Distinctly mixed on this. I didn’t like any of the characters really - but that’s not a necessity. What is a necessity is feeling like there has been some resolution or outcome at the end of it all. And I didn’t get that. I felt like a spent a lot of time in the presence of someone very damaged, but I didn’t feel like I came away understanding her any better than at the start. Or at least not on any deeper level. Disappointing but not terrible - just not as good as the other books that I've read recently that have been telling fictionalised versions of real people's lives (or portions of them).

This had its good moments and it had somewhere it should have been much better than it was. The main character, Lee, was generally well rounded but this seemed to focus too much on her relationship with men and this made her seem a bit flat in comparison to the other characters. The women, for the most part, seemed like caricatures of women and it would have been nice if they had a few more moments of depth.

I eventually managed to download an alternative format of this book so that I could read it. I felt it was unfair to give it a DNF because I’d wanted to read it so much!

One of the signs of a successful book for me is the desire to do additional research to understand the landscape and the real-life characters involved and that was certainly the case here. I did not know anything about Lee Miller, though did know a little Man Ray’s work.

I love art history books that take you to the heart of relationships and how those relationships influence art. Great artists never seem to have “traditional” relationships and this tempestuous affair between Man Ray and Lee Miller is no exception.

Beautifully written, once you’re through the first 50 pages, the book flies.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and Whitney Scharer for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The proof sent was unreadable, as lines were repeated throughout and the narrative impossible to follow

My thanks to Pan Macmillan/Picador for providing me with a copy of ‘The Age of Light’ by Whitney Scharer published in February. I had originally been going to review from a NetGalley eARC but had technical problems.

As a student of art history with a special interest in the Surrealists, I was looking forward to this novel and was very pleased to receive the replacement so that I could read and review properly.

The novel focuses on the relationship between Lee Miller and Man Ray in Paris from 1929 when she initially worked as his student and assistant through to their falling out in 1932 over his misappropriation of her work (among other factors).

Biographical fiction can be difficult as the writer, even with plenty of primary sources, has to use their imagination to recreate scenes and dialogue. I felt that Scharer has done well creating a strong sense of Paris in those heady days between the world wars and the community of artists whose work continues to impact the world.

I have to admit that I had never heard of Lee Miller before hearing about this book. It proved educating and engaging for the most part. The novel does focus on the day-to-day of their relationship, which while interesting in places, did at times become rather repetitive. I also found their bedroom romps a bit disconcerting.

Both Lee and Man Ray came across as very self-absorbed people and not very likeable. Their scenes at the Bal Blanc demonstrates this well. I wanted the hostess Countess Pecci-Blunt to rip into them though her restrained handling was perfect.

Certainly even with a few issues there was a lot to admire in ‘The Age of Light’ including beautiful writing. I was very taken with the glimpses we had into Lee’s later life as a war correspondent.

I finished reading wanting to know more about Lee’s wider life and her work as a photographer. I was pleased that some sources and biographies were included in the Author’s Notes. I have since bought the biography she recommended by Carolyn Burke and used the Internet to view examples of her work.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to read this book due to formatting issues. My copy included sentences which were repeated and sentences which started then with a previous sentence. This made it impossible to follow and I was unable to understand the story.
I have left this review so my Netgalley score is not affected and to alert the publisher that others may have a similar problem.

Unfortunately this would not download in a readable format so I was unable to review the ebook - i did notify Netgalley. Will keep this on my tbr pile and look out for it in the future.

Unfortunately I was unable to read this as the text keep repeating half lines all over the place making it unintelligible. Was really looking forward to reading it.

I knew nothing about either Lee Miller or Man Ray before I read this book. However, I was absolutely fascinated by this story. Several times during the time I listened to the audio version of the book did I have to take a break to google both Lee Miller Man Ray for their art.

Now, I had an ecopy of this book, but I decided to listen to the audio version during work. However, I couldn't stop listening and start reading when I got home. The narrator, Therese Plummer did such an excellent work that I just couldn't stop listening to her telling the story about Lee and Man. I have a favorite scene from the narrator, and it's when Lee and Man are in the darkroom for the first time and you can really feel the tension between them. Listening to the scene (and other intense scenes) is just, in my opinion, even better than reading them when the narrator does such a good job as with this book.

It's so easy to forget that this is just fiction (based on facts) when you read this book. The characters come to life in a way that makes you think that this is all true. Like there was a stenographer there all the time writing down everything that happened and was said. That's how I felt listening to the book. Like I was a fly on the way witness all that happened.

