Deluged With Books Cafe

The Forest Lover  tells the life of Emily Carr, a Canadian painter who endeavours to capture the untamed beauty of the Northwest landscape in her paintings and preserve the memory of Aboriginal totem poles that is slowly dying. After reading   The Passion of Artemisia , I started collecting Susan Vreeland books for its intimate portrayals of women and their passion in art. Emily displays the common qualities of Vreeland’s selection of figures; an ardent spirit and inimitable courage. The fictional account, based on some historical facts, depicts the journeys of Emily along the windy coast of British Columbia visiting old villages of the indigenous people, traipsing amidst the dense foliage of the old forests, and her struggle of identity in her art. Vreeland’s writing, blustery and mournfully introspective, almost echoes the atmosphere of the scenery. It is not perhaps a coincidence that it mirrors the way Emily delivers her brushstrokes on canvas, catching the ...

Mrs. Poe was one of those stories that creeps up on you. It makes you curious at first and then the further along you go, the more you want to know. This is a book I usually categorized as fictionalized biographies, we are given real people but the story is made up, usually based on some facts but overall is the product of creative imagination. The setting is New York in 1845, and the characters are the well known figures in the literary world. At this time Edgar Allan Poe is the current star. The premise is based on a rumor of his unfounded affair with Frances Osgood, another writer of poetry. She at this particular time was relatively well known for writing children's stories but is also publishing poetry. Both were married at this time. If you go by facts the so called affair was based on a rumor and some of Mrs. Osgood's poetry published then was suggestive that there was something between her and Poe. Surprisingly enough, Mrs. Poe, Virginia, seemed to encourage...