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(More customer reviews)After being immersed in delicious piles of children's & YA books I changed course long enough to read "The Forest Lover." 1st, because long ago I was intrigued by Emily Carr's art; 2nd, our lifetimes overlapped; 3rd, the author's "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" is near the top of my *Vermeer List*; and 4th, for the joy of reading about a woman with great talents who overcame many obstacles including three inflexible, stuffily 'religious' sisters.
In the *Author's Afterword* Vreeland says her story is a look at Carr's 'courageous and extraordinary life'(p.329). My favorite quotation by the artist is when she exclaimed late in life: "DON'T PICKLE ME AWAY AS A DONE" (p.331). Even after two heart attacks and a stroke Emily Carr was pushing herself around on a makeshift wheeled crate in order to keep painting. She died in 1945 at age 74.
Her paintings reflected her spirit as well as the spirit of the forests and native people she grew to love. She was intrepid; the paintings astonishing. She was 'gutsy' and her art could be disturbing. They sometimes mirrored her melancholy; hers was a lonely life. I see echoes of Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible" in Vreeland's commentary on the miserable treatment natives were handed out by bureaucrats and 'men of God'. The torments they caused!
Susan Vreeland was writing this book for 17 years. She said "In paint and words, Emily Carr casts a tall shadow, one which has accompanied me in western forests" - this from her experience kayacking into the north country to search for remnants of the totem poles Carr had sacrificed so much to capture on canvas.
Some reviewers have carped about Vreeland introducing fictional characters and relationships in her story. 1st, let's remember this IS FICTION; 2nd, writers often do this to entice a wider audience. If this book serves to introduce hundreds more readers to Emily Carr and the wrongs she fought against, then I say "Amen" - "so be it"; 3rd, the author, in trying to portray the artist's spirit felt she could take 'certain liberties' because Emily, herself, altered facts and chronology in her own writings. And why shouldn't someone as passionate about her painting as Carr also have passionate relationships? One Amazon reviewer has gone a step beyond objecting to fictional love scenes; he/she ridicules the actions and language used as though anyone can say what is a "proper" way of writing about love!
Vreeland describes (Part II) Carr's experiences in France in a most engaging way. It was the time of Monet and Van Gogh although Carr did not meet these men. The author captures vividly the critical eye of Parisians and the manner in which Carr's art evolved. Carr's was a truly amazing achievement, as a Canadian and a woman, to have a painting shown in the prestigious Salon d'Automne. She returned to British Columbia with a new confidence in her technique.
Late in life Emily Carr was gratified to receive acclaim: "Hers is the greatest contribution of all time to historic art of the Pacific slopes. Miss Carr is essentially of the Canadian West *not by reason of her subject matter alone but by her approach to it*"(from the Ottawa "Citizen"). I find her paintings to be spirit-filled and/or spiritual (according to your individual interpretation); her colors bold and lush. When you come to the end of this book - a glorious adventure for the reader - remember it as a fictionalized account told with love and admiration for someone who lived 'before her time' and captured the true essence of her surroundings.
REVIEWER mcHAIKU remains in awe of the subject and heartily applauds the author.
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