Heaven 2024: June Book Group: "Notes from an Exhibition" by Patrick Gale
Starting the thread a couple of days early as I'm away over the weekend.
When troubled artist Rachel Kelly dies she leaves behind not only her work but the effect she had on those close to her. Her story and theirs, across forty years and from Cornwall to Canada, are woven around the pieces of her art. This is the second Patrick Gale I've read and thoroughly enjoyed. I look forward to the discussion.
When troubled artist Rachel Kelly dies she leaves behind not only her work but the effect she had on those close to her. Her story and theirs, across forty years and from Cornwall to Canada, are woven around the pieces of her art. This is the second Patrick Gale I've read and thoroughly enjoyed. I look forward to the discussion.
Comments
I'll put the questions up tomorrow afternoon (UK time),
What did you think of the format of the story unfolding around an introductory passage at the beginning of each chapter, about a piece of Rachel's work or an item from her life?
What did you think of the characters? Do you have a favourite? Did you like or dislike any of them particularly?
Quakerism runs as a strong thread through the book. Did you think it was depicted well, realistically, sympathetically?
What did you make of Rachel's backstory? Did you find it believable? Did you feel differently about her once you knew it?
What did you think of the ending?
Have you read any other books by Patrick Gale? What did you think of them? How do they compare with this one?
Anything else you'd like to discuss?
What did you think of the format of the story unfolding around an introductory passage at the beginning of each chapter, about a piece of Rachel's work or an item from her life?
I thought it was a good way to give examples of art pieces and styles at various periods of Rachel's life and link them to the events going on in her life at the time. I am quite visual and found I could visualise the art pieces well even though they are entirely fictional.
What did you think of the characters? Do you have a favourite? Did you like or dislike any of them particularly?
I found it difficult to get a sense of who Rachel really was as we mostly saw her through the other characters' eyes. At times I felt empathy for her when tragedies befell her and when she suffered due to her mental illness, but she also seemed very selfish and unable to truly care for others. Anthony seemed a very caring a kind husband and father. I felt most connected to Hedley's story despite having nothing in common with him. I don't think Garfield was justified in having a one night affair, but at least he used the experience to be a better husband and change his career to help others. I would have liked to see more of Petroc and Morwenna's stories.
Quakerism runs as a strong thread through the book. Did you think it was depicted well, realistically, sympathetically?
I don't know enough about Quakerism to judge how accurately it was portrayed, but it was depicted sympathetically. I like the idea of Quakerism, but enjoy musical worship too much to be drawn to the Quaker denomination for my own practise. Having read a bit about Quakers in the past I have considered attending a meeting, but was scared to do so in case I did the wrong thing or did not fit in. It seems it would be easier to practise if you grew up in that branch of Christianity or were taught it by a friend or spouse as Rachel was.
What did you make of Rachel's backstory? Did you find it believable? Did you feel differently about her once you knew it?
Her family situation was realistic, particularly as she was the 'difficult' daughter. Given her mental illness her risky behaviour also seemed realistic, and unfortunately we know it is not uncommon for groups of boys to sexually assault girls, particularly if they are vulnerable or flaunt social norms for their community. However the escape from the mental hospital and the events leading up to everybody thinking Rachel/Joanie had been murdered by the other patient seemed a bit fantastical. I was a bit confused about what Rachel's sister knew and believed about the whole situation at different points in the book. Did she believe Rachel had murdered the other patient and stolen her identity? Was the book trying to give this impression before we finally got the truth? Did anyone inform the other patient's remaining family that it was their daughter that died and she was not a murderer?
What did you think of the ending?
The ending felt a bit rushed. I liked that things seemed to be working out for each family member, but a lot happened in those last few chapters, particularly to Morwenna, and it was hard to get my head around it all. As stated earlier I would have liked to see more chapters based on Morwenna and Petroc. It seemed an odd choice to suddenly give Petroc a secret son, conceived the night he died and have Morwenna suddenly stumble upon Rocky when she finally returned home.
Have you read any other books by Patrick Gale? What did you think of them? How do they compare with this one?
I haven't read any of Patrick Gale's other books.
Anything else you'd like to discuss?[/quote]
I was expecting more of the book to be about Rachel's relationships and interactions with other Cornish artists, however perhaps that was difficult given they were real people.
I enjoyed the book and as I bought the ebook I plan to reread it at sometime now I know the full story and will perhaps pick up things I missed.
I very much enjoyed it. The fact that it was episodic made for great holiday reading.
What did you think of the format of the story unfolding around an introductory passage at the beginning of each chapter, about a piece of Rachel's work or an item from her life?
I really enjoyed that. I wrote something once based on an imaginary picture of some sisters, and I think it was a good way to frame the story. The swimming costume and the hair clip for instance.
What did you think of the characters? Do you have a favourite? Did you like or dislike any of them particularly?
They were all well-drawn and believable. Maybe that was one of the strength of Gale's writing, as I went along with Anthony suddenly scooping Rachel off and taking her home, because the way it was written made it sound plausible. I liked Hedley too, and I was glad he and Oliver seemed to have come back together at the end.
Quakerism runs as a strong thread through the book. Did you think it was depicted well, realistically, sympathetically?
I was a Quaker for many years, and my husband still is. I have lots of Quaker F/friends and know a few that are as saintly as Anthony. Most are much more ordinary and every day than that. Apart from making them all a little too good to be true, I thought it was a believable depiction of the Society.
What did you make of Rachel's backstory? Did you find it believable? Did you feel differently about her once you knew it?
I thought that the back story did slightly slip into the fantastic. I believed her being the difficult daughter, the gang rape and the mental hospital. The escaping and creating a new life not so much. I don't think it was explained how she got to Oxford, did she manage to do an art degree anywhere, why didn't the 'real' Rachel's family find out about the use of the passport.
