The Drawing Lesson: The First in the Trilogy of Remembrance

Mary E. Martin
iUniverse (2010)
ISBN 9781450229364
Reviewed by Carol Hoyer, PhD, for Reader Views (11/10)

 

I found “The Drawing Lesson” will keep readers captivated and wanting more. Having not read any of the works by this author, I really had nothing to compare to. However, the ability to write a “today” story with the language of long ago must be hard to do, but the author did an excellent job.

The story revolves around artist Alexander Wainwright’s painting and is told through the eyes of James Helmsworth who promotes art. Alexander has a unique gift when completing his landscapes that have a wonderful light that shows even when his scenes are of night time. Each artist wants to win the covenanted Turner prize and jealousy comes alive between competitors.

One such jealous artist is known as Rinaldo. The difference between Rinaldo and Alexander is how they think art should be portrayed. As Alexander starts questioning his art and his eyesight is going he finds that he start obsessing about trolls and they come out in his pictures.

We often find throughout history that many great artists and philosophers had “demons” they must fight and so we see this in our characters. Many times in our lives even today, our past comes to haunt us and we must deal with it or go insane.

This is not a fast read; you must read and think and analyze. Each person who reads this book will perceive it a different way. This is much more than a book about an artist that has a unique talent- it involves jealousy, mental health concerns, and deceit. “The Drawing Lesson” is a great read.

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