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The Art of Falling
In this "delicate slow burn of a novel" (Jan Carson), a woman's marriage and career are threatened by an old indiscretion just as she receives the opportunity of a lifetime--from the award-winning author of the "extraordinary" (Colum McCann) Dinosaurs on Other Planets.
Nessa McCormack's marriage is coming back together again after her husband's affair. She is excited to be in charge of a retrospective art exhibition for a beloved artist, the renowned late sculptor Robert Locke. But the arrival of two enigmatic outsiders imperils both her personal and professional worlds: A chance encounter with an old friend threatens to expose a betrayal Nessa thought she had long put behind her; and at work, an odd woman comes forward with a mysterious connection to Robert Locke's life and his most famous work, the Chalk Sculpture.
As Nessa finds the past intruding on the present, she realizes she must decide what is the truth, whether she can continue to live with a lie, and what the consequences might be were she to fully unravel the mysteries in both the life of Robert Locke and her own. In this gripping and wonderfully written debut, Danielle McLaughlin reveals profound truths about love, power, and the secrets that define us.
Nessa McCormack's marriage is coming back together again after her husband's affair. She is excited to be in charge of a retrospective art exhibition for a beloved artist, the renowned late sculptor Robert Locke. But the arrival of two enigmatic outsiders imperils both her personal and professional worlds: A chance encounter with an old friend threatens to expose a betrayal Nessa thought she had long put behind her; and at work, an odd woman comes forward with a mysterious connection to Robert Locke's life and his most famous work, the Chalk Sculpture.
As Nessa finds the past intruding on the present, she realizes she must decide what is the truth, whether she can continue to live with a lie, and what the consequences might be were she to fully unravel the mysteries in both the life of Robert Locke and her own. In this gripping and wonderfully written debut, Danielle McLaughlin reveals profound truths about love, power, and the secrets that define us.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 5, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 210 reviews
December 9, 2020
Danielle McLaughlin writes an assured multilayered family drama and examination of art, featuring art historian and curator of Elmes Art Gallery in Cork, Nessa McCormack, currently project manager of the gallery's acquisition of artist Robert Locke's The Chalk Sculpture, known locally as Venus at the Hotel Negresco, having acquired a reputation as a fertility symbol. It is Nessa's job to facilitate the sculpture's move from the home of his elderly widow, Eleanor, and his daughter, Loretta, whilst gleaning as much information as possible on the work, art inspired by Eleanor, and on Locke himself through interviews. Nessa is in the process of rebuilding her marriage to architect, Philip, handsome, ambitious, careless of the family finances and security, and who betrayed Nessa with an affair with their teen daughter, Jennifer's best friend's mother, Cora Wilson, an affair that has repercussions on Jennifer.
This is a story of truth, lies, secrets and deception as the past comes back to haunt both Nessa and the official history of the Chalk Sculpture promoted by Eleanor, Loretta and Nessa, and the tendency of society to grant godlike status to artists, men such as Locke, when in reality they are little more than flawed individuals, much like anyone else. It examines the women who maintain the fiction that so often lies behind the facade of great artists, and who even give up their own talents to support them. Nessa's life begins to fall apart when an older woman, Melanie Doerr, insists that she was responsible for a major part of the Chalk Sculpture and that it belongs to her, but that she will settle for being recognised with her name put up alongside that of Locke. Nessa who feels she knows Locke's life and work intimately, she had written a thesis on him at university, has never come across Melanie and dismisses her as an eccentric and strange woman. However, Melanie has a will of iron and refuses to go away.
Simultaneously, Luke Harkin, the son of Nessa's dead best friend, Amy, enters her life, raising issues of her own past infidelities and risible behaviour to friends like Katherine Ferriter, being exposed. McLaughlin explores the fascinating and pivotal connections between art, women, the men they love, truth, secrets, family and society, as lives and worlds crumble as secrets from the past emerge into the light of the present. This is a beautifully written, complex, character driven novel that I loved being immersed in, it is entertaining, intense, a compulsive examination of art, artists, family, society, and human frailties. Many thanks to John Murray Press for an ARC.
This is a story of truth, lies, secrets and deception as the past comes back to haunt both Nessa and the official history of the Chalk Sculpture promoted by Eleanor, Loretta and Nessa, and the tendency of society to grant godlike status to artists, men such as Locke, when in reality they are little more than flawed individuals, much like anyone else. It examines the women who maintain the fiction that so often lies behind the facade of great artists, and who even give up their own talents to support them. Nessa's life begins to fall apart when an older woman, Melanie Doerr, insists that she was responsible for a major part of the Chalk Sculpture and that it belongs to her, but that she will settle for being recognised with her name put up alongside that of Locke. Nessa who feels she knows Locke's life and work intimately, she had written a thesis on him at university, has never come across Melanie and dismisses her as an eccentric and strange woman. However, Melanie has a will of iron and refuses to go away.
Simultaneously, Luke Harkin, the son of Nessa's dead best friend, Amy, enters her life, raising issues of her own past infidelities and risible behaviour to friends like Katherine Ferriter, being exposed. McLaughlin explores the fascinating and pivotal connections between art, women, the men they love, truth, secrets, family and society, as lives and worlds crumble as secrets from the past emerge into the light of the present. This is a beautifully written, complex, character driven novel that I loved being immersed in, it is entertaining, intense, a compulsive examination of art, artists, family, society, and human frailties. Many thanks to John Murray Press for an ARC.
November 21, 2020
This is a novel about secrets and truth, with the central character being Nessa McCormack. She needs to confront the truth in her fractured real with husband Philip and repair the fallout with her daughter Jennifer. In her work life as an art curator the truth about the provenance of The Chalk Sculpture the gallery is to display by deceased artist Robert Locke needs to be investigated when Melanie Doerr claims it is her work.
This is a good debut novel which is complex, intelligent and well written. I like the way the apparently disparate elements are woven together as Nessa goes on her own journey of confronting her guilty secrets and facing the truth alongside seeking the truth of Doerr’s claims. The characterisation is excellent especially that of Doerr who I find fascinating in her eccentricity and certainty. She’s intelligent, perceptive and definitely odd but seems truthful. The dynamics between the various protagonists is good, the dialogue is realistic and the storyline is engaging. I like the art element and as that mystery deepens you become invested in establishing the veracity of the claims. The novel builds well, there are good descriptions especially as things start to spin out of control in a kind of ‘it never rains but it pours’ fashion that mirrors life. The title is clever as there are several examples of ‘the art of falling’.
Overall this is a well written multilayered novel which ties together well as it takes its seemingly meandering path along the way - that takes skill.
With thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press
This is a good debut novel which is complex, intelligent and well written. I like the way the apparently disparate elements are woven together as Nessa goes on her own journey of confronting her guilty secrets and facing the truth alongside seeking the truth of Doerr’s claims. The characterisation is excellent especially that of Doerr who I find fascinating in her eccentricity and certainty. She’s intelligent, perceptive and definitely odd but seems truthful. The dynamics between the various protagonists is good, the dialogue is realistic and the storyline is engaging. I like the art element and as that mystery deepens you become invested in establishing the veracity of the claims. The novel builds well, there are good descriptions especially as things start to spin out of control in a kind of ‘it never rains but it pours’ fashion that mirrors life. The title is clever as there are several examples of ‘the art of falling’.
Overall this is a well written multilayered novel which ties together well as it takes its seemingly meandering path along the way - that takes skill.
With thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press
July 23, 2021
Audiobook….read by Alana Kerr Collins (terrific voice narration)
…..9 hours and 19 minutes
This is one complicated story….”The *Art* [crafty, diverse media of sculpture-infidelity-deftness-modeling-carving-portrayal] of *Falling*
[weakening, shrinking, languishing, with unconcerned aloofness]…..centers around Nessa McCormack whose marriage and career are endangered mischievously by an enigma [an elderly widow]
At times….this novel was puzzling to understand its prime purpose ….
for the three marriages we are to scrutinize…..(but as the novel unfolded, exposing a closer look of the characters- their past/ present/ and future….their secrets, regrets, and the strained relationships —it became more clear to me that the type of uncouth realities people would rather avoid or minimize….had choices as to how they each dealt with those awkward-quiet-sufferings.
Another part of this story is pure whodunit mystery — sorting out the truth - the mystique- of who created the faceless pregnant sculpture.
It was entertaining.
