision every scene and see every character fully realized. The only character I felt he didn't give enough space to was the father, Anthony. Anthony is the one that quietly makes everything happen, right from the beginning, but he's sort of taken for granted throughout the novel.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel beautifully (and tragically) captured the life of a woman artist who suffered throughout her life from bipolar disease. The novel moves back and forth through time, and we see Rachel as a young woman, a mother, a wife, a known artist, and (near the end of the novel) as a child. The reader also watches as Rachel’s children try to unravel hidden aspects of her life after her death. Woven through all the phases of Rachel’s life is the thread of her mental illness and its effect on her life and the lives of her family. Each of Rachel’s family members is well and fully portrayed: Rachel’s husband is a passive, “hold it all together” person; each of her sons has his own personality; and her daughter inherits both Rachel’s artistic ability and her mental health issues. I felt deeply for each character in this novel. The writing is beautiful, and the pace, although not fast, moved forward (and backward) in a wonderful manner that kept me involved. This was my first Patrick Gale novel, and I am looking forward to the next one.

[Stephanie Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given high praise from Stephen Fry on the front cover, so I decided to review this one for the student newspaper. It was disappointing.

We meet manic-depressive artist Rachel at various stages of her life; as a precocious student, a promiscuous teen and an unloving mother; but never as a likeable character. Her lack of maternal feeling makes it difficult for the reader to have compassion for the tortured artist, who seems nothing more than a vessel for her mental disorder.

The novel is written from several points of view, with each character introduced in a new chapter, and some very late. Perhaps the most anticipated is the elusive Morwenna, Rachel’s daughter, who is engaging as a child but turns out to be wholly predictable when she reappears. Though the characters are well-developed, many are one-dimensional, and Rachel’s four children lack substance as adults. However, the book’s main strength is its fascinating insight into each child’s reaction to Rachel’s illness. The evocations of the certainties and claustrophobia of childhood provide rare moments of sincerity. The chapter where son Garfield (hint - try to read without picturing a large ginger cat) visits his mother in a psychiatric hospital on his birthday is especially heartbreaking.

I thought that many of the subsidiary characters were sketchy stereotypes, and none of the women were likeable. However, the characters of Hedley and Petroc, and the rest of Rachel's children when met during childhood, were beautiful characters.

[Deborah Pickstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why have I not read Patrick Gale before? What have I been doing? What an absolutely riveting story....slowly rolled out by an expert plotter and filled with beautifully drawn, 3-dimensional characters, a couple of mysteries we are tantalised by until close to the end......

A wonderful picture of creative energy impacted by mental instability/intensity and of mental health impacted by the creative drive. Of a family affected by both. Of a family of Quakers with one dissenter to add counterpoise. Of a family affected by the death of a whirlwind member. There are so many layers to this I could start re-reading right away!

*off to order more of his novels*

[Asghar Abbas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cornwall was beautiful. It was ok-ish. I liked the paintwork though.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sensitive boy sketching the Coq Sportif underpants draped across the André Gide novel in the original French ... was a bit on the nose.

I liked this for Penzance. And the family reminded me very much of a family I knew, so there was pleasure in that. But it wasn't a very satisfying read. I reckon an Iris Murdoch ... A Fairly Honourable Defeat? ... and then The Bell Jar would achieve more.

Some of the sentences were a bit weird:
"Strangely she retained her expression of exhilaration, as though a public smack to her face could not have been more welcome than this dismissal." I think "would have" could not have been more welcome in this sentence.

"and had found her secondhand copies of the first two volumes of Dorothy Sayers' translation of Dante." I thought she'd mislaid her books and he'd literally found them.

"(He) only found the courage actually to enter a gay bar rather than merely staring from a cafe across the street on his last night in the country." He only found the courage actually to enter a gay bar? What was he supposed to do, actually, with the gay bar?

"Quite by chance the second time was when he already knew where he was going to share a flat with the two quiet girls."

"Then, hunting through their bedroom bookcase in search of a copy of JT Blights A Week at the Land's End he was shamed by finding several out-of-date National Trust members' handbooks to fetch a box and ... do a little weeding out." I've only now understood this. I thought it meant people who find old National Trust handbooks are prompted to do a bit of gardening.

"Trees were rare in this bit of the world for some reason (like shallow soil or salty winds)."

[Sharon Metcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4

Patrick Gale came highly recommended to me as an author and I was not the least bit disappointed. His writing was delicious and I greedily devoured every page, hungering for more from each of his of his many characters. Delivered in a seemingly random manner the chapters skipped from one time period to another and were told from different characters perspectives. Regardless of this, or perhaps because of this, it worked perfectly.

