What do you think?
Rate this book
Authenticity
After a brilliant youth, the painter Roderic Kennedy's life has been overtaken by a series of crises - alcoholism, the failure of his marriage and an estrangement from this three daughters. When he meets Julia Fitzpatrick, it seems as if this period of turbulence and misfortune is at an end.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
5 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
Deirdre Madden
32 books67 followersDeirdre Madden is from Toomebridge, County Antrim in Northern Ireland. She was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and at the University of East Anglia. In 1994 she was Writer-in-Residence at University College, Cork and in 1997 was Writer Fellow at Trinity College, Dublin. She has travelled widely in Europe and has spent extended periods of time in both France and Italy.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 31, 2016
Yes, yes, yes… oh YES!
Excuse the Joycean exuberance of my title, though not inappropriate for an Irish novel of such quality, but how else can you respond when you read a book that just gets everything so darned right? You shout it from the rooftops, buy copies for all your friends, sit down and read the thing all over again. This is a novel about art, and about love, about what happens when love fails you or you fail art, and the miracle when both succeed. It is both absolutely normal and constantly surprising. Normal, because you know these people; they live in the everyday world. And surprising, because none of the usual plot clichés apply; things happen, but they happen for internal reasons, organic to the characters involved, more subtle than the usual mechanics of jealousy and adultery, but no less cataclysmic. Above all, whether seen as human beings or as artists, Deirdre Madden's characters are, as her title suggests, authentic.
The book opens with a very ordinary early morning scene that soon turns quite extraordinary. Julia Fitzpatrick, a young artist in mixed media, is in bed with her lover Roderic Kennedy, a painter of an older generation who is just coming into major success. Before he wakes, she finds herself looking at a patch of lemon light on the pale surface of the wall and seeing how it would look as an abstract painting. It is the first of many almost throwaway touches that authenticate the acuteness of Julia's vision. Not since Chaim Potok's My Name Is Asher Lev or Siri Hustvedt's What I Loved have I read a book about artists that so totally convinced me not only of their talent but also of its individual nature. When Roderic wakes, Julia tells him of a strange encounter the day before with a well-dressed businessman quietly weeping on a bench in St. Stephen's Green. It is a beautiful scene, especially since it avoids all the expected resolutions. But Julia and this man will meet again. His name is William Armstrong, a successful Dublin lawyer in the midst of a mid-life crisis; it will later emerge that he too wanted to become a painter, but was steered away from it; more surprisingly, it will also be clear that he had it in him to be a good one.
The back-cover description says that this encounter will have dramatic consequences for all three characters; you expect a sexual triangle of some sort. I won't say that there is no erotic tension there; the whole novel is subtly erotic (I wouldn't have channeled Molly Bloom otherwise). But William is more catalyst than reagent. His effect is to trigger thoughts about what is really involved in a life of art, the sacrifices that are required, and the dangers of the necessary single-minded obsession that can destroy lives as easily as enhance them. Madden moves around freely in time, pushing the story forward, but also going back to Roderic's bouts of drinking and the failure of his marriage, and the formative moments that caused both him and Julia to devote themselves to art. Julia is especially interested in memory, working with objects, scents, and sounds that conjure up deep associations; for her, art is as much a matter of how one sees the world as the creation of artifacts that enshrine it.
I paused for a long time on a page (213) later in the book, wondering whether to mark it to quote here. Yet the language, though beautiful, was no more special than any other part. It was a simple scene, of Julia going back to spend her twenty-fifth birthday at her father's house in the country; they go outside after dark, and smoke cigarettes under a starry sky. An ordinary scene, but somehow the way that Julia was feeling made it special: her place in the universe, her own security in love, the understanding this gave her of the long grief of her widowed father, the loom of the mountains, the cry of a distant bird. This passage is not unique; there are several such moments, culminating in a similarly enchanted meeting late in the book between an unnamed man and woman on a blustery day in the Wicklow Mountains. But in them, Madden's transformation of ordinariness into magic makes me profoundly aware of the wonder of art—Roderic's, Julia's, and even William's as painters—or her own as a writer.
