Notes from an Exhibition

Patrick Gale

From Shelf: The books we read in 2008

Set in Cornwall, the bestselling NOTES FROM AN EXHIBITION is an emotionally absorbing, psychologically intuitive novel of artistic compulsion, marriage, and the secrets left behind

One of Patrick Gale's best-loved novels, NOTES FROM AN EXHIBITION, set in Cornwall, is the exquisite story of artistic compulsion, marriage, and the secrets left behind'Poised and pitch-perfect throughout' Mail on Sunday'This book is complete perfection' Stephen FryCelebrated artist Rachel Kelly dies alone in her Penzance studio, after decades of struggling with the creative highs and devastating lows that have coloured her life. Her family gathers, each of them searching for answers. They reflect on lives shaped by the enigmatic Rachel - as artist, wife and mother - and on the ambiguous legacies she leaves them, of talent, torment and transcendent love.'An uplifting, immensely empathetic novel' GuardianWhat readers love about NOTES FROM AN EXHIBITION:' A shifting, multi-layered, beautifully textured portrait of not-quite ordinary family life' 'The word that shimmers with me is empathy. Gale has such a sensitive understanding of how minds and hearts work and react on one another amid the chaos and sometimes intense joys of real living' 'I loved the exhibition-style notes at the beginning of each chapter, which heralded a hint of the chapter's contents. Beautifully woven back and forth in time to reveal the complexities of fascinating family members and their relationships'