The book told the life story of Rachel Kelly, a successful artist who lived a tortured life suffering bipolar disorder and other mental health issues. Throughout the book we not only met all the significant people in her life but came to understand the relationships she had and the way she influenced for better or worse the lives of those surrounding her. I adored her husband and his calm mannerisms, her children and the great love and, at times, fear they had of her. Each chapter began with a note from her exhibition, written as if by an outsider attempting to give the exhibition visitor a sneak peak into the personal life of the artist. The following chapter would then deliver the story from within, revealing exactly how things were for the artist and/or her family during that period.

I adored this book, the writing and the characters Patrick Gale delivered and cannot wait to get my hands upon further books by this author.

[Lydia Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I was only a few pages in to this book when I knew it would forever remain a favourite of mine & had already earned a place on my ‘forever’ bookshelf (I pass most books on.) Gale is such a skilled writer. He seems to totally inhabit each of his characters so you not only know every detail about them but you can also feel it and live it. This book is set in Cornwall & living there myself it was obvious he also had a deep and personal knowledge of the the mysteries of the county. He does! I now know he moved here to live when he published his first novel and lives very near Penzance.

As with my recent reading of his latest novel, Take nothing with You, I find it hard to describe the plot without over simplifying the book. In a
nutshell, it’s about family, a difficult matriarch mother figure with bipolar and about art. But in reality it’s about so much more. The format too is original and mesmerising; each chapter begins with a museum curator’s note describing one of Rachel Kelly’s paintings and then the chapter fills in an episode in her life to explain it. Many gaps are created along the way which are all subsequently filled in later in the book. The ending is beautiful, despite the circumstances.

It’s a great read & one which will certainly stay with me. I now also find myself incredibly interested in Quakerism!

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Re-read March 2023, still a masterpiece and definitely a survivor of my bookshelf cull!

Original review: This was incredible writing. Patrick Gale is a real talent.

To get inside the head of a "tortured artist" is a difficult thing indeed. Mental illness, reluctant motherhood and an extremely troubled past make the protagonist of this story (if you could define her as a protagonist) a difficult, eccentric and at times gruelling person to be around.

Gale expertly crafts the story of a family and its multifarious troubles, stemming predominantly from its matriarch. He is effortlessly able to get inside the psyche of not only a woman, but a woman with mental illness and an incredible gift.

The descriptive elements of the novel are seamless and the human aspect most deftly handled.

I am a new convert to Patrick Gale for sure. Highly recommended.

[Mike Clarke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Putdownable: I've nothing against book groups. Discussing one's reading with a friend, like judging someone irrevocably by what they've got in their bookcase (or total absence thereof), is one of life's small pleasures. I dislike the desperate attempts by publishing and media conglomerates to monetise them. Notes From An Exhibition is a tolerable enough book - it trundles along fairly pleasantly with few surprises or revelatory moments - but I kept wondering if it had been written with industry talk of demographics in mind. Troubled family? Check. Crazy but talented artist? Check. Gay son? Of course - but not a lesbian daughter because that would be too icky. It's Oprah Winfrey overshare territory, to be read with a glass of cheap Chardonnay and a vague feeling of despair. I didn't dislike it but Penelope Lively does families with secrets more engagingly, Muriel Spark gives you unexpected twists and turns that genuinely discombobulate, and Anita Brookner writes of middle class guilt with elegant asperity. You'll get more suspense with Kate Atkinson. Gale is apparently Britain's best known gay author, so maybe this is just his mark time book but it'll go down a treat with Richard and Judy.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A humane, witty and touching story as a family comes to grips with the death of their mother, a reknowned painter to the world and something of a mysterious, wonderful, troubled soul to her family. The novel is something of a detective story as the various facets of her life are pieced together to reveal her portrait.

A fine, intelligent novel that is both humourous and affecting.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was almost almost a great, four star read, as it is, it was an ok, three star read.

I really liked the writing style and plan to search out the author, who is new to me, and find more of his work as I found the writing cadence very enjoyable.

In this intricate story, the central character is an energetic, enigmatic artist named Rachel Kelly. She suffers from mental health problems, which require medication and the medication, while it smooths her crippling depressions, also seems to stifle her strongest bouts of creativity the ones that stimulated her most startling impressionistic bursts of colour. With the medication she is only capable of good, realistic but less memorable works. Rachel is cared for by her Quaker husband, and we learn they have had a long life together in Penzance, UK they have had four children, lost one... but Rachels past before she met her husband is a complete mystery which she has always refused to shed any light on to her husband and children.

The book is structured around the 'notes from an exhibition' of it's title, each chapter describes a piece of artwork, the period it came from and what was happening in her life. It is very clear, from the start, that this is a posthumous exhibition.

