The Glimpse

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐳𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐨, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

There are two sentences towards the end of the novel that I love, “Daughter, mother. Such difference in the forms, yet such similarities.” It stayed with me. It’s 1951 and Liza Baker is studying art at The Han’s Hofmann School, under the “modernist of Europe.” The new work has changed so much in the art world, full of courage and energy she flows with, that fills her with passion. Liza feels awake and alive knowing that she has “found her community”, at last! She wants nothing more than to shed the life her father led, a respected doctor in New Hampshire, having a colorless, bland, ordinary existence. A place of rules and falling into line, never searching for meaning, never questioning. She still feels shocked that she was accepted, that her work is good enough.

Hank, fellow student and lover, is just one of many men that reminds her of her place. Women don’t become great artists without a far greater sacrifice than men. Women can’t have love nor a family and still expect to burst onto the scene like a shooting star. Such things stifle talent and creativity if you’re a female and you dare to make a name for yourself. Yet, she does it! She and Hank are both selected for an exhibition, drawing in a big crowd, she has impressed a very important artist and naturally Hank is left in a cloud of jealousy and unfair assumptions. She is on top of the world and then bam, it’s 1966 and the reader meets Rouge, her daughter.

Rouge’s feelings for her mother are evident immediately, all too familiar with her mother’s drinking and the sleepless nights spent attempting to create art. Worse, Rouge is disgusted by the many lovers that tumble out of bed and out the door. She is shocked when one of her mother’s men, Ben Fuller, makes her acquaintance. A photographer, she is dismayed to realize he is likable. More, he has quite a bit to teach her. She couldn’t have invented this man, nor the importance he will have in her life and the feelings he will evoke between she and her mother. She doesn’t see eye to eye with Liza when it comes to her creations, and her mother has stopped asking for her opinions. Rouge has always dealt with her mother’s passing depressions but through Ben, the world of photography is opened and she may well discover a gift of her own. Something to make her feel alive, to escape being Liza’s daughter.

There was a choice, when Liza got pregnant, she could make it all go away and run through all the doors opening before her or have the child, teach and raise her while making art. She chose Rouge, and nursed the pain of watching Hank rise in a world that should have been her own. Now witness to Rouge’s growing talent, there is envy, she has the freedom to walk any path, unlike Liza. Rouge doesn’t want to share this thing between she and Ben with Liza, and yet somehow, as always, she is at the center! A suggestion about who her subject should be stings her budding ego, but she accepts the invitation and it will lend clarity to her relationship with her mother. Liza is good at disappointing her girl, and risks ruining Rouge’s turn at art.

The beauty of this book is the knowledge of art in all it’s stages and forms but more important are the ever changing forms of mother (Liza) and daughter (Rouge). Light lends clarity to more than paintings, so does space- that enhances or subtracts. The hunger for our dreams and crashing into a wall of reality, the ‘self-sabotage’, it’s all here. The fact that motherhood is a threat to talent, certainly in the 50’s, is evident in every thought and interaction Liza shares. That when you have the demands of a child/pregnancy you aren’t free to sell yourself, your image is already loaded with judgement and meaning. You don’t have the luxury of time to ‘play the scene’ and make connections. I’m not an artist, my kids both are, but it truly takes a lot of drive and self promotion in any field relating to the arts, even now. The art scene, dominated by men, is impossible enough without ‘being saddled with a child’, the thought of the times. Maybe life won’t be what she once envisioned, Liza knows about failure, feels like she is failing Rouge too but sometimes life offers us other chances. It’s a beautiful book about the fight to fuel your dreams while juggling motherhood, a career. It is also about the distance between mothers and daughters, the need to push away and create the woman you want to be. Mistakes, choices, sacrifice, love and coming into one’s own.

