A review by booklane
The Art of Falling by Danielle McLaughlin

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 

“To be, rather than to to seem” are the first words in the novel and the motto carved in stone upon entering a school. Upon exiting, we find the same words in Latin, having learnt our lesson. Are we really what we seem, the image we project onto the world? This complex, gripping novel explores the different facets of illusion and betrayal and what kind of compromises we strike with our secrets. 

Phillip and Nessa are married and live in the Cork are with their teen daughter. Nessa is an art curator currently working on the acquisition of a Chalk Sculpture, the highest point of deceased artist Robert Locke’s creative output. Philip deals in real estate but is in financial difficulties. He has had a recent affair with the mother of their daughter’s best friend, which makes Nessa resentful and their daughter miserable. But can Nessa really claim the moral high ground? Once the husband and son of Nessa’s best friend (who committed suicide) reappear in her life and a stranger comes out of the blue claiming authorship of the Chalk Sculpture, we start wondering if we can put anything or anyone on a pedestal at all. Certainly not for too long. 

To fall off a pedestal without disintegrating is an art in itself. McLaughlin is interested in the aftermath of the fall: how we live with our lies, how we process the damage, how we make reparation and how we can possibly piece ourselves together again, like in the art of Kintsugi. And she does so in a multi-layered, carefully orchestrated plot that kept the pages turning. Most characters are purposely imperfect, unpleasant and flawed, which makes them vivid psychological portraits. Among other things, I was really taken in by the mystery surrounding the Chalk Sculpture. The doubts surrounding its attribution, the question of its fragility and ephemerality, its contested value as expression of pure genius – they all contribute to make it a powerful metaphor for what happens in the novel. 

An engaging, redemptive novel on being flawed and utterly human, certainly a recommended read.