The book has no set timeline and jumps around all over the place; this is a tactic I do not always love, but it worked really well here. It was not just switching between a 'now' and a 'past' it was all over the place; the first chapter is almost at the end of her life, as she goes to her studio. The next chapter is when Rachel and Anthony first met, the book continues to dance all over the place to different parts of her life, events of her children here there and everywhere but never far from Rachel, who is never far from her art. Her family revolves around her and her mental illness as she, oblivious, revolves around painting.

After her death, Anthony goes on line to find out about her past, to see if anyone from far back should be notified of her death, but it is far from the shocking mystery that the publishers blurb on the back suggests. The far past is just another small part of the while picture of the woman. I really enjoyed it.

The one thing that really annoyed me and kind of ruined the book for me was the end. Not, you notice, 'the ending' as it had no ending. It just stopped, for no apparent reason with such abruptness that at first I thought there were missing pages from the book. But, no. It is like the author one day decided he was bored with the book, so he would stop here.

This was especially annoying because of the place he stopped. Back halfway through Rachel and Anthony's marriage the youngest boy and Rachel's favourite committed suicide and that was a majorly influential time in the whole familie's lives (as it would be). The point at which the author decided he was sick of it all, was just as that boy leaves a party and starts walking home. We leave him around the spot where he died but perfectly happy and with no indication that he was about to suicide. So what was that? A hint that maybe he was killed? Why just leave it hanging (I know, poor joke) like that? Some respect for the reader who bought the book and read it all should be owing here.

Really annoying, flat ending to what was otherwise a very nice book indeed.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I shouldn't have ignored all of the red flags that Notes from an Exhibition waves in front of a literature snob's face: the stock photo cover with a Photoshopped blur effect, the amount of cover space dedicated to the author's name, the all-caps blurb about his being a "best-seller," and the vanity of the author's photograph being in full colour and taking up the entire inside of the back cover. Apparently this Patrick Gale dude is a big deal in the United Kingdom, but I've never heard of him. Judging by this book, he's one of those talentless hacks whose claim to fame is pandering to an audience that lacks either taste or brain cells.

This had the potential to be an interesting story but the execution of it is horrible. It should've been the story of Rachel Kelly, bipolar abstract artist and mother of four. Unfortunately, the author kills her off far too early in the novel and the reader is treated to a family drama that is contrived and uninteresting.

The novel is set up exactly like the title suggests: after Rachel's death, a gallery hosts a retrospective, and each chapter in the book begins with the didactic panel (fun fact: this is the term for those "notes [at] an exhibition" which give information about artworks). The "exhibition" seems pretty goddamn sad, since a lot of the items aren't artworks, but artifacts from Rachel's life: a hairclip, a painting smock, a swimsuit, a fancy dress, a nightgown. The chapters are disappointing, focusing mainly on past and present events in the lives of Rachel's family members.

The major issue I have with this novel is that the characters are so flat and lifeless that it's impossible to become invested, especially since the story is so character-driven. It's pretty obvious that Patrick Gale doesn't know a damn thing about art, not only because of the pathetic exhibition he curates for Rachel, but also in his belief that an uneducated, reclusive, female artist from Bumfuck Nowhere—sorry, Cornwall—could become even remotely famous in the 70s. The way he describes her art is so unimaginative...it's like he made her an abstract artist because he thought it would make his job easier. And I like abstract art, but the way he describes Rachel's work makes it sound like hot garbage, with the exception of the cartoons she draws in her childrens' birthday cards. Her mental illness is portrayed only slightly more believably, but it's disgusting that her disorder is her only personality trait, and she is almost always either a harpy or a tortured genius, with a handful of mummy dearest moments thrown in for sympathy points. The other characters are similarly one-dimensional. Oh, and they all have stupid names.

Garfield: the oldest son. Love child of a professor. He's having a baby with his uptight wife. Yay!

Morwenna: second oldest, she's Rachel 2.0. A mentally ill vagrant with amazing artistic talent. She estranges herself from her family.

Hedley: third oldest. Gay. His perfect sugar-daddy-turned-husband, Oliver, provides him with a glamourous lifestyle...until Oliver gets way too close to one of his female clients. Poor Hed is super jealous and it causes some marital troubles. But Oliver is gay, duh, so no worries! Of course they live happily ever after.

Petroc: youngest son and golden child. At the tender age of fifteen, he dies when he gets hit by a drunk driver after attending a party. But at least he lost his virginity—and impregnated his one night stand—first!

Antony: Rachel's husband. Pretty normal guy, except he was orphaned and he's a Quaker.

