Violet Clay

by Gail Godwin

Violet Clay had come to New York City from Charleston to take the art world by storm. But nine years, many affairs, and thousands of drinks later, the reality of her shadow life is made clear when she is fired from her job as a freelance illustrator. That same day, she hears that her beloved Uncle Ambrose, an unsuccessful writer, has shot himself.

As Violet collects the shattered pieces of her uncle's life, she is forced to face herself and her own tattered dreams. And what she discovers is that she has just been going through the motions of living. She's not even sure she can do anything else. But she's in her mid-thirties and knows she still has time to try again. If she succeeds, she will have broken from her family of dreamers forever and can deservedly claim both the rich rewards and frustrating adversities of the artist's life....

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Literature, Literary Fiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1978

About the author

Gail Kathleen Godwin is an American novelist and short story writer. She has published one non-fiction work, two collections of short stories, and eleven novels, three of which have been nominated for the National Book Award and five of which have made the New York Times Bestseller List.

Godwin's body of work has garnered many honors, including three National Book Award nominations, a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants for both fiction and libretto writing, and the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Five of her novels have been on the New York Times best seller list.
Godwin lives and writes in Woodstock, New York.

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I set aside Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream. The jacket copy said it was about an artist. What I really wanted was a book about an artist and how that artist went to his work every day and wrestled with his demons. I longed for a blow-by-blow account of what really happened when he was in there by himself, without any romanticizing, or skimming over or faking."
~Violet Clay, from the novel of the same name.

By the time we read these lines on page 264 of Gail Godwin’s Violet Clay (1978, 339 pages), we know that we are holding in our hands the very book this protagonist longed for: a blow-by-blow account of one woman’s attempt to realize herself, as a person and an artist. Published in 1978, it appears to be among the first of its kind, a story in which a woman artist stops “waiting for something to happen, for the phone to ring, for help to come from outside” and brings it about herself, without salvation in the form of an erotic relationship. In 1981, at least one reviewer seemed to agree, calling Violet Clay “a deeply moving, brilliant novel that is the first real female kunstlerroman.” I am amazed that, while Fear of Flying became a feminist classic, I had never even heard of this book.

If anything seems dated about Violet Clay, it is perhaps the “pace and space” Godwin gives herself to spin out her characters and their backstories, at times simply for the pleasure of reveling in their creation, it seems. Our attention spans have grown shorter; fast cuts, speed and change are what we have grown accustomed to, what we crave, and I wondered about the purpose of numerous scenes, asking myself, “do we really need Minerva’s backstory?” until I realized that they add to the work as a whole; they color in Violet’s world. This novel is more of a painting you spend hours looking at, not a fast, titillating ride.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hardcover first edition of this was gifted to me by a kind coworker I barely knew when I left Chi-town for Iowa, and I finally now have gotten to it. It has a chick lit air about it (though maybe I'm just starting to give that label to any book about a single woman that even briefly mentions her failed affairs) but it has this earnest side about becoming an artist that at times was too earnest for me and at others seemed dark and deep. On the whole I enjoyed it.

[richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in the early 80s and liked it. Read it again in Oct 2018 and really liked it. About a young woman who is trying to become what she knows deep down she can be. Age old questions about who am I, am I ever going to make it, who will care.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young woman artist struggles with family issues, her art, and possible success. This is one of those books that I liked better once I had finished and could see the whole design, since the story meanders for the first two-thirds and then gains momentum after a critical event. Unfortunately, that meant that for most of the book, I was in the weeds, wondering if I should keep reading.

[Cicero Queens · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book and an intelligent, thought-provoking read. Gail Godwin develops her characters with precision and depth. She avoids the predictable, formulaic woman-meets-man plots that render books by her contemporaries so boring and disappointing. Violet Clay comes to life within the pages. Her motivations, actions, and reactions have a human, real-life quality to them that is hard to find in contemporary fiction. Prospective readers will find it well worth hunting down and reading a copy of this book.

[Jan Priddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must have read this novel forty years ago. I remember liking it very much and I still have my copy, but no details come to me.

[Karen Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a lovely development of the artist, away from commercial and social pressures, but with a mystery connected to it through her uncle.

[Jeannette Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, almost a novella, piercingly, echoingly, achingly sad--and a wonderful revelation, too, all in one simple little book about how a loving niece survives her adored uncle's suicide. Nope, not one I'd pick off the shelf at all, if I hadn't loved Gail Godwin's prose since first I read _The Odd Woman_ when I was still in high skool, f'heaven's sake, in 1972, go figure.

This is a lesson in writing well--and yes, in life, in love.

Jeannette

[Phoebe Kate Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

A troubling novel about creative people and the forces (external and internal) that derail them from realizing their potential. Familiar territory, but nicely done from a feminine POV. Not a fully realized work, but there's enough here to keep you reading. Godwin has the rare ability to suck you into her books even if they aren't quite up to par.

[Aylin Gay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how Violet chose a path for herself that was in contrast with what most women were doing at the time. She struggles but her journey is gripping and makes you pick up the book to find out how it is going to end. Gail Godwin does a superb job of creating a multi-faceted believable character.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a few other of Godwin's novels that I really enjoyed. This book had a completely different writing style that I wasn't sold on. I really wanted to love this novel as I very much identified with the protagonist, but unfortunately, I can't say I do. It took me a really long time to finish it. While parts of the story pulled me in, other parts did not. I would give this 3.5 stars.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my friends at work recommended this author. I like finding new authors, so I went to my library and checked out Violet Clay. The characters in this psychological journey of a struggling artist in the 1960s and 70s are complex and the novel is well-written. I will read more books by Gail Godwin.

[Jody · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read by Gail Godwin, exploring the difficulties of identity that a young woman faces.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Great writer, want to read more of her.

[Mary Sewell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good book about tangled relationships.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Godwin's books, however, this is not a favorite.

[Mely]

http://www.tor.com/2009/09/24/anatomy...