Excuse the Joycean exuberance of my title, though not inappropriate for an Irish novel of such quality, but how else can you respond when you read a book that just gets everything so darned right? You shout it from the rooftops, buy copies for all your friends, sit down and read the thing all over again. This is a novel about art, and about love, about what happens when love fails you or you fail art, and the miracle when both succeed. It is both absolutely normal and constantly surprising. Normal, because you know these people; they live in the everyday world. And surprising, because none of the usual plot clichés apply; things happen, but they happen for internal reasons, organic to the characters involved, more subtle than the usual mechanics of jealousy and adultery, but no less cataclysmic. Above all, whether seen as human beings or as artists, Deirdre Madden's characters are, as her title suggests, authentic.
The book opens with a very ordinary early morning scene that soon turns quite extraordinary. Julia Fitzpatrick, a young artist in mixed media, is in bed with her lover Roderic Kennedy, a painter of an older generation who is just coming into major success. Before he wakes, she finds herself looking at a patch of lemon light on the pale surface of the wall and seeing how it would look as an abstract painting. It is the first of many almost throwaway touches that authenticate the acuteness of Julia's vision. Not since Chaim Potok's My Name Is Asher Lev or Siri Hustvedt's What I Loved have I read a book about artists that so totally convinced me not only of their talent but also of its individual nature. When Roderic wakes, Julia tells him of a strange encounter the day before with a well-dressed businessman quietly weeping on a bench in St. Stephen's Green. It is a beautiful scene, especially since it avoids all the expected resolutions. But Julia and this man will meet again. His name is William Armstrong, a successful Dublin lawyer in the midst of a mid-life crisis; it will later emerge that he too wanted to become a painter, but was steered away from it; more surprisingly, it will also be clear that he had it in him to be a good one.
The back-cover description says that this encounter will have dramatic consequences for all three characters; you expect a sexual triangle of some sort. I won't say that there is no erotic tension there; the whole novel is subtly erotic (I wouldn't have channeled Molly Bloom otherwise). But William is more catalyst than reagent. His effect is to trigger thoughts about what is really involved in a life of art, the sacrifices that are required, and the dangers of the necessary single-minded obsession that can destroy lives as easily as enhance them. Madden moves around freely in time, pushing the story forward, but also going back to Roderic's bouts of drinking and the failure of his marriage, and the formative moments that caused both him and Julia to devote themselves to art. Julia is especially interested in memory, working with objects, scents, and sounds that conjure up deep associations; for her, art is as much a matter of how one sees the world as the creation of artifacts that enshrine it.
I paused for a long time on a page (213) later in the book, wondering whether to mark it to quote here. Yet the language, though beautiful, was no more special than any other part. It was a simple scene, of Julia going back to spend her twenty-fifth birthday at her father's house in the country; they go outside after dark, and smoke cigarettes under a starry sky. An ordinary scene, but somehow the way that Julia was feeling made it special: her place in the universe, her own security in love, the understanding this gave her of the long grief of her widowed father, the loom of the mountains, the cry of a distant bird. This passage is not unique; there are several such moments, culminating in a similarly enchanted meeting late in the book between an unnamed man and woman on a blustery day in the Wicklow Mountains. But in them, Madden's transformation of ordinariness into magic makes me profoundly aware of the wonder of art—Roderic's, Julia's, and even William's as painters—or her own as a writer.
November 30, 2014
All too often, when novelists write about the artistic process, they treat it as if it is a Serious, Weighty Matter. (I’m thinking of novels like The Blazing World, for one.) As a result, we, as readers, never get the sense of well-rounded characters.
