Still Life Paintings / Karen Fowler
* In compliance with FTC guidelines, it should be noted that I received the book for free through LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
I would’ve given it five stars if not for the errors I spotted. But I’ll get to that later.
This book contains three short stories ranging from romance to tragedy. Except for the first one, this has a very “feel good” tone to it. Abstract Remembrances is about a mother confined in a mental institution. Everyday, she paints a portrait of her young son. Something tragic happened in her life and could art therapy help her recover? This story was heavy. It was just so sad. It had quite a few typos and grammar errors but those aside, it’s a very good piece.
Different Strokes is a cute one. A mother introduces Art History to her two young children to calm them down and teach them lessons in life. I am pretty familiar with the different schools and movements in art so I really got into this. And the image of the kids working on their projects… so cute!
The third story shares the name of this whole collection. Still-Life Paintings is about a scorned woman forced to attend her ex-boyfriend’s gallery show. And in his paintings, she realizes that there was more that meets the eye. It has all the makings of a romantic comedy, methinks. The ending literally made me go “awww….”
Okay, before I wrap this up, I just have to address the errors. They can be easily corrected with another read-through by the author/editor so it wouldn’t be so hard. I find it ironic that this is an art-centric collection and the author gets Salvador Dali’s name wrong. Dali, not Dahli. Also, loose/lose and everybody’s favorite your/you’re. Again, no biggie so I hope this can be cleaned up.
Rating: 4/5.
Recommendation: It’s 27 pages on the nook so it won’t take too much of your time. These are really good short stories. You’ll enjoy them more if you like art.
Get you copy here.
