Painted Lives

by Charlotte Vale Allen

Mattie Sylvester, the elderly, headstrong widow of a famous American artist, shares her memories of the past--the artistic milieu of the 1920s, her charming, ruthless husband, their sons--with her new personal secretary and friend, Sarah Kidd

Genres: Fiction

307 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Charlotte Vale-Allen was born in Toronto and lived in England from 1961 to 1964 where she worked as a television actress and singer. She returned to Toronto briefly, performing as a singer and in cabaret revues until she emigrated to the United States in 1966.

Shortly after her marriage to Walter Allen in 1970 she began writing and sold her first novel Love Life in 1974. Prior to this book's publication she contracted to do a series of paperback originals for Warner Books, with the result that in 1976 three of her books appeared in print.

Her autobiography, the acclaimed Daddy's Girl, was actually the first book she wrote but in 1971 it was deemed too controversial by the editors who read it. It wasn't until 1980, after she'd gained success as a novelist, that the groundbreaking book was finally published.

One of Canada's most successful novelists, with over seven million copies sold of her 30+ novels, Ms. Allen's books have been published in all English-speaking countries, in Braille, and have been translated into more than 20 languages.

In her writing she tries to deal with issues confronting women, being informative while at the same time offering a measure of optimism. "My strongest ability as a writer is to make women real, to take you inside their heads and let you know how they feel, and to make you care about them."

A film buff and an amateur photographer, Allen enjoys foreign travel. She finds cooking and needlework therapeutic, and is a compulsive player of computer Solitaire. The mother of an adult daughter, since 1970 she has made her home in Connecticut.

Reviews

[Martine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlotte Vale Allen used art as medium to discuss domestic violence in toxic relationship. Even if the characters were cliché, it was a good story overall. CVA inverted gender-base violence which was interesting to highlight that violence can be insidious (the forms of violence use by the husband in this setting are the ones most often used by women while the protagonist used more direct form to defend herself against the assault). However, I found that the characters' dialogues felt a bit stiff and unnatural which made some scenes fell flat to me.

[Kathy Maher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice story but there were parts that were very predictable. Gideon Sylvester Was an awful person what he put Maddy and his children through was just ridiculous. The book I read I had tiny print which made it hard to read at times but the story was interesting enough that it kept me going.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this book at my libraries book sale just because of the title. So glad I did, I really got into the characters, the settings, had a surprise for me towards the end and also a happy ending.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mattie and Sarah become friends and heal the past.

[Patricia A. Maddens · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were lots of points in the plot that just didn't hang together for me and I didn't like any of the characters. It ended very abruptly.

[Rina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The characters were characters. Large personalities and small. Open or closed. One 77 year woman telling another 41 year woman her life story, her loves, her mistakes, her acquiescing to a sad form of fraud perpetrated upon her by a husband she came quickly to hate. This is Mattie. She has a staff of three women and one man. Each of them intertwined with hers in some way. A lovely ending to a fascinating book. I think it could have been a thousand pages but then maybe I wouldn't have read it.

[Alydia Kardel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was happy to come across this in a used bookstore since I had never seen it before, and Charlotte Vale Allen is one of my favorite authors. She never fails to bring her characters to life and weave a story that sucks you in and doesn't let go until the last page. I'm just sorry I can't read it again for the first time.

[Linda Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a while to get used to it, but then it became so interesting. To think something such as a husband taking credit for a wife's art work, welling it as his own and being honored for it - and she has no idea for so long!

[Sonya Lavallee · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best books i have read, i've read it more than once!

[Suzan · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy to read
interesting
good for escape

[Sue Kozlowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story about Maggie, a painters wife. Not too in-depth.