For the most part, Deirdre Madden gets it right. In Authenticity, we meet three artists: Roderic Kennedy, whose single-minded passion for his art has turned him into a success but who leaves behind a broken marriage and severe bouts with alcoholism in its wake…his much younger lover, Julia Fitzpatrick, who is also driven by her artistic muse and who may very well be at a breakthrough in her career…and William, the man she chances upon who has relegated his muse to second place as he dutifully follows his destiny to money and position.
When Julia meets William on a park bench, she senses that he is despairing and quite possibly suicidal. She befriends him; while her relationship isn’t sexual, it offers the reader a contrast between the two men. Roderic is – quite literally – bigger than life, a giant of a man with a great sense of charisma. William, who has not followed his art (and his heart), is more diminutive, drained of a joie d’vivre and a reason to live.
The theme is summed up at one point by Roderic: “Unfortunately, William really has made a huge mistake. He’s done the wrong thing. It isn’t just what he thinks he’s wasted his life, he knows he’s wasted his life…It’s not enough to have a gift. You have to have the courage of your gift as well.”
Art, Ms. Madden suggests, is giving up something private and precious. The pursuit of art to someone with the calling is not optional; at least, not if the artist wishes to live an authentic life. The artist does not serve his/her art; the art serves the artist. In a particularly illuminating passage, Roderic muses, “He thought of his painting as though it were a flame, a fragile lit thing that he had guarded with his life. Entrusted to him, he had succeeded in keeping it from being extinguished in spite of the winds and storms through which he had carried it; in return, down through the years, it had afforded him a subtle and complex joy.”
This is a stunningly accurate portrait of the artist. Even though the characters tend to be more reserved – more distanced – than I typically like, the portrayal of those for whom art serves is extraordinarily well done. Definitely recommended.
For the most part, Deirdre Madden gets it right. In Authenticity, we meet three artists: Roderic Kennedy, whose single-minded passion for his art has turned him into a success but who leaves behind a broken marriage and severe bouts with alcoholism in its wake…his much younger lover, Julia Fitzpatrick, who is also driven by her artistic muse and who may very well be at a breakthrough in her career…and William, the man she chances upon who has relegated his muse to second place as he dutifully follows his destiny to money and position.
When Julia meets William on a park bench, she senses that he is despairing and quite possibly suicidal. She befriends him; while her relationship isn’t sexual, it offers the reader a contrast between the two men. Roderic is – quite literally – bigger than life, a giant of a man with a great sense of charisma. William, who has not followed his art (and his heart), is more diminutive, drained of a joie d’vivre and a reason to live.
The theme is summed up at one point by Roderic: “Unfortunately, William really has made a huge mistake. He’s done the wrong thing. It isn’t just what he thinks he’s wasted his life, he knows he’s wasted his life…It’s not enough to have a gift. You have to have the courage of your gift as well.”
Art, Ms. Madden suggests, is giving up something private and precious. The pursuit of art to someone with the calling is not optional; at least, not if the artist wishes to live an authentic life. The artist does not serve his/her art; the art serves the artist. In a particularly illuminating passage, Roderic muses, “He thought of his painting as though it were a flame, a fragile lit thing that he had guarded with his life. Entrusted to him, he had succeeded in keeping it from being extinguished in spite of the winds and storms through which he had carried it; in return, down through the years, it had afforded him a subtle and complex joy.”
This is a stunningly accurate portrait of the artist. Even though the characters tend to be more reserved – more distanced – than I typically like, the portrayal of those for whom art serves is extraordinarily well done. Definitely recommended.
July 9, 2018
I loved this book - fantastic. There is something about the voice in contemporary Irish fiction that really appeals to me. This book is about the sacrifices we make for art and whether or not they are worth it, and really, whether or not a true artist has a choice. It does not romanticize the artist - they are presented as deeply flawed.