It seemed as if ‘almost’ everyone had done the naughty-unfaithful-hanky-panky-extracurricular-infidelity-activity at one time or another in this novel….but these behaviors are an enlightened uncovering to the characters authentic selves.
The very beginning of “The Art of Falling” hooked my interest immediately. Nessa was asked to come in and see Ms. Johnson, her daughter-Jennifer’s teacher.
Ms. Johnson tells Nessa that Jennifer’s social circle has contracted. She asks Nessa if there were problems going on at home —
(ha, as if Nessa was really going to tell the teacher, that her husband, Philip had an affair?— not on your life)
Ms. Johnson goes on to tell Nessa that Jennifer was bullying Mandy Wilson (who was once Jennifer’s best friend)….by no longer eating lunch with her.
Nessa was - kinda - secretly - happy to learn that her daughter’s friendship with Mandy has cooled.
It was Mandy’s mother, (Cora Wilson), who Philip had the affair with.
Nessa…tries to make light of the ‘bullying accusation’….saying
“They’re sixteen. We can’t make them hang out if they don’t want to. And eating lunch with new friends hardly counts as bullying”.
Jumping ahead……
….there are several subplots to unravel.
Nessa was an Art Historian at a distinguished art gallery.
While Philip was facing the facts of his financial decline….
Nessa recently received a grant to research “The Chalk Sculpture” by the deceased - genius- sculptor, Robert Locke.
The sculpture became famous for being a kind of spellcaster mystic carving….as a fertility booster. Want to have a baby? All couples (who believed), had to do was visit ‘The Chalk Sculpture’ — and donate some dollars. Capitalizing on Art for pregnancy? This tidbit is just the tip-of-the-iceberg of several more juicy complexities to plummet- trip - and fall.
Nessa had her affairs too — the upheavals of being found out — of power - greed & corruption - blame - loss - and love ….. becomes the artistic canvass masterpiece presenting the works of compassionate humanity.
It’s a little complicated- this book - as there are so many tales being woven together —but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed Danielle McLaughlin’s writing —enough to definitely want to read her again.
4.5 rating
…..9 hours and 19 minutes
This is one complicated story….”The *Art* [crafty, diverse media of sculpture-infidelity-deftness-modeling-carving-portrayal] of *Falling*
[weakening, shrinking, languishing, with unconcerned aloofness]…..centers around Nessa McCormack whose marriage and career are endangered mischievously by an enigma [an elderly widow]
At times….this novel was puzzling to understand its prime purpose ….
for the three marriages we are to scrutinize…..(but as the novel unfolded, exposing a closer look of the characters- their past/ present/ and future….their secrets, regrets, and the strained relationships —it became more clear to me that the type of uncouth realities people would rather avoid or minimize….had choices as to how they each dealt with those awkward-quiet-sufferings.
Another part of this story is pure whodunit mystery — sorting out the truth - the mystique- of who created the faceless pregnant sculpture.
It was entertaining.
It seemed as if ‘almost’ everyone had done the naughty-unfaithful-hanky-panky-extracurricular-infidelity-activity at one time or another in this novel….but these behaviors are an enlightened uncovering to the characters authentic selves.
The very beginning of “The Art of Falling” hooked my interest immediately. Nessa was asked to come in and see Ms. Johnson, her daughter-Jennifer’s teacher.
Ms. Johnson tells Nessa that Jennifer’s social circle has contracted. She asks Nessa if there were problems going on at home —
(ha, as if Nessa was really going to tell the teacher, that her husband, Philip had an affair?— not on your life)
Ms. Johnson goes on to tell Nessa that Jennifer was bullying Mandy Wilson (who was once Jennifer’s best friend)….by no longer eating lunch with her.
Nessa was - kinda - secretly - happy to learn that her daughter’s friendship with Mandy has cooled.
It was Mandy’s mother, (Cora Wilson), who Philip had the affair with.
Nessa…tries to make light of the ‘bullying accusation’….saying
“They’re sixteen. We can’t make them hang out if they don’t want to. And eating lunch with new friends hardly counts as bullying”.
Jumping ahead……
….there are several subplots to unravel.
Nessa was an Art Historian at a distinguished art gallery.
While Philip was facing the facts of his financial decline….
Nessa recently received a grant to research “The Chalk Sculpture” by the deceased - genius- sculptor, Robert Locke.
The sculpture became famous for being a kind of spellcaster mystic carving….as a fertility booster. Want to have a baby? All couples (who believed), had to do was visit ‘The Chalk Sculpture’ — and donate some dollars. Capitalizing on Art for pregnancy? This tidbit is just the tip-of-the-iceberg of several more juicy complexities to plummet- trip - and fall.
Nessa had her affairs too — the upheavals of being found out — of power - greed & corruption - blame - loss - and love ….. becomes the artistic canvass masterpiece presenting the works of compassionate humanity.
It’s a little complicated- this book - as there are so many tales being woven together —but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed Danielle McLaughlin’s writing —enough to definitely want to read her again.
4.5 rating
October 27, 2020
If you drizzle a little power overhead, you'll find an unquenchable thirst for it. We humans seem to thrive on the acquisition alone.
The Art of Falling takes us to Cork City in Ireland where Nessa McCormick has become the project manager of a celebrated art gallery. The gallery is in the midst of acquiring the Chalk Sculpture designed by the famous artist, Robert Locke of Scotland. The piece itself was created to resemble a woman in full bloom of her pregnancy. Women would leave tokens near it and touch it in hopes of becoming fertile.....a mighty powerful work of stone.
But Nessa must interact with the late artist's elderly wife and daughter in order to acquire the piece for the gallery. Both seem to possess personalities of granite. Added to the stress is the arrival of an older woman who claims that she worked on the sculpture and the idea was hers and not Locke's. She seems to have no concrete proof at present, only her word. And her word becomes oppressive as she pursues Nessa relentlessly.
Nessa's personal life will seep into this story as well. She and her husband are trying to mend their broken marriage after his affair. Their teenage daughter, Jennifer, is caught up in a power struggle in which she tries to take advantage of their weaken attention. Jennifer is secretly seeing a young man who is dangling information over Nessa's head about her previous life. Such dark secrets could destroy Nessa.
The Art of Falling has many layers to sift through. It's quite the undertaking by Danielle McLaughlin with its multiple characters and subplots. The reviews meander back and forth. But there's quite the character study here with individuals who use the power of their positions, money, and dastardly deeds to hold others in check. And sometimes, as in the title, breaking free and falling away from the source is the greatest power of all.
I received a copy of The Art of Falling through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Random House and to Danielle McLaughlin for the opportunity.
The Art of Falling takes us to Cork City in Ireland where Nessa McCormick has become the project manager of a celebrated art gallery. The gallery is in the midst of acquiring the Chalk Sculpture designed by the famous artist, Robert Locke of Scotland. The piece itself was created to resemble a woman in full bloom of her pregnancy. Women would leave tokens near it and touch it in hopes of becoming fertile.....a mighty powerful work of stone.
But Nessa must interact with the late artist's elderly wife and daughter in order to acquire the piece for the gallery. Both seem to possess personalities of granite. Added to the stress is the arrival of an older woman who claims that she worked on the sculpture and the idea was hers and not Locke's. She seems to have no concrete proof at present, only her word. And her word becomes oppressive as she pursues Nessa relentlessly.
Nessa's personal life will seep into this story as well. She and her husband are trying to mend their broken marriage after his affair. Their teenage daughter, Jennifer, is caught up in a power struggle in which she tries to take advantage of their weaken attention. Jennifer is secretly seeing a young man who is dangling information over Nessa's head about her previous life. Such dark secrets could destroy Nessa.
The Art of Falling has many layers to sift through. It's quite the undertaking by Danielle McLaughlin with its multiple characters and subplots. The reviews meander back and forth. But there's quite the character study here with individuals who use the power of their positions, money, and dastardly deeds to hold others in check. And sometimes, as in the title, breaking free and falling away from the source is the greatest power of all.
I received a copy of The Art of Falling through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Random House and to Danielle McLaughlin for the opportunity.
March 24, 2021
I started out loving this but it did eventually start to fall in my estimation. I adored McLaughlin’s writing: it's clear-eyed and pacy and this is, on the whole, a fairly enjoyable read. I'm also a sucker for anything having to do with art or art history or museums, so I loved the plot thread involving a woman turning up out of nowhere and claiming to have been responsible for a sculpture supposed to have been created by the late, famous artist Robert Locke.
Where I felt this novel fell short of its potential was in its domestic storyline: it follows art historian Nessa's failing marriage (her husband has recently cheated on her and they're trying to get past it for the sake of their teenage daughter), and it also introduces a figure from Nessa's past who holds a secret about her. For one thing, the two threads (Nessa's work at the museum and her home life) don't dovetail in a way that I find satisfying or realistic (Luke's hyperfixation on the statue was something I found almost absurd in how it was so transparently shoehorned in there). And for another thing, the secret about Nessa's past revealed something that shone rather a different light on her husband's cheating, which I felt could have added so much depth and complexity to that dynamic but which instead ended up feeling rather underexplored.
On the whole this wasn't bad but I also don't think it quite showcases what Danielle McLaughlin is capable of.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review.
Where I felt this novel fell short of its potential was in its domestic storyline: it follows art historian Nessa's failing marriage (her husband has recently cheated on her and they're trying to get past it for the sake of their teenage daughter), and it also introduces a figure from Nessa's past who holds a secret about her. For one thing, the two threads (Nessa's work at the museum and her home life) don't dovetail in a way that I find satisfying or realistic (Luke's hyperfixation on the statue was something I found almost absurd in how it was so transparently shoehorned in there). And for another thing, the secret about Nessa's past revealed something that shone rather a different light on her husband's cheating, which I felt could have added so much depth and complexity to that dynamic but which instead ended up feeling rather underexplored.
On the whole this wasn't bad but I also don't think it quite showcases what Danielle McLaughlin is capable of.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review.
February 12, 2021
The Art of Falling by Danielle McLaughlin is a family drama which takes place in Ireland. Nessa McCormack is a gallery representative who is doing research on the works of a famous deceased sculptor. His wife and daughter are being interviewed by her but are often reluctant and suspicious of her motives. Nessa and her husband are working on reviving their marriage after he has had an affair with a local woman. They are also the parents of a teenage girl who is having a difficult time because of this affair. The novel alternates between Nessa’s work life and her personal life and I found that too much is going on. There are too many characters and some of the goings-on seem unnecessary and overdone. It feels like Nessa is chasing her own tail while trying to please everyone and pleasing no one. However, The Art of Falling is well-written and will be enjoyed by many fans of relationship fiction. Thank you to Random House, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 22, 2021
When I read Danielle McLaughlin's debut book of short stories “Dinosaurs on Other Planets” I knew this was an author to watch. Her ability to capture the nuances of our psychological reality and complex relationships in fiction is extraordinary. McLaughlin's talent has been confirmed by being awarded a Windham Campbell Prize and the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award in 2019 as well as numerous other literary awards. So her first novel comes with a lot of anticipation.
At its heart, “The Art of Falling” is about a seemingly ordinary woman named Nessa whose busy days are filled with her work at an art gallery and caring for her family: husband Philip whose ambitious property development business has fallen on hard times in the wake of the devastating Irish property bubble and teenage daughter Jennifer who is growing secretive and difficult. Yet, amidst juggling gallery lectures and shopping for food to make the family dinner, Nessa grows increasingly aware of how fragile her reality has become. Her marriage is still recovering from the recent discovery that Philip was having an affair. More inconvenient truths from the past soon emerge. An eccentric woman publicly asserts that she is the true creator of a famous sculpture that's the centrepiece of an exhibit Nessa is curating. Also, the son of Nessa's long-deceased friend Amy visits the area seeking to learn more about his mother's life. These factors tip Nessa's world into chaos as she scrambles to keep things together and she must question whether buried truths should remain so. These dilemmas create an emotional pressure which is intensely felt and the complex meaning of this story gradually unfolds as the facts are revealed.
Read my full review of The Art of Falling by Danielle McLaughlin on LonesomeReader
At its heart, “The Art of Falling” is about a seemingly ordinary woman named Nessa whose busy days are filled with her work at an art gallery and caring for her family: husband Philip whose ambitious property development business has fallen on hard times in the wake of the devastating Irish property bubble and teenage daughter Jennifer who is growing secretive and difficult. Yet, amidst juggling gallery lectures and shopping for food to make the family dinner, Nessa grows increasingly aware of how fragile her reality has become. Her marriage is still recovering from the recent discovery that Philip was having an affair. More inconvenient truths from the past soon emerge. An eccentric woman publicly asserts that she is the true creator of a famous sculpture that's the centrepiece of an exhibit Nessa is curating. Also, the son of Nessa's long-deceased friend Amy visits the area seeking to learn more about his mother's life. These factors tip Nessa's world into chaos as she scrambles to keep things together and she must question whether buried truths should remain so. These dilemmas create an emotional pressure which is intensely felt and the complex meaning of this story gradually unfolds as the facts are revealed.
Read my full review of The Art of Falling by Danielle McLaughlin on LonesomeReader
December 18, 2020
There's nothing I like better than an engrossing book centered in the world of art and this debut novel did not disappoint in any way. It's a slow-building, character-driven book that I became completely lost in. The sculpture known as the "Chalk Sculpture" is a character in its own right. The author oh so skillfully merges the past into the present. It's a beautifully written, empathetic book that I most highly recommend. Can't wait to read the author's short story collection entitled "Dinosaurs on Other Planets".
Read
October 27, 2021This would have been such a spectacular short story.
I thought that throughout the book, which felt long even though it is not that long (384 pages). I did not realize until I reached the end that this is the debut novel of an award-winning short story writer.
Taking it as a debut novel, it’s good - better than most debuts. The writing is polished and assured, the images are amazing, and the characters are flawed in a relatable way. The descriptions of art and landscapes are immersive and compelling, particularly the descriptions of light and water. The main storyline held the most interest for me: Nessa works for a gallery, negotiating the acquisition of a legendary sculpture with the late artist’s protective and evasive family. When a strange woman claims she created the sculpture, issues of appropriation, betrayal, collusion, corruption, and insistent ignorance unsettle Nessa’s personal and professional lives.
I applaud the author for stretching beyond a genre in which she is obviously so accomplished. Although I think a shorter work would have left a raw, resonant edge and let the astonishing images better advance the narrative, I look forward to the author’s next book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and to Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I thought that throughout the book, which felt long even though it is not that long (384 pages). I did not realize until I reached the end that this is the debut novel of an award-winning short story writer.
Taking it as a debut novel, it’s good - better than most debuts. The writing is polished and assured, the images are amazing, and the characters are flawed in a relatable way. The descriptions of art and landscapes are immersive and compelling, particularly the descriptions of light and water. The main storyline held the most interest for me: Nessa works for a gallery, negotiating the acquisition of a legendary sculpture with the late artist’s protective and evasive family. When a strange woman claims she created the sculpture, issues of appropriation, betrayal, collusion, corruption, and insistent ignorance unsettle Nessa’s personal and professional lives.
I applaud the author for stretching beyond a genre in which she is obviously so accomplished. Although I think a shorter work would have left a raw, resonant edge and let the astonishing images better advance the narrative, I look forward to the author’s next book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and to Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Read
October 20, 2021Really enjoyable family drama. Nessa is obsessed with a dead sculptor and is working for a gallery on a retrospective exhibition of his work. She is juggling this with a difficult teenage daughter and her relationship with her husband after he's had an affair. Two people appear in her life digging up the past both in relation to her own life and the sculptor, and Nessa has to deal with the consequences of past actions.
December 21, 2020
I’ll be honest, I struggled with this one. J hate critiquing someone’s hard work, especially when it’s a debut novel, but I found this to be incredibly dry and not particularly interesting. I love character-driven novels but I didn’t find any of them to have any elements I found intriguing. There was a lot going on with many different characters, which made it hard to keep my interest.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This comes out Jan 5/21.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This comes out Jan 5/21.
December 19, 2020
This book didn’t inspire me very much and i struggled to finish it. I think maybe it’s because my mind was elsewhere as the current news was that Christmas is now cancelled due to the virus. What a year this has been a terrible year. But, before today’s news I did find this book difficult to get into hence the 3 stars. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.
January 5, 2021
Nessa’s life has become quite complicated. She is curating a much anticipated retrospective exhibition by a late sculptor when a woman supposedly from his past makes an appearance and
claims his most famous piece is actually hers. Nessa has already been walking a tightrope between his elderly wife and not quite as elderly daughter, both somewhat difficult people with whom to work. Her husband has had an affair with the wife of one of their daughter’s friends which has destroyed that friendship. Marriage counseling seems to be going a bit bumpy and old friends with old secrets show up.
