Life Mask
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Review
'A born writer' New York Times Book Review '... another bright, bruising slice of eighteenth-century life in London ... Why should Michel Faber hog the glory?' Elle 'Donoghue's latest book pulsates with the vibrancy of London in an era that couldn't be more extravagant. While Mad King George was teetering on the throne, the grotesquely privileged carried on a gaudy social whirl' Time Out
Sunday Telegraph
‘Emma Donoghue is a scrupulous researcher with a knack for unearthing telling details and bringing them to life’
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
`The Thames was loosening, its thin skin of ice cracked open by thousands of small boats, as if spring were on its way. The carriage with the Derby arms gilded on the side forced its way down Whitehall through a tangle of vehicles and pedestrians.'
The opening of this 600 page novel could come from a Regency romance and its tone takes a little while to settle down. This is an accomplished historical novel, set in the late eighteenth century and exploring the lifestyle of `the World', the `Beau Mode', the `Bon Ton'. The `World' is the small world of the aristocracy there by birth and those there by virtue of talent or ambition. The character list is large and includes Charles Fox, Horace Walpole, the Prince Regent and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. They are familiar to me from Amanda Foreman's fine biography of the Duchess of Devonshire and Stella Tillyard's fascinating Aristocrats, about the Lennox sisters.
Donoghue has three protagonists: Eliza Farren, a gifted actress known for her roles in Drury Lane; the Earl of Derby, smitten with Farren and Anne Damer, gifted sculptor and god daughter of Horace Walpole. Their real life stories are intriguing and Donoghue manages her material well. There are the odd times when it seems she didn't want to waste her research - so one character will tell another an interesting fact. In the main, she takes us through the French Revolution, the long opposition by Charles Fox, the interminable courtship of Farren by Derby with verve and humour and clarity. Anne Damer and Eliza Farren are both leading independent lives in London and becomes friends - a friendship which breaks when they are accused of unnatural feelings! This subject matter and the historical novel has led to Donoghue being compared to Sarah Waters but their styles are very different.
I've since spent time researching these fascinating characters. Brava!
The opening of this 600 page novel could come from a Regency romance and its tone takes a little while to settle down. This is an accomplished historical novel, set in the late eighteenth century and exploring the lifestyle of `the World', the `Beau Mode', the `Bon Ton'. The `World' is the small world of the aristocracy there by birth and those there by virtue of talent or ambition. The character list is large and includes Charles Fox, Horace Walpole, the Prince Regent and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. They are familiar to me from Amanda Foreman's fine biography of the Duchess of Devonshire and Stella Tillyard's fascinating Aristocrats, about the Lennox sisters.
Donoghue has three protagonists: Eliza Farren, a gifted actress known for her roles in Drury Lane; the Earl of Derby, smitten with Farren and Anne Damer, gifted sculptor and god daughter of Horace Walpole. Their real life stories are intriguing and Donoghue manages her material well. There are the odd times when it seems she didn't want to waste her research - so one character will tell another an interesting fact. In the main, she takes us through the French Revolution, the long opposition by Charles Fox, the interminable courtship of Farren by Derby with verve and humour and clarity. Anne Damer and Eliza Farren are both leading independent lives in London and becomes friends - a friendship which breaks when they are accused of unnatural feelings! This subject matter and the historical novel has led to Donoghue being compared to Sarah Waters but their styles are very different.
I've since spent time researching these fascinating characters. Brava!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
review by Marie Lloyd
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Having read Slammerkin and not liking it very much, due I think to the main female character being someone I could just not like,I was a little apprehensive about Life mask. How different these books are. Other than some of the political parts of the book being a little dull, I thought it was brilliant. All the main characters are likeable and in some ways there is a happy ending, unlike Slammerkin. I have learned so much about that time period which I didn't know and about some of the people who I had heard of. I have been so interested in this book I have put names into google and found pictures for all the main characters. I have looked at the sculptures mentioned too. For me the main character was Anne Damer and not Eliza Farren, Anne came across as a lovely person and the pictures of her I think support this. I now have a big crush. If you like books about historical figures and love stories with happy endings you cannot fail with this book. 10 out of 10.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Having read Slammerkin and not liking it very much, due I think to the main female character being someone I could just not like,I was a little apprehensive about Life mask. How different these books are. Other than some of the political parts of the book being a little dull, I thought it was brilliant. All the main characters are likeable and in some ways there is a happy ending, unlike Slammerkin. I have learned so much about that time period which I didn't know and about some of the people who I had heard of. I have been so interested in this book I have put names into google and found pictures for all the main characters. I have looked at the sculptures mentioned too. For me the main character was Anne Damer and not Eliza Farren, Anne came across as a lovely person and the pictures of her I think support this. I now have a big crush. If you like books about historical figures and love stories with happy endings you cannot fail with this book. 10 out of 10.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
"There were words for women like her... Women who asked for more than had been allotted to them."