"You'll meet him every week to ten days, as we're meeting now, and you'll talk about things that matter to you, most particularly about your work. You'll help and encourage him in his own attempts to paint, and for a while he'll really appreciate the moral and practical support. Oh, you'll enjoy it, make no mistake. William can be good company: he's an intelligent man, with many fine qualities. It would all be perfectly valid, were it not for what's going to happen. Because one day, out of the blue, he'll simply drop you. There won't be a quarrel, no hostility, nothing as dramatic as that. He'll just wake up one morning and decide that he's not remotely interested in you any longer. The fact that you are an artist will have lost all its magic for him. There are hundreds of artists out there, thousands, and you are just one of them."
"You'll meet him every week to ten days, as we're meeting now, and you'll talk about things that matter to you, most particularly about your work. You'll help and encourage him in his own attempts to paint, and for a while he'll really appreciate the moral and practical support. Oh, you'll enjoy it, make no mistake. William can be good company: he's an intelligent man, with many fine qualities. It would all be perfectly valid, were it not for what's going to happen. Because one day, out of the blue, he'll simply drop you. There won't be a quarrel, no hostility, nothing as dramatic as that. He'll just wake up one morning and decide that he's not remotely interested in you any longer. The fact that you are an artist will have lost all its magic for him. There are hundreds of artists out there, thousands, and you are just one of them."
April 16, 2007
I really enjoyed this book. It's set in Dublin and focuses on the lives of a small cast of characters who are all linked to each other through art and love. The writing is subtle and nothing terribly dramatic happens but it's the characters that draw you in... They're still hanging somewhere in the back of my sub-conscious.
It's probably not everyone's cup of tea as it does move quite slowly and, as some of the characters are artists, it does go on a bit about the nature of art (which I loved). But I definitely recommend it. In fact writing this has made me want to read it again.
It's probably not everyone's cup of tea as it does move quite slowly and, as some of the characters are artists, it does go on a bit about the nature of art (which I loved). But I definitely recommend it. In fact writing this has made me want to read it again.
May 20, 2011
I really enjoyed the book. It was very interestingly written and explored the creative life and calling through various minds. That thread, as was written in the blurb, was what made me want to read the book initially and I am happy I did.
December 27, 2013
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Yes, there are books I really enjoy, such as the Cadfael mysteries and Dick Francis, but this is literature. I think I must have come across her while looking up Irish authors. The book had been on my to read list for quite a while. There are so many themes in this book, so much to reflect on: the creative impulse, how this gets expressed; the price one pays in not following this impulse, how the view of ourselves changes over tiem, how do we forgive ourselves when we've hurt others, the role of families in supporting (or not) each other. Madden does this all so well; even minor characters, such as Roderic's daughters are well-done. I found myself re-reading paragraphs just to make sure I was getting the full meaning out of them. The book is dense, in a good way. It's not a book to skip through, but to savor the language, the ideas, the characters. I also really enjoyed the structure; she would go back in time to tell the story of Roderick, of Julia. Some authors do this in a confusing way, but I did not find this to be the case.
I have a couple favorite passages that show why I enjoyed the book: p.229: "What Julia did not udnerstand was that between the joy of an experience such as she was then living and the recollection of it years later, might fall the shadow of itnervening time. She knew that each artist creates her own precursors. She knew to that a work of art was changed by being viewed through the filter of later works, but she did not udnerstand that this was also true in life. Roderic could have told her this, so too could her father and even William."
P. 248. Julia is telling William about her project of having people evoke memories and experiences through certain smells. Madden provides a list, and Julia says, "'It's turning out to be a more potent idea that I had expected. People are often surpirsed or shocked by what they themselves come up with,' she said as though to console him. William sat nodding at this strange young woman in her dim room whom he really didn't know, and who had unwittingly forced open a closed chamber of his heart, where his own pat was hidden from himself."
The passage in which William drops Julia, just as Roderic predicted was wrenching. He is so cold, so callous and dismissive.
Sadly, the Hennepin Co. library system has just two of her works, and even the ILL doesn't have them all. I may have to buy some of her works, which is high praise indeed!