Winnie: Rachel's long lost sister from Canada.


With this cast of characters it's not surprising that this novel reads like a bad soap opera. But since all of the characters are one-dimensional their conflicts are predictable. The chapters shift in point of view and in time, which does give a tiny bit of mystery until all the pieces fall in place, but it also makes the novel lull, as characters are caught up in their petty issues and the plot screeches to a halt. As for the writing itself, at times it's evocative, but often is flat and clunky; I know a lot of great authors warn against using adverbs, but I think this is the first time that I've noticed a horrible overuse of a part of speech. Maybe a better author could've made something worthwhile out of Notes of an Exhbition but, at the end of the day, it's a boring family drama.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really clever book which drew me on and into the lives of the characters. It starts with an artist's death and then the book is a cleverly constructed look at the lives of all who were intertwined with her. When i say constructed that might give the wrong impression because I didn't feel it was a construct but each chapter is headed by the note from a particular piece of Art in the posthumous showing of Rachel Kelly's work.

The first few chapters i found a little frustrating because I assumed there was a link between the art described and the action within the story; after a while i concluded that there wasn't, or if there was it was beyond my meagre imagination to fathom. I also guessed that Kelly's art would not be the type I would have on my wall, much more Rothko then Burne-Jones but that seemed to be a great strength. I didn't follow her story because she was a great artist or created works I could adore, I followed and symathized and mourned because she was a human being. The way in which the Author, Patrick Gale, puts across her struggles with mental breakdown and depression and the way that informed her work, the knock on affect that had in the lives of her husband, children and friends, her unattractive and cruel side; all these things served only to make her more real.

The lives, loves and deaths of other characters were powerfully painted and inherited mental disorder was shown that it might be less harmful or destructive on a child's life then might casual cruelty or apathy.

One of his main characters happens to be gay and it is a joy to read a book which accepts this without making a big song and dance either by describing in great detail every movement, action and thought or by holding up the character for some sort of lab analysis. Gale is saying, there are gay people in the world, they walk, talk and have joys and problems just like everyone else.I found that simple creed pleasantly refreshing.

I was a little confused by the seeming over-emphasis of Quakerism. Patrick Gale has evidently been mightily impressed by the Society of Friends but I did think he rather over-did that aspect of the characters. The rather ridiculous coincidence of one of the characters having anonymous sex with a woman he met in a hotel bar in London and then proceeding to meet her by chance in a quaker meeting house in another part of London the next day seemed silly and rather forced as if even adulterous quakers can ' only do it with each other '. The perpetual referring to all the main characters holding others in light ' as they were taught at Meeting ' had me beginning to quietly seethe. Yes Patrick, Quakers are very nice i'm sure but can you please stop shoe horning them in at every opportunity. Anthony's quakerism was believable, strong and really integral to the plot because it served to explain much of his loyalty and goodness but a soufle, as they say, can be over-egged.
Having said all that,it was a book I enjoyed and would definitely seek out more of his work. I might check to make sure there are no quakers in it though.

[Hannah Finch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as part of a book group that I belong to and, as I'd already read the books that they had chosen, thought I actually ought to give it a go.

I didn't like it very much. It was predictable and felt artificial in its style. There were many irritating little inaccuracies that just got on my obsessive compulsive nerves (no, Petroc would not have been revising for his GCSEs in 1986 as they weren't introduced until 1988 - and he probably wouldn't have had a CD player that year either).

The names of the characters were self-consciously Cornish (read Corny if you ask me) and the shifting narrative, concentrating on a differnet protagonist at a different age in each chapter was clunky and not nearly as clever as I think the author thought. In fact it detracted from what might have been a decent story about a fragmented family by concentrating on specific events in too much depth without putting them into any context.

I didn't like the main character and, while I sympathised with her illness, felt that it was too sketchily drawn to elicit any real emotion.

This is not as bad as my one star books - far from it. But I would not recommend it unless you are really stuck for something to do. Buy it second hand or from Amazon. Don't waste £8 on it.

[Nick Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhere between a four and a five (this was beautiful and compelling, but also a little frustrating) this family saga follows Rachel, an artist, and her husband and children - their lives after and before her death. It was a slow reveal, histories teased out in chunks from different times and viewpoints, explanations delivered piecemeal. The writing was delightful, and I thought the characters (mainly) well described and interesting. I just was left a little irritated at the indulgence of accepting artistic people as almost necessarily special through madness. I know this is sometimes the case, I know the author was inspired by true experiences, but for me the book raised questions of nature/nurture (in the truest 'genetics vrs environment' sense) that were left unresolved.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, what can I say other than I thoroughly enjoyed this book...once I started it I was hooked!