The book started well, but soon it seemed to take a long time to tell not that interesting of a story. There were many side dramas and characters, and I didn’t find any of them really very likable.
claims his most famous piece is actually hers. Nessa has already been walking a tightrope between his elderly wife and not quite as elderly daughter, both somewhat difficult people with whom to work. Her husband has had an affair with the wife of one of their daughter’s friends which has destroyed that friendship. Marriage counseling seems to be going a bit bumpy and old friends with old secrets show up.
The book started well, but soon it seemed to take a long time to tell not that interesting of a story. There were many side dramas and characters, and I didn’t find any of them really very likable.
February 12, 2021
McLaughlin writes lyrically and thoughtfully, but it’s really tough to get past how petty and small the central themes of this book are.
I’m not a fan of domestic drama, particularly when it focuses on cheating spouses, but I had high hopes for the art-based component of this story, which appeared at first to be an intriguing question of authenticity and creative theft.
Unfortunately even that part of the plot was ultimately rooted in domestic squabbles and infidelity, much to my disappointment.
This kind of stuff just feels small and vaguely gross to me, so I struggled to enjoy this book despite McLaughlin’s lovely writing and deft storytelling.
In short, this isn’t a bad book at all (in fact, it’s quite well-crafted). It just wasn’t a good book for me. This has all the bleakness and depressing moral failures of a Tana French novel, but none of the intrigue, mystery, and subtle humor. It also doesn’t help that it’s hard to find a single truly likable character among the cast.
Because the quality of the work is not bad at all, this one will likely sit better with readers who enjoy anatomy of a marriage/infidelity plot lines than it did with me.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
I’m not a fan of domestic drama, particularly when it focuses on cheating spouses, but I had high hopes for the art-based component of this story, which appeared at first to be an intriguing question of authenticity and creative theft.
Unfortunately even that part of the plot was ultimately rooted in domestic squabbles and infidelity, much to my disappointment.
This kind of stuff just feels small and vaguely gross to me, so I struggled to enjoy this book despite McLaughlin’s lovely writing and deft storytelling.
In short, this isn’t a bad book at all (in fact, it’s quite well-crafted). It just wasn’t a good book for me. This has all the bleakness and depressing moral failures of a Tana French novel, but none of the intrigue, mystery, and subtle humor. It also doesn’t help that it’s hard to find a single truly likable character among the cast.
Because the quality of the work is not bad at all, this one will likely sit better with readers who enjoy anatomy of a marriage/infidelity plot lines than it did with me.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
April 14, 2021
This was not to my liking. It’s a very confusing story with too many characters and a dead artist and his family that all had their own individual problems/issues/personality disorders/secret and public affairs and throw in some teen aged angst and attitude, why don’t you? They all tie in but in a slow way that’s not so exciting to this reader.
There was way too much “stuff” mixed up in this story plot and while other readers called it “complex” it was nothing short of rambling on about these peoples’ bad, weak personal behaviors which was mostly centered on past and present marriage/infidelity issues.
A random off the shelf public library pick - sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
There was way too much “stuff” mixed up in this story plot and while other readers called it “complex” it was nothing short of rambling on about these peoples’ bad, weak personal behaviors which was mostly centered on past and present marriage/infidelity issues.
A random off the shelf public library pick - sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
November 12, 2020
Nessa is preparing the studio of a famous local artist and its artworks to be moved to an art museum, with the help and opposition of the artist's widow and mother. She’s also dealing with the aftermath of her husband’s infidelity with the mother of one of her teenage daughter’s friends, as well as the visit of the son of her best friend, who committed suicide years earlier. It’s a lot.
Nessa scrambles to keep all the complicated parts of her life functioning, and managing to do none of it well. She’s exhausted, confused, angry and unable to think on her feet. Worse, she can’t really see how any of this is going to become less stressful in the future.
McLaughlin writes well, beautifully at times, and the circumstances of this novel are interesting, especially the story of the dead artist and the women who survive him. But Nessa never comes fully into focus. She is always left reacting to things, never acting decisively. I did love how easy it was for others to distract or derail her in conversation, which is a very human trait, but she was never quite convincing as being someone in a position of authority, whether that was as the person in charge of an important work project or as a mother. While I have a few quibbles with how tidily everything was resolved, the writing in this novel was just lovely and I’ll happily read more by her.
Nessa scrambles to keep all the complicated parts of her life functioning, and managing to do none of it well. She’s exhausted, confused, angry and unable to think on her feet. Worse, she can’t really see how any of this is going to become less stressful in the future.
McLaughlin writes well, beautifully at times, and the circumstances of this novel are interesting, especially the story of the dead artist and the women who survive him. But Nessa never comes fully into focus. She is always left reacting to things, never acting decisively. I did love how easy it was for others to distract or derail her in conversation, which is a very human trait, but she was never quite convincing as being someone in a position of authority, whether that was as the person in charge of an important work project or as a mother. While I have a few quibbles with how tidily everything was resolved, the writing in this novel was just lovely and I’ll happily read more by her.
unfinished
April 22, 2021I read the first 100 pages and skimmed to about p. 185, hoping for some action to sustain my interest. Nessa is creating a retrospective exhibit of the work of sculptor Robert Locke but things from her personal life keep getting in the way, like resentment over her husband’s recently ended affair with the mum of one of their daughter’s friends and memories of the events leading up to a college friend’s death. In the present day, a woman claiming to be Locke’s muse comes forward, wanting to be given credit for his most famous piece and generally making a nuisance of herself. I wouldn’t fault the writing, but it needs to be in service of a more original story with more verve. Everyone says McLaughlin’s stories are amazing, so perhaps I’ll try them sometime.
April 13, 2023
entertaining! quite enjoyable and layered. when i like a book w an average goodreads rating under 3.5 stars, i can usually see why it wouldn't be other peoples' cups of tea, but with this one i'm a bit stumped. a really strong debut, even if there was a bit too much going on at points. will be reading more from this author in the future.
May 15, 2022
I hardly know where to start a review of The Art of Falling by Danielle McLaughlin. Should I talk about the beautiful writing, what it seems like and what it is, the use of nature, art and artists, the fluidity of memory, family dynamics, or permanence?
Danielle McLaughlin really knows how to write, she captures her characters in multi-faceted light and the best side of them is not always the one which is revealed. Nessa, the main character is working to curate for a museum an artist's, Robert Locke's studio and famous sculpture:
"The Chalk Sculpture stood in the middle of the room. It had achieved notoriety some years before when it came to be regarded as embodying fertility powers. The public had sought it out in their hundreds; they came in a spirit of supplication, less to marvel at what critics had described as the piece’s “gritty transcendence,” its alien, unsettling beauty, than to plead their case."
The Art of Falling, with its title, its cover, its sense of impending doom, a cheating husband, a strange possible stalker, almost seems as if it could be a psychological thriller, but will it go there is that what it is?
Nessa, who works for an art museum and has degrees in Art History, admits to not finding comfort in nature, yet repeatedly in her writing McLaughlin pulls our attention to the nature in the world around us:
Nessa paid for the groceries and hurried out to her car. As she drove back to the city, even the ordinary fields were beautiful, with yellow bursts of furze in the thick green ditches and everything overrunning its boundary, the grasses on the shoulder toppling long and heavy onto the roads. To the other side was the sea, gray and solidly forbidding, none of the shallow turquoise tomfoolery that passed for sea elsewhere.
We come to the provenance of art, the truth of our memories, the permanence family, art, nature and memory. How reliable are any of these?
This is for the most part a beautifully crafted book, but for me the drawing to conclusion, felt a bit wobbly, unhinged, like crossing the i instead of dotting it and that brought my rating down just a notch.
But perhaps, I need to let it sit and molder and my memory of it will shift, change or perhaps fall apart.
Danielle McLaughlin really knows how to write, she captures her characters in multi-faceted light and the best side of them is not always the one which is revealed. Nessa, the main character is working to curate for a museum an artist's, Robert Locke's studio and famous sculpture:
"The Chalk Sculpture stood in the middle of the room. It had achieved notoriety some years before when it came to be regarded as embodying fertility powers. The public had sought it out in their hundreds; they came in a spirit of supplication, less to marvel at what critics had described as the piece’s “gritty transcendence,” its alien, unsettling beauty, than to plead their case."