I have a couple favorite passages that show why I enjoyed the book: p.229: "What Julia did not udnerstand was that between the joy of an experience such as she was then living and the recollection of it years later, might fall the shadow of itnervening time. She knew that each artist creates her own precursors. She knew to that a work of art was changed by being viewed through the filter of later works, but she did not udnerstand that this was also true in life. Roderic could have told her this, so too could her father and even William."
P. 248. Julia is telling William about her project of having people evoke memories and experiences through certain smells. Madden provides a list, and Julia says, "'It's turning out to be a more potent idea that I had expected. People are often surpirsed or shocked by what they themselves come up with,' she said as though to console him. William sat nodding at this strange young woman in her dim room whom he really didn't know, and who had unwittingly forced open a closed chamber of his heart, where his own pat was hidden from himself."
The passage in which William drops Julia, just as Roderic predicted was wrenching. He is so cold, so callous and dismissive.
Sadly, the Hennepin Co. library system has just two of her works, and even the ILL doesn't have them all. I may have to buy some of her works, which is high praise indeed!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2014
Authenticity, by Deirdre Madden, is a book about art and artists. I was really looking forward to reading it but found it to be slow going and not at all as I had hoped. Roderic, the protagonist of the novel, is a successful painter who has followed his muse his whole life. He has been challenged by alcoholism, inability to sustain intimacy, and concern about the quality of his artwork. He has been sober for two years and is trying to re-establish his relationships with his estranged children.
Julia, the woman who Roderic falls in love with when the novel opens, is also an artist, creating pieces of beauty. She is much younger than Roderic, at least by 20 years, and is just beginning her career. Her mother died when she was six years old and she was raised by her father who encouraged her in the arts.
One day, Julia meets a man in the park who is sobbing on a park bench. His name is William and he is there on his way to commit suicide. Julia helps him home and talks to his wife about her concerns about William's serious depression. William has always wanted to be an artist but followed a different course, becoming a lawyer as his family expected of him.
The interweaving of these three characters comprise this novel. It moved much too slowly for me and I found myself bored and not all that enlightened about the artistic process.
Julia, the woman who Roderic falls in love with when the novel opens, is also an artist, creating pieces of beauty. She is much younger than Roderic, at least by 20 years, and is just beginning her career. Her mother died when she was six years old and she was raised by her father who encouraged her in the arts.
One day, Julia meets a man in the park who is sobbing on a park bench. His name is William and he is there on his way to commit suicide. Julia helps him home and talks to his wife about her concerns about William's serious depression. William has always wanted to be an artist but followed a different course, becoming a lawyer as his family expected of him.
The interweaving of these three characters comprise this novel. It moved much too slowly for me and I found myself bored and not all that enlightened about the artistic process.
November 27, 2010
Great insights into the costs of following one's creative muse and also the costs of not following. Also down-to-earth observations about art-making in general. Well-paced and well-constructed; a psychological page-turner, with interesting jumps back and forth in time. With its focus on art-making, I was fascinated by this book; however, I was mildly disappointed in the ending; it had dramatic effect, but at the cost of relying on broader clichés about artists. This included the Vincent-Theo-like relationship between the central artist character and his brother; but there must be reasons for clichés, as this relationship was by far the most interesting in the book.
August 1, 2009
I found the nonlinear narrative distracting and annoying, and while the author writes well in places, other large sections are backstory purely told, and boring to read through. There are some good parts and interesting observations, but all in all, a slog I didn't finish.
August 3, 2016
The joys of reading Deirdre Madden's novel 'Authenticity' were few and far between. The sorry fact is that I did not enjoy reading this book half as much as I had hoped. To read my full review see my blog :
http://mybookaffair.blogspot.com/2012...
http://mybookaffair.blogspot.com/2012...
