Afterimage

Helen Humphreys' Afterimage is a beautiful, lyrical novel that tells the story of Annie Phelan a young Irish woman who takes a job as a maid in 1865 for an eccentric pair in England. Isabelle is a photographer who desperately desires to be taken seriously as an artist and her husband Eldon is a cartographer who faces similar dilemmas. Annie's intelligence and beauty endear her to the couple, for varying reasons. She ultimately... Read Full Review

In 1865, Annie Phelan leaves London to become housemaid for the Dashells, an artistic couple who've grown distant from each other after a succession of stillbirths. Eldon Dashell dreams of becoming a great cartographer and explorer, and Isabelle Dashell is determined to create her art through photography, in spite of the ridicule she receives from her peers. Isabelle uses Annie as a model, and the young woman quickly becomes... Read Full Review

This is one of the best recent novels I have read this year, and one of the most successful attempts ever to imagine the Victorians from a contemporary point of view. Hughes introduces us to the inner lives of an Irish servant who has lost her family; a rebellious upper-class woman struggling to realize her artistic vision and ambitions;and a weak husband who has relinquished his dreams of mapping the world. The language... Read Full Review

I finally got this book (It's a pain to live in Finland where no GOOD foreign books are available!) and from the minute I laid my hands on it, it was almost impossible to put it down. It is a powerful book, its power lies in the wonderful poetic language and in the atmosphere that makes you want to hold your breath in order to avoid disturbing it. It is a very reader-friendly book, it in many ways lets the reader decide what... Read Full Review

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read. I found this book difficult to put down, it was like reading a long poem. Not only was the plot intriguing and the characters interesting, but the syle and language employed by the author was nothing less than beautiful. She is able to evoke complex images with a minimum of words. The book tells the story of Annie Phelan, a destitute young woman who works as a maid... Read Full Review