Published June 28th, 2021

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Matador

This story was captivating with vivid descriptions of the lives and struggles as artists, women, mother and daughter. the art scene in NYC in the ‘50’s came to life. I know nothing of art but was so enthralled by this story I feel like maybe I am missing out on something that could be everything. Bensley's descriptions of her characters we’re a major draw and I came away feeling as if we were friends. I truly appreciate this book and look forward to more by this author

This was a complicated and fascinating book about art and how difficult the relationship can be between mothers and daughters.. I really believed in this story and it’s portrayal of the difficulties in making art. I was not surprised to read that the author had been an art writer, because of the detail and truth in the process of creating. Set in the art world of NYC, Lisa is a painter in the Abstract Expressionist era of the 1950s. She starts to be sidelined when she becomes pregnant, but truly believes she can be a mother and still create great art. Studying in NYC is a dream and I think she really felt she’d found her people, her tribe. Fellow artist and lover Hank, goes up against her for an exhibition and is surprised when it’s Lisa’s work that really gets noticed. We then jump to 1966.

When her daughter Rouge was born, she found herself butting up against the male dominated art world, surprised to find it quite conventional after all. I loved the feminist take on what we imagine to be a fairly free and bohemian world. It was an area of life that I’d imagined had less barriers. I really felt for Lisa and understood her disillusionment when her ex-lover is suddenly a new darling of the movement. Especially considering how similar their work is. Psychologically this has created a resentment between mother and daughter, even if it isn’t expressed or acknowledged. Lisa starts to drink more heavily and take risks. She teaches in college to pay the bills. When her daughter Rouge takes an interest in art years later, she chooses photography as her medium. She finds a mentor in Ben Fuller, who happens to be one of Lisa’s old lovers. This acknowledgment from a male member of the art world adds another layer of resentment between mother and daughter. If Rouge’s photography is going to be noticed, how will Liza cope? What lengths will she go to in order to deal with these negative feelings? Would she consider sabotage? When she was pregnant Liza could have chosen another road, she could have walked through a door of her choosing and be living a different life. She hasn’t intentionally made Rouge feel unwanted, but that choice held within it so much self-sacrifice, that’s it’s possible some some unconscious negativity and even anger has come through to her daughter. Now her daughter is going to take the acclaim that Liza felt was rightfully hers. Rouge is also angry, about the drinking and the revolving door of lovers who come in and out. She was very surprised to find one of them had things to teach her. If her photography is good enough, she can imagine doors opening for her. It could be an escape from home and her mother.
I loved that all those elements and difficulties of a woman creating are here in Lisa’s world - they haven’t really gone away, because I still feel guilty if I’m writing instead of doing the housework or seeing friends. Writing isn’t seen as real work until you’re published. but if you can’t write that never happens. Everyone thinks it can just be moved to tomorrow. However, the difference between the 1950s and the 1960s is a huge one culturally, There’s the pill for a start, leaving some women in charge of their own fertility. Between that and the more permissive attitudes in society it’s clear to see why Liza would feel there is a huge gap between their generations. Rouge is free to network and really sell herself. She can create her own image, whereas if you’re a mother you already have one. The author depicts the artistic journey so well - the imposter syndrome, the dreams, the crushing reality and self-sabotage are all seen in these women. It shows beautifully how mothers and daughters misunderstand each other, not knowing the cultural difference for their generation, not understanding the sacrifices and the love behind them, It’s about that distance between mothers and daughters, a distance that can only be bridged through openness and honesty, as well as space and time. This was fascinating and psychologically complex. I really enjoyed it,

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Glimpse by Lis Bensley. This story follows artist Liza Baker who is on her way up in the art world. Then she becomes pregnant. Liza decides she can do both, meaning a successful career as an artist and raise a child. Had this story been a later time, she might've had a shot, but this story takes place in the 1950s. Liza takes a job teaching at a college and realizes just how much men dominate the art world. At the same time, a former boyfriend gains a lot of fame creating work that is all but a copy of her's, only fueling more of her frustration and anger. Her daughter, Rouge, as she grows, develops a taste for photography and she's quite good at it. The success that Rouge has creates a competition between mother and daughter, ultimately creating a terrible dynamic. A great take on the mother-daughter trope. I do recommend this book.

The author paints pictures in words with the skill of an old master and all the originality of abstract expressionism. This is a book full of life and passion.
The setting shifts between the New York art world of the 1950s and the Hudson Valley in the 1960s.
Liza paints big gutsy things but cannot sell them. Rouge is her teenage daughter. Ben was a one night stand for the mother and a mentor for her daughter's talent as a photographer. Through him they must both find salvation.
A powerful exploration of love in all its many forms.