March 11, 2015
A bit of a challenge to stay engaged with the reading; narrative could be faster in tempo.
Am sticking with it as I am interested in creative process and this author has a handle on that reality. I also appreciate the setting; ahh...Dublin. Quite nice
Am sticking with it as I am interested in creative process and this author has a handle on that reality. I also appreciate the setting; ahh...Dublin. Quite nice
July 25, 2019
Loved this book. Julia is an artist who is barely making a living selling her art but gets by working in an antique shop. She is in a relationship with Robert, a successful artist 20 years older who is reeling from a broken marriage and alcoholism. Julia meets William in the park and realises he is suicidal. She decides to tell his wife . William is a lawyer who always wanted to be an artist. The book reviews the childhoods of all three, thereby showing how they arrived at where they are today. Very well written, sympathetic to the characters, lots of art information. A wonderfully written book .
May 9, 2023
This is a highly unusual book about people who make art their life and sacrifice a lot for it, and people who don't and suffer because they negate who they were. I liked the novel from the start and found Madden's style very engaging and absorbing, but how much I liked it really crept up on me.
It didn't go where I thought it would and the non-linear story telling made it move slower than anticipated, but at the end I felt I truly knew these people and their struggles. There's a scene between one of the main characters and one of his daughters, where they are trying to reconnect after a long time apart, and it just touched me so very much. It felt very real and tender and fragile.
Deirdre Madden is such a great author and I'm still very glad I stumbled upon her last summer. I just wish she'd published more novels for me to dive into, but I'll be sure to reread this.
It didn't go where I thought it would and the non-linear story telling made it move slower than anticipated, but at the end I felt I truly knew these people and their struggles. There's a scene between one of the main characters and one of his daughters, where they are trying to reconnect after a long time apart, and it just touched me so very much. It felt very real and tender and fragile.
Deirdre Madden is such a great author and I'm still very glad I stumbled upon her last summer. I just wish she'd published more novels for me to dive into, but I'll be sure to reread this.
August 25, 2018
Although the ending was a little too neat for my taste, this book was beautifully written. Elegant. Resonated deeply with me.
January 13, 2021
Such a beautiful and poignant novel about art but mostly about being alive.
June 10, 2021
A wonderful read.
August 8, 2007
I not quite sure why I liked this book so much; it's so different than what I usually read. I liked diving into the artistic world. Each charcter has their own struggles that correspond and contrast to the others. I loved the way this book was constantly in flashback...at each new chapter you don't know where the author will take you.
April 29, 2014
This book is an easy, entertaining, relaxing read. I don't have any strong opinions on the plot, the characters or the style, but I can't think of any particular reason to read or not to read it. If I had one criticism it would be that it all resolves a little too neatly at the end.
September 9, 2008
I really enjoyed the way Madden portrays the life of an artist; the way if defines your personal relationships.
December 17, 2010
Quiet, contemplative novel about the lives of various artists and how they intersect.
September 25, 2012
Не особено интересното резюме изобщо не подсказва какво се крие между страниците. Нещо което не очаквах да намеря там, но което дълго ще помня. Великолепно написана книга. Болезнено искрена също.
November 3, 2013
I like the this book but, did not overtake me but, it has its moments. I will keep the book just the same its a good book,but it didn't make a great impression on me.
June 24, 2013
loved it!
November 6, 2014
Although I thought one of the characters( Julia) was quite pretentious and irritating, I found this a very interesting novel.
March 1, 2015
I remember this one being very well written, but not much else, which is why I'm only giving it four stars.
December 22, 2015
This is an interesting and well-written book about what it means to live (and not live) the creative life. I wrote a little review at https://adiamond.me/2015/12/authentic...
January 30, 2017
true and inspirational.
June 27, 2015
a dense and thoughtfully written book about life, art, relationships and the examined life.
March 27, 2017
(The old-fashioned narrative voice is a bit odd for a novel whose protagonist is in her late twenties)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews