Author:Margaret Forster
Lost, found, stolen, strayed, sold, fought over... This engrossing, beautifully crafted novel follows the fictional adventures, over a hundred years, of an early 20th-century painting and the women whose lives it touches.
It opens with bold, passionate Gwen, struggling to be an artist, leaving for Paris where she becomes Rodin's lover and paints a small, intimate picture of a quiet corner of her attic room.
Then there's Charlotte, a dreamy intellectual Edwardian girl, and Stella, Lucasta, Ailsa and finally young Gillian, who share an unspoken desire to have for themselves a tranquil golden place like that in the painting.
Quintessential Forster, this is a novel about women's lives, about what it means and what it costs to be both a woman and an artist, and an unusual, compelling look at a beautiful painting and its imagined afterlife.
Forster's style is easy and unpretentious. In a brief paragraph she can create a character we care about, a story we long to see resolved
—— Sue Gaisford , Independent on SundayFew authors share Margaret Forster's extraordinary ability to transform the ordinary day-to-day activities of unremarkable people into compelling fiction
—— Daily MailA fine novel... an inspired reflection on the redemptive potential of art
—— Mail on SundayThe characters are fully developed and differentiated...there is harrowing emotional insight; it also contains elements of real comedy
—— Matthew Dennison , The TimesHer historical skills are, as always, matched by her marvellous empathy... A finely crafted novel
—— Sunday TimesA skilful, apparently simple tale is unostentatiously styled to disguise its artificiality and this writer's artful adaption, but not contradiction, of historical facts
—— Jessica Man , Sunday TelegraphA poignant tale of a slave woman's quest for liberation set in 19th century Cape Town
—— Glass MagazineMixing brutal historical fact with legend, the novel paints a fine picture of a disintegrating society
—— Anthony Gardner , Mail on SundayPhilida is a unique, illuminating and original book…utterly engaging
—— Chris Dolan , HeraldBrink writes beautiful prose, peppered with evocative descriptions of historic and often tragic Cape life
—— Regional Press (syndicated review)Brink writes beautiful prose peppered with evocative descriptions of historic and often tragic Cape life
—— Zahra Saeed , Irish ExaminerBrink's act of literary ventriloquism in Philida - his summoning of the voice of an illiterate slave-girl from the 1830s, in all its demotic sophistication and expressiveness - is undeniably astounding
—— Kevin Power , Sunday Business PostAn unforgettable story of one woman’s determination to survive and be free
—— GQ magazineThe light and shade that Brink has skillfully introduced into his augmented family history make for a compelling and memorable novel
—— Alex Clark , GuardianPowerful
—— The Lady[A] rich and unforgettable story
—— Lancashire Evening PostThis spiky portrait of love makes for a gripping read
—— Emma Hagestadt , Independent RadarA heartbreaking examination of lives and love
—— Diva MagazineA powerful story of sexual jealousy and longing, My Policeman is also a heartbreaking examination of lives and love that has gone to waste in an era in which homosexuality was a prosecutable offence
—— DIVA Magazine
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