29 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback
I hesitated when deciding on a star rating for this book. When it's good, it's very very good; Donaghue really can write. Anne Damer is the most interesting character, and the story was strongest when focused on her. Rumours of "sapphism" plague her, although she swears there is no truth in them. And yet, her warm friendships with women are tinged with jealousy, while she recoils from romantic or matrimonial entanglements with men. How long, the reader wonders, can she continue to deny her own nature, even to herself?
The other main characters are Eliza and Derby. Derby's devotion and Eliza's insistence on keeping her virtue (Derby is still legally married, although long separated from his wife) seem touching at first. However, when Eliza tells Anne that she thinks Derby "a silly man", I lost patience with her and wished for the interminable courtship to end.
The political background (the madness of King George, the French revolution) provides an interesting backdrop, but too much of it is background noise. Politicians and aristocrats walk on and off, seeming interchangeable (apart from some colourful souls like Walpole and Lady Georgiana). Far too many events are described second-hand or were only tangentially related to the overall plot.
If the book focused more on the personal relationships, and tried less to cram in a history lesson, I would have given a 4 or 5 star.
The other main characters are Eliza and Derby. Derby's devotion and Eliza's insistence on keeping her virtue (Derby is still legally married, although long separated from his wife) seem touching at first. However, when Eliza tells Anne that she thinks Derby "a silly man", I lost patience with her and wished for the interminable courtship to end.
The political background (the madness of King George, the French revolution) provides an interesting backdrop, but too much of it is background noise. Politicians and aristocrats walk on and off, seeming interchangeable (apart from some colourful souls like Walpole and Lady Georgiana). Far too many events are described second-hand or were only tangentially related to the overall plot.
If the book focused more on the personal relationships, and tried less to cram in a history lesson, I would have given a 4 or 5 star.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Oh what a waste of time...
I came over this book really cheap and thought, hey this might be good. Well it wasn't so it was a good thing it was cheap. Read more
Published on 12 Feb 2009 by Grottis
paper thin plot
I was really looking forward to reading this and was hugely disappointed: the plot (is there a plot?) is minimal and the characters go nowhere. Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2007 by Roman Clodia
Very disappointing
Having enjoyed Slammerkin, I couldn't wait for this book but was sorely disappointed.
At page 297 I wondered why we were still setting the scene instead of getting into... Read more
At page 297 I wondered why we were still setting the scene instead of getting into... Read more
Published on 7 May 2007 by Thierry
Historical with bite
A perfect antitode to the flood of Regency romances currently packing out bookshops. Emma Donoghue, like Melanie Gifford and, to an extent, Sarah Waters, is not afraid to endow... Read more
Published on 5 May 2007 by I. Garbutt
A rediscovery of the 18th-century
I have to admit that, with the exception of joyfully breezing through Jane Austen, I generally find 18th-century novels hardgoing. Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2007 by Zannie
Living in interesting times
There's a missing period of English history for those of us who studied in English schools; we learned lots about Nazi Germany and the Tudors, but even when reading Jane Austen,... Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2006 by Grumpy old woman
total lack of plot + unsympathetic characters = 2/5
Most books, I find, are focused either on character development or on plot. Life Mask, regrettably, is focused on neither. Read more
Published on 23 July 2006 by la_pretzel
life mask by emma donoghue
please save your time and money, and do not attempt to read this very boring book
Published on 1 May 2006 by Seema Gupta
Breathtaking
This is the first book I've read by Emma( a huge crime I know) but I'm completely amazed at how brilliant it was and how she ever could have escaped my attention. Read more
Published on 22 Sep 2005
Brilliant
Emma Donoghue is a weaver of words. It can take a couple chapters to get into Life Mask, but it's well worth it. Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2004 by JR
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