Smith, Sarah - The Knowledge of Water
Spoilers for The Vanished Child
After the events of the first book, Reisden and Perdita find themselves in Paris; he to resume his normal life, she to study piano at the Conservatory and play for good reviews. It's been long enough since I've read the first book that I don't remember if Perdita rejected Reisden's offer of marriage at the end of the book, or if it happens in the crack between the books. Anyhow, one of the central conflicts of this book is Perdita's desire for both Reisden and for piano, with piano always edging slightly ahead.
The mystery in this book isn't nearly as interesting as the mystery in The Vanished Child; while one of the mysteries reflects on the main character conflicts in this book, the other mystery seems completely unrelated. I suppose there is a way to connect the mysterious notes from Her Artist to the concerns about women's roles in art and how they are often silenced and left to be the muse, the inspiration, the passive object to be acted on, but I didn't think Smith did a good job in executing it.
And yet, I still love this book for the way it looks at women and art and women and work. It reminds me a lot of Gaudy Night. I'm still trying to debate if it's a problem specific to white women; the book itself is very white. And clearly women of color would have different blocks and would probably not even get a role of muse or inspiration. But some of the conflicts I think do apply, and while I don't know as much about female musicians of color, I thought a lot about the black women dancers whose stories are told in Waltzing in the Dark.
But the way Smith writes about how women are written out, how the music instructor teaches the men to play the piano as if they were caressing a woman, how women are the subjects of art or the inspirations but never the creators and often not even the subject or inspiration depending on class and race, I love it.
Aside from that, Smith's prose continues to be lovely, as are her period details. I'm not entirely satisfied by the conclusion of the book but am curious to see how the next book continues the story.
After the events of the first book, Reisden and Perdita find themselves in Paris; he to resume his normal life, she to study piano at the Conservatory and play for good reviews. It's been long enough since I've read the first book that I don't remember if Perdita rejected Reisden's offer of marriage at the end of the book, or if it happens in the crack between the books. Anyhow, one of the central conflicts of this book is Perdita's desire for both Reisden and for piano, with piano always edging slightly ahead.
The mystery in this book isn't nearly as interesting as the mystery in The Vanished Child; while one of the mysteries reflects on the main character conflicts in this book, the other mystery seems completely unrelated. I suppose there is a way to connect the mysterious notes from Her Artist to the concerns about women's roles in art and how they are often silenced and left to be the muse, the inspiration, the passive object to be acted on, but I didn't think Smith did a good job in executing it.
And yet, I still love this book for the way it looks at women and art and women and work. It reminds me a lot of Gaudy Night. I'm still trying to debate if it's a problem specific to white women; the book itself is very white. And clearly women of color would have different blocks and would probably not even get a role of muse or inspiration. But some of the conflicts I think do apply, and while I don't know as much about female musicians of color, I thought a lot about the black women dancers whose stories are told in Waltzing in the Dark.
But the way Smith writes about how women are written out, how the music instructor teaches the men to play the piano as if they were caressing a woman, how women are the subjects of art or the inspirations but never the creators and often not even the subject or inspiration depending on class and race, I love it.
Aside from that, Smith's prose continues to be lovely, as are her period details. I'm not entirely satisfied by the conclusion of the book but am curious to see how the next book continues the story.