malvord27's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book overall. The writing style was good, the subject interesting, etc. The protagonist holds a lot back from the reader, and you're left to fill in the blanks or update your understanding when new details are revealed. I do wish we'd gotten to know Robin better. I know we didn't because the sisters weren't close, but it would've been interesting to understand her perspective of the entire story.
wordnerdy's review against another edition
2.0
The protagonist of this novel is a woman whose mother achieved fame and fortune by taking photographs of her young daughter naked. As an adult, the daughter has cut off all contact with her mother, until news reachers that her mother is dying. She struggles to come to terms with the role the photographs played in her own life while trying to raise her own daughter. Blah. This book was pretty good, but I wished they had fleshed out some of the characters more (like the protagonist's older sister). The ending also didn't do much for me. B-.
zelbel2016's review against another edition
5.0
I found this book in a used book store. The Winter Park Used book store to be exact. First of all I would like to say that this book store is amazing. I got this book for a dollar and It was easily a fourteen dollar book. I loved this book. It had a a very "jodi Picoult" feel to it.
The story starts with Clara a women who has established herself within the routine of a normal life. She has a loving husband, and a beautiful nine year old daughter. She resides in a sleepy town, safe away from civilization. All of this bliss however is threatened by Clara's past which is brought up as her mother Ruth slowly detoriates from Lung Cancer.
All of Clara's childhood Ruth took pictures of her. Not cute little pictures of girls feeding ducks or dancing around in dresses. No, Ruth took images of Clara naked all the way up to her fourteenth birthday and then posted these pictures in her art galleries throughout New York. The pictures where called "evocative" and "raw" but by some they where refereed to as "porn" and "inappropriate" Clara grew up under the shadow of these pictures and was never able to live a normal life. She blames her mother for this and has kept her daughter and herself out of her mothers reach. Yet now she must face the decision of allowing her life to once again mix with her artists mother, or let her mother wither away alone.
This novel was very thought provoking. First of all it made me think about what "art" exactly is. Should art be pornographic, should nudes even be considered art? Is art still art when the subject is unwilling or unwanting of the attention that that art will bring? This book pulls to question the connection between mother and child and most importantly what exactly it means to be a good mother.
I devoured this book and thought it was an excellent addition to my continued summer reading. I hope that anyone else who reads it finds this just as enjoyable.
Many blessings and good readings!
The story starts with Clara a women who has established herself within the routine of a normal life. She has a loving husband, and a beautiful nine year old daughter. She resides in a sleepy town, safe away from civilization. All of this bliss however is threatened by Clara's past which is brought up as her mother Ruth slowly detoriates from Lung Cancer.
All of Clara's childhood Ruth took pictures of her. Not cute little pictures of girls feeding ducks or dancing around in dresses. No, Ruth took images of Clara naked all the way up to her fourteenth birthday and then posted these pictures in her art galleries throughout New York. The pictures where called "evocative" and "raw" but by some they where refereed to as "porn" and "inappropriate" Clara grew up under the shadow of these pictures and was never able to live a normal life. She blames her mother for this and has kept her daughter and herself out of her mothers reach. Yet now she must face the decision of allowing her life to once again mix with her artists mother, or let her mother wither away alone.
This novel was very thought provoking. First of all it made me think about what "art" exactly is. Should art be pornographic, should nudes even be considered art? Is art still art when the subject is unwilling or unwanting of the attention that that art will bring? This book pulls to question the connection between mother and child and most importantly what exactly it means to be a good mother.
I devoured this book and thought it was an excellent addition to my continued summer reading. I hope that anyone else who reads it finds this just as enjoyable.
Many blessings and good readings!
breecreative's review against another edition
3.0
Couldn't decide what to rate this one, but went with 3 stars, lol. It was a good book...not GREAT, and probably not what it could have been. Still a good read, though. I felt sympathetic to the character, but at times it felt like I didn't know what she was thinking/doing, or her reasoning behind things. But I liked how through the story it flashed back to the days when she was a child being photographed, and gave us the back story, too.
britakate's review against another edition
First book I've read with "Jennifer Jackson" named in the acknowledgments!
renae's review against another edition
5.0
Yet another excellent book by Dani Shapiro. The was so good, I couldn't put it down. Read it in 2 days. It's pretty depressing but like a train wreck, you can't turn away.
thisgrrlreads's review against another edition
4.0
A photographer made famous by nude photographs of her daughter, Clara, is Clara's secret until her mother gets sick. This book is about the power of secrets, both kept and revealed. Really, it's about the power of revealing secrets (see: the fabulous second half of the book). If you don't really like the first half, keep reading. It turns incredible about halfway through.
canadianbookworm's review
3.0
Clara hasn't seen her mother in fourteen years when she left home at eighteen. Her mother Ruth is a famous photographer, most famous for a series she did of Clara. The series covered Clara from the age of 3 to 14, all of them naked. Clara has stayed in touch with her older sister Robin, who lives in New York City with her husband and three children and who has become a lawyer like their father. When Robin calls Clara to tell her Ruth is ill and Robin can't cope, Clara goes to New York and visits with her mother. Ruth is much more ill than Clara had expected, dying of lung cancer, but the issue of the photographs is still between them, and Clara still hasn't dealt with her feelings of hurt around them. As Clara, along with her husband and daughter deal with Ruth's dying they must also deal with the issue of the photographs.
Very interesting issue around the photographs and the rights of the mother and artist as opposed to those of Clara. We see the history of the photos, the public image and reactions, and the family dynamics around it all. There is a lot going on here emotionally to keep the reader interested.
Very interesting issue around the photographs and the rights of the mother and artist as opposed to those of Clara. We see the history of the photos, the public image and reactions, and the family dynamics around it all. There is a lot going on here emotionally to keep the reader interested.