In the end, I just want to say that this is an absolutely fantastic book! And I recommend it warmly. Read it, listen to it. Do what feels best for you!

The Age of Light is writer Whitney Scharer's historical fiction debut, and it's rather a mixed bag in terms of enjoyment. It tells the deeply emotive story of model, photographer and war correspondent Lee Miller who moves to Paris and becomes the muse and lover of surrealist Man Ray. It captures perfectly the time period and Paris at the height of artistic creativity and freedom; it's rich in detail, and you feel very much a part of the story rather than looking in from the periphery. This is a raw, powerful and moving account of Miller's life and times.

The writing vividly portrays an enchanting and mysterious period in time and is told in the present with flash forwards which really works. Lyrical prose captured me early on and from then on I had to keep reading. The characters, in particular, Lee and Man Ray, are complex people with an all too human side to them; that is evident from the very beginning as their characters flaws are revealed. At times the subject matter was difficult to read, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I appreciate that it provides a somewhat fictional account of the stages of Miller's life and her journey from muse to artist.

Many thanks to Picador for an ARC.

Sadly this file was corrupted in that sentences kept repeating themselves at random intervals making it impossible to read this. I’d love for s physical copy as I was so excited to read and review this book :(

I really enjoy historical fiction and was eager to see if The Age of Light would live up to the hype surrounding it. I have to say I wasn’t disappointed. The story of Lee Miller arriving in Paris, a beautiful Vogue model who yearns to be behind the camera instead of in front, panned out in a way I was not expecting. Lee is raw, full of anger and issues- the story takes a seedy turn into a murky world, but rays of light shine through. Overall this book was incredibly interesting, gripping, and somewhat unsettling.

It's a story told between two timelines going back to the war times. I didn't expect some parts of the story would be this difficult to read. Though, I generally enjoyed it,
Thank you to both NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful, profoundly moving account of the life of Lee Miller, model, photographer and war correspondent who is not as well known as she should be. The book opens in 1966 when, settled in a stale marriage in England, Miller's good friend and editor suggests that she write an article about her time with Man Ray in 1920s/1930s Paris. The book then moves back in time to tell the remarkable story of a city at the height of artistic creativity and style. This is a fictionalised historical biography, and Whitney Scharer proves to be a wonderful writer, capturing the spirit of the age and its characters.

Miller, having moved to Paris from America, meets the famous artist and Surrealist Man Ray and starts a passionate affair. Their life is a social whirl of parties and artistic creation; here we meet Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau (in whose 1930 film ‘The Blood of a Poet’ Miller acts) and many others. There are many conversations about artistic manifestoes and techniques which never intrude in the development of the story, and which actually were really interesting. Both Miller and Ray are complicated characters, each with their own emotional baggage and, even without knowing the story, we know it is a doomed love affair from the start. What Scharer creates, however, is a beautifully poetic telling of a particular time and she draws her characters with such precision and skill that I felt myself really invested in the story.

The novel is written in the present-tense, which I felt entirely appropriate for a book with the artistic process at its heart. There is an immediacy to the events, a sense of creation in progress, and it is all done with great lyricism and skill. And the ending, when Miller and Ray meet after a long time gap, is a subtle and clever acknowledgment of the limits of the form of book Scharer has written. Some things we will never know (exactly what was said, how people really feel): ‘What passes between them will be just a memory. There are no pictures of it.’

Interspersed throughout the book are flashes forward from the main time-frame to Miller’s time as a war photographer, and her experiences in witnessing the horrors of war and, in particular, the liberation of some of the concentration camps. It helps to create a picture of a complex and emotionally battered artist, who thoroughly deserves being ‘celebrated’ in this book. It reminded me of the stories of Dora Carrington or Frida Kahlo and is a timely and important book.

Lyrical, honest and moving, this is a wonderful exploration of the artistic process, a particular period in time, and an unflinching look at characters who are all too human. This may well be one of my books of 2019..

Not a bad read- The story is between two timelines. I did enjoy reading this although I did find certain parts of this book difficult to read. .
Thank you to both NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my eARC of this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Scharer's story is told between timelines and is rich in detail and full of all the horrors of war and the debauchery of Paris at that time (opium dens, erotic vaudeville, multiple lovers), whilst the writing is so vivid and really paints an image of Lee in all the different stages of her life.