- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Chatto & Windus (2 Mar 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0701179821
- ISBN-13: 978-0701179823
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 241,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"* 'Few authors share Margaret Forster's extraordinary ability to transform the ordinary day-to-day activities of unremarkable people into compelling fiction.' Daily Mail * 'Forster excels at depicting ordinary lives. In this beautifully controlled novel [Is There Anything You Want?], those who cannot articulate their emotional problems are eaten away by them.' Independent on Sunday * 'This [Is There Anything You Want?] is a very fine, continuously interesting, and often moving work, all the better because it is so firmly rooted in the ordinary world of everyday experience... far better than most novels that carry off prizes.' Scotsman * 'A latterday anatomy of melancholy written with insight, wit and tremendous style.' Spectator"
Simon Humphreys – Mail on Sunday
'fine novel…an inspired reflection on the redemptive potential of art’
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 55 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A novel following the journey of a small but intriguing painting through the 20th century, this could have been a weighty, academic or predictable novel. In Forster's hands it is affecting, intruiging and powerful - all of this achieved without recourse to mannerism, bodice-ripping or other devices common to historical fiction. Few living writers are as effortlessy persuasive as Forser, whether on the subject of art or the perspectives of women through time. This is a literary novel, but at the same time a great and surprising read. I loved it.
49 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A beatifully wrought story of a seemingly modest but intriguing work of art making its way through the 20th century, and touching the lives of different women along the way. The concept may seem academic, but Forster's perception, zest and powers of empathy make it a delightful and surprising journey, peopled with characters it is delightful to stay with. A very satisfying read from one of our best living authors.
44 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Margaret Forster is right back on form with this novel. I was sadly disappointed with her last one Is There Anything You Want but Keeping The World Away is a brilliant return to form. The story of the painting and the women whose lives it touched was grippint, like a short series of linked novellas, the women all very different but all connected through ownership of a small painting.
This book makes it clear why Margaret Fiorster is one author whose novels I will always buy as soon as they come out, she is incapable of writing a bad book, her disappointing novel was only disappointing against her usual high standards but still a book lesser authors would struggle to write.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Beautiful and Ingenious
A cleverly-worked out and very well-written novel about the fate of a Gwen John painting. During her love affair with Rodin, Gwen John paints a small oil of her room (based closely... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Kate Hopkins
A story of a painting
I must admit I'm not one for romantic soppy novels, so, when I read the dust jacket notes for this book I was unconvinced this would not descend into that sort of a book. Read more
Published 17 months ago by surevu
A book written from the female perspective
This is as one would expect from Margaret Forster a highly polished novel with a historical bent. This time she takes Gwen John the lesser know sister of Augustus as her starting... Read more
Published on 2 May 2010 by Polson Brown
For the love of Rodin
After reading 'Keeping the World Away' I couldn't stop thinking about it. The novel is a fictional account of the travels of an actual painting by Gwen John and what it means to... Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2010 by Isola
A picture by Gwen John
I am a fan of Margaret Forster so I read this book expecting to enjoy it and I did enjoy it very much. Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2010 by Thelma Batchelor
Unputdownable
I found this a bit slow to start, but then the story took off and I found it a real page turner. The lives of the women who owned the painting were very different. Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2009 by Catharine Woodliffe
Too many coincidences to be a great fiction book
This was given to me as this months book club read, I looked at all the reviews on Amazon and was looking forward to reading the book. Read more
Published on 4 Feb 2009 by P. Williams
Charming and thought-provoking
I had never read a book by Margaret Forster before, and am utterly smitten. I am now on the search for other books by her, hoping that this was not a "one-off".
Published on 26 Jan 2008 by Kentish Bookworm
A haunting story, utterly absorbing
Until now I was never a great fan of Margaret Forster but I found this book utterly absorbing. The effect of a seemingly unassuming little painting on the women whose lives it... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2008 by Suzie
Quiet, haunting and gentle
Everything I have read by Margaret Forster I have enjoyed immensely. This novel is no exception. It tells the story about how a painting was created by the ending of a love affair... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2008 by Dora Brown
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