Interesting novel depicting a British Columbian artist at the turn of the century, and her personal quest to paint totem poles and other Native American scenes. Her life struck me as rather odd and lonely, but perhaps it is because I do not understand the depth of her art. ( )

"The Forest Lover" is a bio-novel about the British Columbia artist Emily Carr. She's one of those Canadian painters who we never seem to hear about in the USA. A "turn of the 19th to 20th century" figure, Carr is portrayed as a heroic proto-feminist, far ahead of her time in her sensitivity to "First Nations" peoples on the west coast. Carr is certainly someone who I'd like to know more about - I'm sure I had never heard of her before this book. (One of the clerks at the independent bookstore here in Iron Harbor had recommended the novel to me.) I've tried to look at some of her canvases on the internet, but perhaps they don't really do her justice. The paintings don't really come across very well on the pixelated screen. I imagine they are more convincing in person. She seems to have been something of a Canadian Henri Rousseau, at least in the way that she strikes me as being consciously "naive."

Vreeland's novel is only partially successful, in my opinion. Some of the descriptive passages exploring the dense forests of the northwest are very striking. But large portions of the dialogue are painfully didactic, so obviously "making a point" about which people are "good" and which people are "bad". If I hadn't been interested in Emily Carr in herself, I would never have finished the book. ( )

About the artist Emily Carr ( )

Can a woman artist be simply appreciated as an artist regardless of gender? Can Whites appreciate native culture without appropriating it? Can a person fall in love with nature and stil be considered religious? Susan Vreeland examines these questions through the fictionalized story of Emily Carr, painter of the Canadian West in the early to mid-twentieth centuries. Vreeland captures Carr's love of nature, her appreciation for the art and life of native people and her exploration and expansion of the art world through this rich novel. Well recommended. ( )

When I bought this book I really had no idea what it was about. The title and cover were what intrigued me. It turned out to be a truly excellent book, based on the life of Canadian artist Emily Carr who lived during the Victorian era. Truly magnificent. ( )