The story goes back & forth in time & the format works well. Because I knew what a character's "fate" was early in the story it kept me enthralled wanting to know how & why they got to that point in their life (hope that makes sense!)

I loved the way that each chapter opens with a description from a curate's note of one of Rachel's paintings & then that chapter focuses on the story from one family members view so that, in the author's words, "..it reflects a kaleidoscopic ever-shifting view of the complex messy truths that define human existence".

All-in-all an excellent read.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patrick Gale comes up with another winner. A family saga based around an artist mother with bipolar. It’s difficult to sum up, but it’s fascinating, emotional and sometimes confusing.

[Fathima Ashab · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so beautiful. I wasn't expecting anything from this and only knew that it's going to be a story of a dysfunctional family before reading it. But, oh boy! it was hauntingly good and totally unpredictable. The centre of the character was Rachel Kelly who is an artist with bipolar disorder. but it was actually his husband Antony who held up this family together. And the brownie point was that it has stories from multiple perspectives and it was so interesting.

This guy Antony was head over heels in love with Rachel all through his life. He was so crazy about her that he always refers to Rachel as 'SHE'. Her personality was so large and pervasive that she was the first woman who sprang to his mind at the word. None of them ever thought he meant someone else, not even his daughter. Reading that made me smile like come on it is so cute.

He even trained their children to be kind with her no matter how much she loses her mind or get mad about them. He treated her like how she deserved throughout her life. That kind of love is very rare to find.

And before you come into conclusion, it's not just their love story. It's the story of their whole family and how her disorder has affected her children. Especially Morwenna and Petroc. Their stories were not revealed until the last half of the story and when it did, I wasn't expecting such ending. It was so good.

I could have easily moved on without writing a review here but I wanted to. I really want you all to try this book if you like this kind of family based stories.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ayala lent this to me a while after our book club read another Patrick Gale book, "Rough Music." I liked "Rough Music" but found it difficult to review, for some reason. However, now that I've read two Patrick Gale books I can reference "Rough Music" as I review this one.

Gale is a great writer, and an insightful observer of family dynamics and people's psyches. His books are well-crafted, especially "Rough Music" which was an incredibly layered and brilliantly structured book, in my opinion.

"Notes from an Exhibition" was the story of a successful female painter with bipolar disorder, and of her family experiencing the fallout of both her illness and her incredibly self-absorbing creative urge. You're not always sure how much of her inadequacy as a wife and mother comes from the former as opposed to the latter, which is an interesting question to contemplate. The whole relationship between creativity and mental illness is fascinating, and this book elaborates on that theme.

There's also the question of her husband's endless self-sacrifice and willingness to serve as her caretaker, which I feel Gale didn't explore as deeply as he could have. Was their relationship codependent, or was the husband simply a straight-laced saintly type who never stopped being enamored of his unpredictable, passionate wife?

The characterization and relationships were well-done in both "Rough Music" and "Notes from an Exhibition;" however, I gave both books only four stars because I found them dark and disturbing without much comic relief. Like "Behind the Scenes at the Museum," this was a richly drawn portrait of a dysfunctional family; however, "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" included a lot of acerbic comic relief and chuckle-worthy cynicism to compensate for the depressing content. Although I found "Rough Music" highly readable and appreciated many things about it, it did not leave me feeling uplifted. "Notes from an Exhibition" left me with a little more hope than "Rough Music" did but not quite enough to earn the five-star rating of a perfect reading experience.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched my interest in this story repeatedly surge and then falter — forcing me to shift from reader to reviewer in an effort to figure out why.

Explaining the surge of interest is easy. So much brilliance: psychological excavations and gorgeous writing, worthy of pencil marks. But ultimately the story weighed me down with its onslaught of details—the kind of notes a diligent writer might keep in a binder called Character Profiles, in which characters’ likes, dislikes, and biographies are painstakingly itemized for the purpose of adding rational and invisible context for the things they say and do.

I wouldn’t have minded had the details bound me to the characters, but in fact I closed the book feeling as though I never really knew anybody, or cared about them all that much.

I may have enjoyed the novel more had I not tried to read it while on vacation; the multiple points of view and the sometimes too-rich serving of interiority needed a more focused reading schedule.

Also, and this happens to me a lot, the trauma that shaped Rachel, her life, and her relationships, and that served as the main mystery to be solved over the course of the story, failed to live up to its billing. I suspect this has more to do with the frame of reference I personally bring to the reading room, than it has to do with the writer. Still.

I also kept bumping into awkwardly constructed sentences that forced me to stop so I could unravel them.

Glad to have read it, but left without an appetite for more Gale.