Americas : The Forest Lover A Novel
The Art of Emily Carr | 
 | 80% Recommended by our customers.
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Manufacturer: Penguin Books Canada, Limited
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 Artistic Impressions
The Forest Lover - Susan Vreeland
3 stars
Emily Carr was a post impressionist Canadian artist who died in 1945. Forest Lover is an uneven fictionalized biography of her life as a struggling female painter. I find the woman and her work to be fascinating, but this retelling of her life leaves much to be desired. The story begins with Emily as a grown woman trying to scratch a living as an artist. She teaches art to well-to-do ladies and their children, but is continually dissatisfied with the limits placed on her life and her art. Throughout the book Vreeland creates some fictional relationships for Emily, but none of these friendships seem to have depth and they continue to feel fictional as the story progresses.
After reading this book, I read more about the life of Emily Carr. The more I know about her, the less satisfied I am with The Forest Lover. Apparently, Carr first studied art in San Francisco and later in London. These experiences get only passing reference in Vreeland's book. Vreeland does capture the depth of Carr's interest and sympathy for native people, but again I felt the personal relationships were improbable. The redeeming feature of this book was Vreeland's descriptions of the physical difficulties Carr had to endure to create her master works. I couldn't believe the relationship with the French Canadian trapper/trader, but the details of the constant rain and the pestilential mosquitoes made me want to run for cover
Last two thirds of the book become interesting
Turn of the century historical novel about the life and paintings of Emily Carr. Emily Carr has been compared to Georgia O'Keefe and other female painters who have a distinguished artistic style. Emily Carr's subjects are the primitive British Columbia native tribal cultures, which her paintings preserved as the cultures disappeared. Emily lived until 1945: long enough to know her bold, huge, impressionist paintings were hung in Canadian museums and recognized as works equal to the male impressionists of the same period. The author creates interesting characters which are the backdrop for Emily Carr's history. The first third of the story starts out slowly, but becomes interesting so that the last two thirds make the book an interesting, educational, good ending read.
The Forest Lover
This was my first introduction to Emily Carr and her paintings. While I liked the character of Emily, I felt more drawn to the peripheral characters that Vreeland described for us as being a part of Emily's world. I wanted to know more about her sisters, especially the elder who seemed to have such a heavy burden placed on her at a young age what with having to raise her siblings. And my heart broke for poor Sophie Frank, and learning that Vreeland under-reported the number of children she lost is devastating, especially knowing that many of that time did not look kindly upon the native population. That Carr made it, even after having to stop painting for awhile, is thrilling and I cannot wait to view some of her works in person and to find out more about this fascinating personality.
Totemally awesome
This engrossing book examines a largely ignored art and the people who make and worship them. I have seen some totem poles in various museums and like this novel, they feel alive. Great so stay with it.
 The Forest Lover
I read this book for a class and can't imagine why it was chosen. I really had a hard time getting through it. I liked Vreeland's other books but what happened to this one? It did inspire me to go to the web and view Emily Carr's paintings. Can't recommend this.
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