What did you think of the ending?
It did seem a bit hurried, the sister, Morwenna coming home, Petroc's child all in the last fifth or so of the book. I wanted to know more. Did the aunt do what Anthony had done and take Morwenna off for a new life in Canada, did Morwenna let the others know about Rocky (Penzance isn't that big, if the likeness was that strong you'd think someone might have spotted it before). However the fact that I was left asking those sort of questions means it was a book where the character's really lived.
Have you read any other books by Patrick Gale? What did you think of them? How do they compare with this one?
We read A Place Called Winter a couple of years ago. I thought this book was better.
I loved the book. It was probably one of my 10 favourite books this year out of the almost 90 I have read to date. By and large I liked the pace at which information unfolded as we moved from one chapter to the next.
What did you think of the format of the story unfolding around an introductory passage at the beginning of each chapter, about a piece of Rachel's work or an item from her life?
I thought the introductory passages at the beginning of each chapter did an excellent job of foreshadowing an aspect of the chapter. It was incredibly clever that these were meant to be notes from a posthumous retrospective of her work.
What did you think of the characters? Do you have a favourite? Did you like or dislike any of them particularly?
I loved all of the characters. I grew very fond of Morwenna towards the end of the book. Rachel, at times, was very difficult to love.
Quakerism runs as a strong thread through the book. Did you think it was depicted well, realistically, sympathetically?
I think it was depicted sympathetically. I have no experience with it and therefore do not know if it was portrayed realistically. If it was, it is something I believe this lapsed Anglican would find very attractive. The only Quaker meeting in my province meets 200 kms away. https://newbrunswick.quaker.ca/
What did you make of Rachel's backstory? Did you find it believable? Did you feel differently about her once you knew it?
Parts of Rachel’s backstory were very believable. It was clear that Rachel lived with bipolar disorder long before it was revealed to us in the novel. I would have liked the backstory to have been revealed to us over more of the novel rather than with the introduction of her sister in the last 150 pages of the novel.
What did you think of the ending?
My copy had an afterword in which the author explained how the ending was influenced by the death of his brother in a car crash while he was in his twenties. I found that Petroc was a father to be a quite touching twist.
Have you read any other books by Patrick Gale? What did you think of them? How do they compare with this one?
I don’t believe that I have read any other books by Gale.
Anything else you'd like to discuss?
I believe he did a good of portraying a main character living with bipolar disorder. That said, if you have met one person with bipolar disorder you have simply met one person living with bipolar disorder. A very good friend of mine lives with bipolar disorder. It was only diagnosed when he ended up in hospital during a manic state.
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Very much. The first time I read it, it was one of those "Ooo, I'm really busy but I've got three minutes, I could read a bit more" books. The second time, the reread for this discussion, was rather more hurried as I had other things going on, but it was good to remind myself of it. Does anyone else find that when you're reading a book for a book group discussion (here or in real life) you read it differently? I'll definitely be rereading it again at some point, without that extra pressure.
What did you think of the format of the story unfolding around an introductory passage at the beginning of each chapter, about a piece of Rachel's work or an item from her life?
I thought it was very effective, and can't off the top of my head think of any other book I've read which has that format. It was a really interesting insight into some of her work, and the objects that played a part in her life, opening up the narrative of the following chapter.
What did you think of the characters? Do you have a favourite? Did you like or dislike any of them particularly?
I found Rachel hard to like, although she was a well developed character. I thought Antony was lovely, very patient, and on rereading it I wanted to shout out a warning to him in the early chapters as to what he was letting himself in for. I expect he thought it was all worth it, though. I liked Hedley too and, like @Sarasa , was glad that he and Oliver apparently remained together. I found Petroc almost painfully lovable - the way he was so young, so special to Rachel because of how things were for her after his birth as compared to the others, and the way he died on a high after his first sexual encounter and unknowingly left a son behind. Did anyone else fear that he was going to lose his life in the rising tide, on the beach with Rachel on his birthday? Very glad that wasn't his story.
I found Garfield's story intriguing and interesting. Garfield, though. Poor boy. Large orange cat, anyone?
Quakerism runs as a strong thread through the book. Did you think it was depicted well, realistically, sympathetically?
I have no firsthand experience of it but from what I've heard yes - realistic and sympathetic. I found it interesting that it was such a strong thread through the whole book. I did find it very slightly weird that the woman (whose name we never learn) who gave Garfield "several explicitly practical lessons" (which intriguingly then led to him and Lizzy being able to conceive a child) also turned out to be a Quaker. I wondered quite why that was... some sense of the adultery being ok because it was kept within the Quaker family...?
What did you make of Rachel's backstory? Did you find it believable? Did you feel differently about her once you knew it?
I thought it verged on the fantastical. I wasn't sure I bought into the whole exchange of identity thing, but it definitely kept the intrigue going.
What did you think of the ending?
Having read others' comments, I agree it seemed a bit rushed, with some unanswered questions about Morwenna, for example. But if Petroc had to die, it was in a better way than I'd feared (see above).
Have you read any other books by Patrick Gale? What did you think of them? How do they compare with this one?
I was introduced to Patrick Gale by my real life book group; we read Take Nothing With You, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Quite different to this one, and upsetting in places (like this one). I definitely want to read more of his.
Anything else you'd like to discuss?
I have known two people with bipolar disorder, one of them similar in many ways to Rachel (not her backstory nor her death, but the way the family functioned, or didn't function), so it was a slightly painful read from that point of view.
ditto!
But thank you, such an absorbing book, I’ve loved re-reading it.