The Art of Falling, with its title, its cover, its sense of impending doom, a cheating husband, a strange possible stalker, almost seems as if it could be a psychological thriller, but will it go there is that what it is?
Nessa, who works for an art museum and has degrees in Art History, admits to not finding comfort in nature, yet repeatedly in her writing McLaughlin pulls our attention to the nature in the world around us:
Nessa paid for the groceries and hurried out to her car. As she drove back to the city, even the ordinary fields were beautiful, with yellow bursts of furze in the thick green ditches and everything overrunning its boundary, the grasses on the shoulder toppling long and heavy onto the roads. To the other side was the sea, gray and solidly forbidding, none of the shallow turquoise tomfoolery that passed for sea elsewhere.
We come to the provenance of art, the truth of our memories, the permanence family, art, nature and memory. How reliable are any of these?
This is for the most part a beautifully crafted book, but for me the drawing to conclusion, felt a bit wobbly, unhinged, like crossing the i instead of dotting it and that brought my rating down just a notch.
But perhaps, I need to let it sit and molder and my memory of it will shift, change or perhaps fall apart.
dnf
September 14, 2020I had a hard time following the art parts and couldn't find myself interested in her career or the sculptor. The drama with the family and especially with the teenage daughter was interesting. There seemed to be too many characters introduced early on and I felt flooded with characters and plots in the beginning. It was hard to break through this to understand all the dimensions of the story.
October 26, 2020
I could not finish because with what's going on in the world today, coupled with some extremely good fiction I've read lately, this one fell short. Couldn't get into a story about crumbling marriages and mysterious backgrounds of artworks no matter how well written. May try again later.
April 22, 2023
I picked up 'The Art Of Falling' because I loved the accuracy and compassion with which Danielle McLaughlin drew people in her short story collection 'Dinosaurs On Other Planets'. I wanted to see how she used this ability in a novel rather than a short story. The outcome was fascinating.
To me, it seemed that although the story in 'The Art Of Falling' was quite propulsive, keeping me engaged by guessing at undisclosed secrets and wondering if knowns secrets would be exposed and if so, whether lives would be ruined or maybe even rejuvenated, it was a not a narrative-driven story. Nor was it really character-driven in the sense that is usually used, where the attributes of a character or characters determine their reaction to events and each other and thereby shape the plot. 'The Art Of Falling' felt like a sculpture of the main character, Ness McCormack. The three-dimensional image of her that the book presented was one that I needed to walk around and see from different angles and in different lights. Like a sculpture, it was something that I wanted to lay my hands on. It also seemed like something that I was being invited to bestow meaning on rather than being told what the meaning was.
The Nessa I saw in 'The Art Of Falling' was a woman whose life was on the cusp of changing in ways that she couldn't control. As the book progressed, I felt that I, as the reader, understood her better than she did herself. I saw how she filtered her reality and how some of those filters defined her, even when they allowed her to deceive herself about her own nature and her impact on the people around her.
The story of her life that Nessa has built for herself in the almost two decades since she left home and went to St Martin's art school in London, is a heavily edited one. Some of the edits are legacy ones, made by a very young woman who was not equipped to see herself clearly and left unchallenged. Some of the edits involve omitting things that put Nessa in an unfavourable light. These take more work, either in protecting secrets or suppressing unacknowledged guilt.
'The Art Of Falling' captures Nessa at a point in her life where events beyond her control are making it harder and harder for her to sustain the story that she has always told herself about who she is and what she wants. It shows her leaning out into the gulf of an unknowable future and slowly losing her grip on her past and starting to fall into what comes next.
I spent a lot of time thinking about this book, both when I was reading it and when it was echoing in my head afterwards. It's not a book where it's easy to say, "This book is about..." and list the themes as bullet points. The themes are there but the book is more complicated and less didactic than that. For me, the main thing that I took away from the book was that
'The Art Of Falling' tackles some big themes by examining the secrets, lies and truths that Nessa has woven into her personal story.
Some secrets are ones that only she knows and that she believes she can never share without devastating her life. These she's buried so deep that they have started both to define her. To me, they seemed like scar tissue, only visible in certain lights and from certain angles, unexplained and inescapable.
Some of the secrets are ones she's shared with others either through circumstances or disclosure. These secrets create an enforced intimacy that, the bigger the secret and the longer it is kept, become increasingly tainted by the fear of betrayal and concealed shame and guilt.
Nessa's secrets generate lies. Lies to other people to keep her secrets hidden. Lies to herself that has to try and believe to live within the story she's written for herself.
Nessa's story incorporates her secrets and lies but it is mainly woven from the truths that she takes for granted or has invested her belief in. Truths about her career, her marriage, her friendships and her motherhood. She comes to understand that many of these truths need to be reassessed.
As I followed Nessa through the events of 'The Art Of Falling', I saw her story torn apart as secrets were revealed and truths were reassessed. Yet this wasn't one of those woman-with-the-perfect-life-risks-losing-it-all-as-dark-secrets-are-revealed psychological thrillers that are so popular just now. Although there were many tense and emotional moments, the emphasis in this story wasn't on the thrill or even the threat but on Nessa arriving at a new set of truths.
For example, one of the ways that Nessa defines herself is as a leading expert on the work of the recently deceased Irish artist, Robert Locke. When we meet her, Nessa is about to reach an important milestone in her career by managing the procurement and display of Locke's works and papers including his most famous work, The Chalk Sculpture. This project is put at risk when the ownership of The Chalk Sculpture is disputed by a woman claiming to be both the muse for the piece and its co-creator.
In trying to resolve the dispute, Nessa comes to see that her knowledge of Locke, of which she is so proud, was distorted by her acceptance of the idea that he was a great man and great artist. This story, like Nessa's about herself, doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. As she learns more about Locke, his approach to art, his relationship with women and the lies he told about himself and others, she sees neither a great man nor a great artist but a parasitic narcissist who she strongly dislikes.
Nessa's reassessment of Locke mirrors the reassessment she is making, initially involuntarily, of herself. It seemed to me that as Nessa saw the way the women in Locke's life had accommodated him by shoring up his lies and suppressing their own truths to present an acceptable public story, even after his death, she finally started to re-examine the accommodations she was making to sustain a narrative about her life that she no longer believed in.
By the end of the book, I felt I was watching Nessa falling towards her future after having had the lies and false truths that were holding her in place shorn away and I was reminded of the aspiration given in the moto carved above the door of Nessa's daughter's school, which Nessa reflects on in the books opening pages: Esse Quam Videri / To Be Rather Than To Seem.
I recommend the audiobook version of The Art Of Falling'. Tara Flynn's narration helped bring Nessa alive to me. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample
https://soundcloud.com/hodderbooks/th...
To me, it seemed that although the story in 'The Art Of Falling' was quite propulsive, keeping me engaged by guessing at undisclosed secrets and wondering if knowns secrets would be exposed and if so, whether lives would be ruined or maybe even rejuvenated, it was a not a narrative-driven story. Nor was it really character-driven in the sense that is usually used, where the attributes of a character or characters determine their reaction to events and each other and thereby shape the plot. 'The Art Of Falling' felt like a sculpture of the main character, Ness McCormack. The three-dimensional image of her that the book presented was one that I needed to walk around and see from different angles and in different lights. Like a sculpture, it was something that I wanted to lay my hands on. It also seemed like something that I was being invited to bestow meaning on rather than being told what the meaning was.
The Nessa I saw in 'The Art Of Falling' was a woman whose life was on the cusp of changing in ways that she couldn't control. As the book progressed, I felt that I, as the reader, understood her better than she did herself. I saw how she filtered her reality and how some of those filters defined her, even when they allowed her to deceive herself about her own nature and her impact on the people around her.
The story of her life that Nessa has built for herself in the almost two decades since she left home and went to St Martin's art school in London, is a heavily edited one. Some of the edits are legacy ones, made by a very young woman who was not equipped to see herself clearly and left unchallenged. Some of the edits involve omitting things that put Nessa in an unfavourable light. These take more work, either in protecting secrets or suppressing unacknowledged guilt.
'The Art Of Falling' captures Nessa at a point in her life where events beyond her control are making it harder and harder for her to sustain the story that she has always told herself about who she is and what she wants. It shows her leaning out into the gulf of an unknowable future and slowly losing her grip on her past and starting to fall into what comes next.
I spent a lot of time thinking about this book, both when I was reading it and when it was echoing in my head afterwards. It's not a book where it's easy to say, "This book is about..." and list the themes as bullet points. The themes are there but the book is more complicated and less didactic than that. For me, the main thing that I took away from the book was that
'The Art Of Falling' tackles some big themes by examining the secrets, lies and truths that Nessa has woven into her personal story.
Some secrets are ones that only she knows and that she believes she can never share without devastating her life. These she's buried so deep that they have started both to define her. To me, they seemed like scar tissue, only visible in certain lights and from certain angles, unexplained and inescapable.
Some of the secrets are ones she's shared with others either through circumstances or disclosure. These secrets create an enforced intimacy that, the bigger the secret and the longer it is kept, become increasingly tainted by the fear of betrayal and concealed shame and guilt.
Nessa's secrets generate lies. Lies to other people to keep her secrets hidden. Lies to herself that has to try and believe to live within the story she's written for herself.
Nessa's story incorporates her secrets and lies but it is mainly woven from the truths that she takes for granted or has invested her belief in. Truths about her career, her marriage, her friendships and her motherhood. She comes to understand that many of these truths need to be reassessed.
As I followed Nessa through the events of 'The Art Of Falling', I saw her story torn apart as secrets were revealed and truths were reassessed. Yet this wasn't one of those woman-with-the-perfect-life-risks-losing-it-all-as-dark-secrets-are-revealed psychological thrillers that are so popular just now. Although there were many tense and emotional moments, the emphasis in this story wasn't on the thrill or even the threat but on Nessa arriving at a new set of truths.
For example, one of the ways that Nessa defines herself is as a leading expert on the work of the recently deceased Irish artist, Robert Locke. When we meet her, Nessa is about to reach an important milestone in her career by managing the procurement and display of Locke's works and papers including his most famous work, The Chalk Sculpture. This project is put at risk when the ownership of The Chalk Sculpture is disputed by a woman claiming to be both the muse for the piece and its co-creator.
In trying to resolve the dispute, Nessa comes to see that her knowledge of Locke, of which she is so proud, was distorted by her acceptance of the idea that he was a great man and great artist. This story, like Nessa's about herself, doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. As she learns more about Locke, his approach to art, his relationship with women and the lies he told about himself and others, she sees neither a great man nor a great artist but a parasitic narcissist who she strongly dislikes.
Nessa's reassessment of Locke mirrors the reassessment she is making, initially involuntarily, of herself. It seemed to me that as Nessa saw the way the women in Locke's life had accommodated him by shoring up his lies and suppressing their own truths to present an acceptable public story, even after his death, she finally started to re-examine the accommodations she was making to sustain a narrative about her life that she no longer believed in.
By the end of the book, I felt I was watching Nessa falling towards her future after having had the lies and false truths that were holding her in place shorn away and I was reminded of the aspiration given in the moto carved above the door of Nessa's daughter's school, which Nessa reflects on in the books opening pages: Esse Quam Videri / To Be Rather Than To Seem.
I recommend the audiobook version of The Art Of Falling'. Tara Flynn's narration helped bring Nessa alive to me. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample
https://soundcloud.com/hodderbooks/th...
March 1, 2021
Themes
This is a narrative driven book with numerous twists whose strength is the emergence of surprises along the way. A theme that did emerge for me concerned a young man (Luke Corrigan, late teens), whose mother died when he was very young, and for whom the latent drive to discover, and possibly to apportion blame, emerges as he reaches adulthood. The full emotional consequences of bereavement in childhood can reveal itself many years later.
Synopsis
Nessa McCormack is a researcher, exhibition manager, and curator at the Elmer Gallery in Skibbereeen, County Cork. Nessa is an authority on sculptor Robert Locke, and she is charged with presenting his works with new, authoritative insight from the (late) Locke, via a series of interviews with Locke’s widow, Eleanor, and daughter Loretta (Lotty).
McLaughlin writes an insightful, (and I suspect accurate) depiction of life in a household dominated by a creative genius, surrounded by hangers-on, admirers and acolytes.
Locke’s most famous work “The Chalk Sculpture”, of a pregnant woman, achieves enduring attention and renown as a fertility stimulant for those people who touch it. .
The novel divides its time between Nessa’s professional life and a story surrounding her family life, with husband Robert and daughter Jennifer, interspersed with flashbacks to Nessa’s single days, growing up with her girlfriends.
Highlights
Gender. I’m often conscious when reading that an author is better at depicting characters of one gender than another (normally writing about their own gender). The same being true of age, and the challenges of the young and the old. I think McLaughlin is absolutely brilliant at capturing the essence of all ages and genders (from fifteen to eighty-four). The waspishness of the embittered Eleanor, is matched by the teenage angst and moods of Jennifer.
Interpreting Art works. I really enjoyed the many interpretations of the meaning of The Chalk Sculpture. What is more important? The original intent of an author, or the legitimacy of the many viewer driven interpretations.
The Title. As the author says in interview: “The Art of Falling speaks to the novel on a number of levels, and the fact that there are various different kinds of ‘fallings’ in the book.”
Lowlights
While I did believe in McLaughlin’s characters on an individual level, I found the interaction between them, and in their dialogue rather cliched. The group and family dynamics discussions felt a bit too familiar to me.
Author background & Reviews
McLaughlin qualified as a lawyer, and the necessary attention to detail comes through as the pieces of this debut novel tie together. The Art of Falling started life in 2012 as a short story -“The Chalk Sculpture”. Her collection of short stories Dinosaurs and Other Planets won the $165,000 Windham Campbell Award in 2019.
She cites as influences, “Anne Enright, for the fierce honesty of her writing; William Trevor, for the grace of his writing; Alice Munro covering great swathes of time and make it look effortless; Kevin Barry, for the lyricism and music and humour of his writing; George Saunders for characters with both compassion and humour.”
Recommend
I liked the book the further into it I progressed (not always the case), and will definitely read some more of McLaughlin’s work.
This is a narrative driven book with numerous twists whose strength is the emergence of surprises along the way. A theme that did emerge for me concerned a young man (Luke Corrigan, late teens), whose mother died when he was very young, and for whom the latent drive to discover, and possibly to apportion blame, emerges as he reaches adulthood. The full emotional consequences of bereavement in childhood can reveal itself many years later.
Synopsis
Nessa McCormack is a researcher, exhibition manager, and curator at the Elmer Gallery in Skibbereeen, County Cork. Nessa is an authority on sculptor Robert Locke, and she is charged with presenting his works with new, authoritative insight from the (late) Locke, via a series of interviews with Locke’s widow, Eleanor, and daughter Loretta (Lotty).
McLaughlin writes an insightful, (and I suspect accurate) depiction of life in a household dominated by a creative genius, surrounded by hangers-on, admirers and acolytes.
Locke’s most famous work “The Chalk Sculpture”, of a pregnant woman, achieves enduring attention and renown as a fertility stimulant for those people who touch it. .
The novel divides its time between Nessa’s professional life and a story surrounding her family life, with husband Robert and daughter Jennifer, interspersed with flashbacks to Nessa’s single days, growing up with her girlfriends.
Highlights
Gender. I’m often conscious when reading that an author is better at depicting characters of one gender than another (normally writing about their own gender). The same being true of age, and the challenges of the young and the old. I think McLaughlin is absolutely brilliant at capturing the essence of all ages and genders (from fifteen to eighty-four). The waspishness of the embittered Eleanor, is matched by the teenage angst and moods of Jennifer.
Interpreting Art works. I really enjoyed the many interpretations of the meaning of The Chalk Sculpture. What is more important? The original intent of an author, or the legitimacy of the many viewer driven interpretations.
The Title. As the author says in interview: “The Art of Falling speaks to the novel on a number of levels, and the fact that there are various different kinds of ‘fallings’ in the book.”
Lowlights
While I did believe in McLaughlin’s characters on an individual level, I found the interaction between them, and in their dialogue rather cliched. The group and family dynamics discussions felt a bit too familiar to me.
Author background & Reviews
McLaughlin qualified as a lawyer, and the necessary attention to detail comes through as the pieces of this debut novel tie together. The Art of Falling started life in 2012 as a short story -“The Chalk Sculpture”. Her collection of short stories Dinosaurs and Other Planets won the $165,000 Windham Campbell Award in 2019.
She cites as influences, “Anne Enright, for the fierce honesty of her writing; William Trevor, for the grace of his writing; Alice Munro covering great swathes of time and make it look effortless; Kevin Barry, for the lyricism and music and humour of his writing; George Saunders for characters with both compassion and humour.”
