The Kiss

by Joan Lingard

Cormac is an art teacher, an admirer of Rodin and a sculptor himself. When he tries to transmit his enthusiasm for Rodin to his students, he finds his words tend to fall on stony ground, except when it comes to Clarinda Bain.

Fifteen years old, beautiful and fiercely intelligent, Clarinda is his keenest and most ardent student. On a school trip to Paris she becomes obsessed by the work and life of Gwen John, in particular by her affair with Rodin. She then begins to mirror this relationship by becoming obsessed herself with her own mentor, which throws Cormac’s life as a teacher and husband into confusion.

Compelling and exquisitely written, The Kiss is a study of artistic and sexual obsession by a writer at the height of her powers.

Genres: Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2002

About the author

Joan Lingard was born in Edinburgh, in the Old Town, but grew up in Belfast where she lived until she was 18. She attended Strandtown Primary and then got a scholarship into Bloomfied Collegiate. She has three daughters and five grandchildren, and now lives in Edinburgh with her Canadian husband.

Lingard has written novels for both adults and children. She is probably most famous for the teenage-aimed Kevin and Sadie series, which have sold over one million copies and have been reprinted many times since.

Her first novel Liam's Daughter was an adult-orientated novel published in 1963. Her first children's novel was The Twelfth Day of July (the first of the five Kevin and Sadie books) in 1970.

Lingard received the prestigious West German award the "Buxtehuder Bulle" in 1986 for Across the Barricades. Tug of War has also received great success: shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 1989, The Federation of Children's Book Group Award 1989, runner up in the Lancashire Children's Book Club of the year 1990 and shortlisted for the Sheffield Book Award. In 1998, her book Tom and the Tree House won the Scottish Arts Council Children's Book Award. Her most recent novel, What to Do About Holly was released in August 2009.

Lingard was awarded an MBE in 1998 for services to children's literature.

Reviews

[Nick Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a novel about a sophisticated subject, I found this somewhat unsophisticated in nature. The book had an interesting plot - an art teacher accused by a Gwen John-obsessed female pupil of a sexual misconduct, the effect on his marriage, family and life, all set in the beautiful settings of Edinburgh and Paris.

It just didn't quite work for me. The nature of the plot was bound/intended to be uncomfortable, but I felt slightly put off too by the writing (slightly simplistic - you could tell Lingard writes mainly for a younger audience) the lack of depth in many of the important characters, and a sense that the author was determined to throw in all she could fit of what she has researched about Gwen John and her infatuation with Rodin. It seemed a little contrived, and though I did enjoy it and was keen to read on and find out what happened.. I was left feeling it was perhaps a shame that a different author hadn't tackled the same subject a little more proficiently.

[Paul Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for a monthly book group. I think of Joan Lingard primarily as an author of books for children. Which this one definitely isn't. A story about an art teacher and sculptor, a fan of Rodin, who has to leave the school where he teaches because of an allegation by a girl he teaches of sexual assault. Is he guilty? Or is she obsessed with him, inspired by the way artist Gwen John, one of Rodin's mistresses, was obsessed with the sculptor?

Readers will form their own view. There is no doubt that the kiss between the two is a moment of intimacy that should not have happened. He knew the girl had a crush on him. He was flattered by it. He could have done more to dissuade her. By not doing so, did he lead her on? Should he have been much more careful during the school trip to Paris? Were there other people involved? What about Mrs Bain, Clarinda's mother? Did she encourage her daughter? Did she exploit the situation for her own purposes? What about his colleagues? Was the geography teacher stirring things, possibly to deflect attention away from his own inappropriate closeness to pupils? Was head teacher Archie biased?

Very enjoyable.

[Barra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read the Kevin and Sadie series as a child, this was the first ‘adult’ read for me by Joan Lingard. A compelling story with strong, sympathetic characters and a wonderful sense of place, be it Edinburgh, Paris or Ireland. Recommended.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Kiss looks at different relationships such as: teacher and pupil, parent and child, siblings, artist and muse, colleagues, friends, neighbours, considering how they interact and change.

[Foolll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading it, some parts were confusing, didn't know in what was present, past, childhood/youth, but over all just liked it all, it was interesting seeing how the stories of Gwen and Rodin and Clarinda's mother shaped the way she thought. Also, the whole thing with his daughter... fucked up shit.