BOOK REVIEW: The Glimpse
by Lis Bensley
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ABOUT THE BOOK (from Amazon):
Liza Baker, a rising star in the burgeoning Abstract Expressionist era, finds herself sidelined when she gets pregnant, and decides to have the child. Yet, against conventional wisdom, she’s convinced she can have a successful career and be a good mother to her daughter, Rouge.
She takes a job teaching at a college and comes up against the harsh realities of the male-dominated art world. Unable to build a successful career, she watches as her former lover, whose work resembles hers, skyrocket to fame. Liza develops a drinking problem and often brings home artist lovers she’s met in the city. When Rouge meets Ben Fuller, one of Liza’s discarded lovers who subsequently fosters Rouge talent in photography, the complexity of the mother-daughter relationship takes on the added charge of a competition between the two, one that Liza tries to sabotage.
THE GLIMPSE is a moving, unsentimental tale of the charged New York art world of the 1950s and the relationship between a mother and daughter as they grapple with their relationship that becomes pivotal to their artwork.
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I was a given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Here it is…
When I started reading this book, I could tell right away that it was very well-written. With art being a major theme of the book, however, I was afraid it wouldn’t hold my interest. But that was not an issue.
The story seems to move slowly, yet a lot is happening at the same time. It starts with Liza, a passionate young artist with hopes and dreams for her future, and it flips back and forth with the story of Liza’s daughter Rogue about 15 years later.
What happens when a woman chooses to compromise her dreams and bring a new life into the world? Will Liza ever know what it’s like to achieve success as an artist? Will Rogue ever feel loved after being raised by a single mom who spends all of her time in her studio creating art, getting drunk, and sleeping with random men?
The drama that unfolds between mother and daughter is thought-provoking when a man comes into their lives and changes their perspective on everything.
I enjoyed this story.