Recommend
I liked the book the further into it I progressed (not always the case), and will definitely read some more of McLaughlin’s work.
August 17, 2021
3.5 stars.
October 27, 2020
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭, 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭.
Nessa McCormack is project managing an acquisition of the late, renowned sculptor Robert Locke’s work. The Elmes Gallery she works for is buying his studio. Nothing thrills her more, having written her thesis on Locke when she was a young student of art history and ‘star-struck’ by the man. Invited into the Locke house, nothing commands her attention more than the Chalk Sculpture, having achieved notoriety as ’embodying fertility powers.’ It’s unsettling beauty and mysterious form is solid evidence of Robert’s genius. Rescuing the statue from ‘indignities’, like the many hands of supplicants touching it’s belly, was a mission she accomplished. If only dealing with the women in his life were as easy. With dictaphone in hand, Nessa is ready to record Locke’s widow Eleanor’s memories, hoping to write a paper about his life as seen through the eyes of his women but remembering brings pain, anger. His daughter Loretta is her protector, making sure the elderly woman doesn’t get upset. The truth behind the Chalk Sculpture is about to be challenged by a woman, Melanie Doerr, claiming deeper ties to Robert, and his family. Nessa doesn’t wish to give any credence to her wild claims, but is she lying? Why are Eleanor and Loretta reacting with so much hostility, if the woman is of no concern?
Nessa’s personal life is an emotional storm, dealing with the fallout of her husband’s betrayal, their own daughter’s friendship and social life is damaged. Things are about to become more difficult with a chance encounter with an old friend from her London days, inviting her to meet Luke, son of her best friend Amy, this is going to be a complication. Luke wants to know what his mother was like, the hunger will go further than a simple dinner. The friendship between she and his mother Amy turned grim, but is she at fault? With everyone pushing Luke on her, she agrees to take him to photograph Robert’s work, little does she know she has set off a chain of events that will come back to bite her.
Locke is a different man for each woman who loved or tolerated him. His wife endured his ‘disappearances’, carried on with the reality of living, caring for the necessities. Everyone imagines themselves one way in his life, but who knows how we mislead ourselves and measure (wrongly) our own importance in another’s heart?
There are many stories within this novel, fueling the pressure and stress we’re meant to witness Nessa is under. It is an interesting dissection of the greatness of men, the women that step aside or lead punishing existences for his ‘talent and genius’. The cracks in fame, the cost for family of passions others can’t seem to keep reigned in, soured friendships, regrets, guilt, art- no one is entirely innocent, each has self-serving intentions. Truth is malleable, but it doesn’t always take the form we wish it to, a form that benefits our narrative. I actually enjoyed the way characters stepped in and pulled your attention, life isn’t normally focused on one part of your life, career, family, strangers, all the dramas swirl around us at all times. It’s the little things that drain you and the past has a way of surfacing when you’re already dodging bullets. A solid read for me.
Publication Date: January 5, 2021
Random House
𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭, 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭.
Nessa McCormack is project managing an acquisition of the late, renowned sculptor Robert Locke’s work. The Elmes Gallery she works for is buying his studio. Nothing thrills her more, having written her thesis on Locke when she was a young student of art history and ‘star-struck’ by the man. Invited into the Locke house, nothing commands her attention more than the Chalk Sculpture, having achieved notoriety as ’embodying fertility powers.’ It’s unsettling beauty and mysterious form is solid evidence of Robert’s genius. Rescuing the statue from ‘indignities’, like the many hands of supplicants touching it’s belly, was a mission she accomplished. If only dealing with the women in his life were as easy. With dictaphone in hand, Nessa is ready to record Locke’s widow Eleanor’s memories, hoping to write a paper about his life as seen through the eyes of his women but remembering brings pain, anger. His daughter Loretta is her protector, making sure the elderly woman doesn’t get upset. The truth behind the Chalk Sculpture is about to be challenged by a woman, Melanie Doerr, claiming deeper ties to Robert, and his family. Nessa doesn’t wish to give any credence to her wild claims, but is she lying? Why are Eleanor and Loretta reacting with so much hostility, if the woman is of no concern?
Nessa’s personal life is an emotional storm, dealing with the fallout of her husband’s betrayal, their own daughter’s friendship and social life is damaged. Things are about to become more difficult with a chance encounter with an old friend from her London days, inviting her to meet Luke, son of her best friend Amy, this is going to be a complication. Luke wants to know what his mother was like, the hunger will go further than a simple dinner. The friendship between she and his mother Amy turned grim, but is she at fault? With everyone pushing Luke on her, she agrees to take him to photograph Robert’s work, little does she know she has set off a chain of events that will come back to bite her.
Locke is a different man for each woman who loved or tolerated him. His wife endured his ‘disappearances’, carried on with the reality of living, caring for the necessities. Everyone imagines themselves one way in his life, but who knows how we mislead ourselves and measure (wrongly) our own importance in another’s heart?
There are many stories within this novel, fueling the pressure and stress we’re meant to witness Nessa is under. It is an interesting dissection of the greatness of men, the women that step aside or lead punishing existences for his ‘talent and genius’. The cracks in fame, the cost for family of passions others can’t seem to keep reigned in, soured friendships, regrets, guilt, art- no one is entirely innocent, each has self-serving intentions. Truth is malleable, but it doesn’t always take the form we wish it to, a form that benefits our narrative. I actually enjoyed the way characters stepped in and pulled your attention, life isn’t normally focused on one part of your life, career, family, strangers, all the dramas swirl around us at all times. It’s the little things that drain you and the past has a way of surfacing when you’re already dodging bullets. A solid read for me.
Publication Date: January 5, 2021
Random House
December 27, 2020
THE ART OF FALLING
BY DANIELLE MCLAUGHLIN
I was super surprised that this novel was disappointing to me as I usually love books based on art and realistic contemporary fiction. I am not sure if I am requesting novels as carefully as I should be but this one felt rather flat and the character's just weren't all that interesting to me. This centers around an 84 year old widow named Eleanor and her daughter Loretta grasping tightly that the dead sculptor named Robert Locke's masterpiece of a chalk-like figure was designed after a photograph of a younger pregnant Eleanor. There is also an interlocking story of Nessa who as an art historian that has done extensive research into Robert Locke's life and papers is trying to validate Eleanor's theory by working with his wife and daughter's at their home while her marriage is in serious trouble.
The very beginning of this novel seemed to be compelling starting out with a meeting between Nessa and the head of her daughter's school in a meeting where the administrator is asking Nessa if there are any problems at home. There are! Nessa's husband who is an architect has been caught in an adulterous affair with their teen aged daughter's best friend's mother. They are in marriage counselling and don't seem to be making much progress. Nessa also has been unfaithful with her best friend's partner which she is hiding and if exposed will cause hurt to her daughter and further cause harm to her marriage.
I think that this novel tries unsuccessfully to explore too many threads at the same time. There is a lot going on and nothing is examined deeply enough to be realistic to me. We have Nessa's best friend who committed suicide named Amy who Nessa was carrying on an affair for month's with Amy's boyfriend in college surfacing year's later when Amy's adult son reads about them in Amy's diary. He was given his dead mother's diary by his Aunt Greta which Nessa knows that it is just a matter of time before he tells her daughter and husband.
There is Melanie who claims that Robert Locke's sculpture that Nessa is tirelessly trying to disprove Melanie's claims that the sculpture was developed in her image not Eleanor's. There is Eleanor whose health seems to be at stake and Loretta her daughter who fiercely protects and tries to shield her mother from Melanie's claims. I found that I just couldn't get drawn into the many directions that this narrative was going enough to care about any of the character's. I really in good conscience say that with everything going on that I just felt that I didn't care or like any of these character's and didn't feel that they were well developed. I don't need to like the character's to be captivated and in summary I have to admit that this novel wasn't for me.
Publication Date: January 5, 2021
Thank you to Net Galley, Danielle McLaughlin and Random House Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
#TheArtofFalling #Danielle McLaughlin #RandomHousePublishing #NetGalley
BY DANIELLE MCLAUGHLIN
I was super surprised that this novel was disappointing to me as I usually love books based on art and realistic contemporary fiction. I am not sure if I am requesting novels as carefully as I should be but this one felt rather flat and the character's just weren't all that interesting to me. This centers around an 84 year old widow named Eleanor and her daughter Loretta grasping tightly that the dead sculptor named Robert Locke's masterpiece of a chalk-like figure was designed after a photograph of a younger pregnant Eleanor. There is also an interlocking story of Nessa who as an art historian that has done extensive research into Robert Locke's life and papers is trying to validate Eleanor's theory by working with his wife and daughter's at their home while her marriage is in serious trouble.
The very beginning of this novel seemed to be compelling starting out with a meeting between Nessa and the head of her daughter's school in a meeting where the administrator is asking Nessa if there are any problems at home. There are! Nessa's husband who is an architect has been caught in an adulterous affair with their teen aged daughter's best friend's mother. They are in marriage counselling and don't seem to be making much progress. Nessa also has been unfaithful with her best friend's partner which she is hiding and if exposed will cause hurt to her daughter and further cause harm to her marriage.
I think that this novel tries unsuccessfully to explore too many threads at the same time. There is a lot going on and nothing is examined deeply enough to be realistic to me. We have Nessa's best friend who committed suicide named Amy who Nessa was carrying on an affair for month's with Amy's boyfriend in college surfacing year's later when Amy's adult son reads about them in Amy's diary. He was given his dead mother's diary by his Aunt Greta which Nessa knows that it is just a matter of time before he tells her daughter and husband.
There is Melanie who claims that Robert Locke's sculpture that Nessa is tirelessly trying to disprove Melanie's claims that the sculpture was developed in her image not Eleanor's. There is Eleanor whose health seems to be at stake and Loretta her daughter who fiercely protects and tries to shield her mother from Melanie's claims. I found that I just couldn't get drawn into the many directions that this narrative was going enough to care about any of the character's. I really in good conscience say that with everything going on that I just felt that I didn't care or like any of these character's and didn't feel that they were well developed. I don't need to like the character's to be captivated and in summary I have to admit that this novel wasn't for me.
Publication Date: January 5, 2021
Thank you to Net Galley, Danielle McLaughlin and Random House Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
#TheArtofFalling #Danielle McLaughlin #RandomHousePublishing #NetGalley
February 4, 2021
*I voluntarily reviewed this book from the Publisher.
A deftly-layered story of lies, secrets, and the power that art and love can hold over people, THE ART OF FALLING by Danielle McLaughlin is an excellent novel that fascinated me from the very beginning.
Nessa McCormack is trying her best to make her marriage work after her husband slept with the mother of their daughter's best friend, but it is proving more difficult than she thought it would be. But at least she can throw herself into her work, curating the move of the prestigious sculptor Robert Locke's work to the gallery. Nessa feels on solid ground here as she knows she is an expert in this field even if dealing with his eccentric widow and daughter can be challenging at times. But when a woman lays claim to Locke's most famous art piece, The Chalk Sculpture, Nessa must dig into the past to see if there is any truth to the rumours. And when the son of her oldest best friend comes into her life, she may just have to face up to her actions in the past in her personal life too, if she is ever going to find peace in the present.
Compelling characters and textured parallels between art and Nessa's own life make this story unputdownable. All of the characters are flawed and human which makes them all the more relatable, and as I got to know Nessa, her family, the Locke family, and those connected to them, I wanted to understand them and the decisions that they made throughout their lives.
THE ART OF FALLING by Danielle McLaughlin is a stunning debut from a talented new author and I eagerly look forward to Danielle's next novel.
A deftly-layered story of lies, secrets, and the power that art and love can hold over people, THE ART OF FALLING by Danielle McLaughlin is an excellent novel that fascinated me from the very beginning.
Nessa McCormack is trying her best to make her marriage work after her husband slept with the mother of their daughter's best friend, but it is proving more difficult than she thought it would be. But at least she can throw herself into her work, curating the move of the prestigious sculptor Robert Locke's work to the gallery. Nessa feels on solid ground here as she knows she is an expert in this field even if dealing with his eccentric widow and daughter can be challenging at times. But when a woman lays claim to Locke's most famous art piece, The Chalk Sculpture, Nessa must dig into the past to see if there is any truth to the rumours. And when the son of her oldest best friend comes into her life, she may just have to face up to her actions in the past in her personal life too, if she is ever going to find peace in the present.
Compelling characters and textured parallels between art and Nessa's own life make this story unputdownable. All of the characters are flawed and human which makes them all the more relatable, and as I got to know Nessa, her family, the Locke family, and those connected to them, I wanted to understand them and the decisions that they made throughout their lives.
THE ART OF FALLING by Danielle McLaughlin is a stunning debut from a talented new author and I eagerly look forward to Danielle's next novel.
October 25, 2020
Nessa and Phillip McCormack's marriage is at a rocky point. Phillip has been having an affair with the mother of his daughter's best friend. Jennifer, the McCormack's daughter, has found out about the affair and has been acting out at school and at home. On top of this, Phillip has made several poor business decisions and they are deep in debt. Intermittently, the novel focuses on these things, but at its heart, is Nessa's work as an art historian for a prestigious gallery.
Nessa has attained a grant to look into the work of deceased artist Robert Locke, especially one of his pieces, The Chalk Sculpture. This sculpture is famous as a fertility enhancer. Infertile couples would travel to it in hopes of conceiving a baby and leave some money at the same time.
Robert Locke's wife and daughter are still alive and Nessa is spending much of her time interviewing them about Locke's work. They are very possessive of the knowledge they disperse and often seem reluctant to share too much.
Out of the blue, an older woman shows up who claims to be both the muse and the creator of The Chalk Sculpture. This puts a big dent in Nessa's work. As she is trying to balance her family issues, she now has to walk on tiptoes at work because there are several opinions about this woman's claim.
The writing is excellent and I loved the family drama. However, some of the narrative was repetitive and the book went on several rabbit trails that were unnecessary, bringing in more characters and background than were useful. Had the novel's story line been tightened up, and the repetition removed, I would have rated it a '5'.
Nessa has attained a grant to look into the work of deceased artist Robert Locke, especially one of his pieces, The Chalk Sculpture. This sculpture is famous as a fertility enhancer. Infertile couples would travel to it in hopes of conceiving a baby and leave some money at the same time.
Robert Locke's wife and daughter are still alive and Nessa is spending much of her time interviewing them about Locke's work. They are very possessive of the knowledge they disperse and often seem reluctant to share too much.
Out of the blue, an older woman shows up who claims to be both the muse and the creator of The Chalk Sculpture. This puts a big dent in Nessa's work. As she is trying to balance her family issues, she now has to walk on tiptoes at work because there are several opinions about this woman's claim.
The writing is excellent and I loved the family drama. However, some of the narrative was repetitive and the book went on several rabbit trails that were unnecessary, bringing in more characters and background than were useful. Had the novel's story line been tightened up, and the repetition removed, I would have rated it a '5'.
October 24, 2020
I found this novel disappointing. I didn't care about the characters one jot, perhaps because the reader was given very little to place them socially, very little in the way of a sense of society around them, and their emotional narratives were quite thin. I wasn't even sure whether I was expected to like or dislike the main character Nessa, and struggled to understand what kind of person she was supposed to be.
The artworld is very difficult to write about, and unfortunately this book only confirmed that. I also wish the emotional resonance of the affair revealed at the beginning had been explored more, or intertwined with the other plot line in a more meaningful way. Instead, we had two plots, neither particularly interesting, and rather predictable.
With so many books out there to read, this was not for me.
I received this book as an advanced proof copy from the publisher. As context I should admit that I normally read more literary fiction than this (though I like the odd crime novel too, and love the Galbraith Strike novels).
The artworld is very difficult to write about, and unfortunately this book only confirmed that. I also wish the emotional resonance of the affair revealed at the beginning had been explored more, or intertwined with the other plot line in a more meaningful way. Instead, we had two plots, neither particularly interesting, and rather predictable.
With so many books out there to read, this was not for me.
I received this book as an advanced proof copy from the publisher. As context I should admit that I normally read more literary fiction than this (though I like the odd crime novel too, and love the Galbraith Strike novels).
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November 2, 2020In The Art of Falling, McLaughlin adds to literature something vital: a real, unbeautified narrative about a woman's career and life. Truths withheld are part of that life, as they are part of the narrative ... but none are withheld from the reader. The truths hit home. A propulsive, disquieting, arrestive novel by a master of social realism.
(Readers who need their characters to be 'likeable' may struggle with this one.)
(Readers who need their characters to be 'likeable' may struggle with this one.)
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