Ugh. This was really difficult to get through. While the story of Lee Miller sounds dazzling and exciting (I love a good historical novel), this was flat and boring. Lee was portrayed as a shallow, selfish narcissist, and I felt absolutely nothing for the character. There is no depth to the story; it almost feels like Scharer knew facts about Miller's life and recited them, while throwing in some steamy sex scenes. Nope, didn't work. I feel like Miller's story deserved a bit more.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this! :)

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

4.5 really. I'm at a loss as to why I don't read more historical fiction. I absolutely loved this book about the tempestuous love affair between Man Ray and Lee Miller, two artists I had never heard of before reading this book. Now I am super curious to read their history to see how closely it aligns with Scharer's interpretation.

This is Scharer's debut novel and I have to say in my opinion she hit it out of the ballpark. Although these people were from my parents generation, her telling of their story had a very contemporary feel to it....I lived in 1930's Paris for the duration of this novel. Narrator Therese Plummer was the perfect choice for the audio.

Loved this book so much! I recommend it to everyone, and even got my book club to read it. More Whitney Scharer books, please!

Though proclaimed a few places as "best book of..." it just wasn't my favorite. I will say, it was lovely to read, as far as writing style & complexity (me, coming off of reading some YA lately) but character-wise, I wanted more depth.

Interesting story. Won’t recommend to my high school readers though. Interesting historical characters however that sent me researching.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley, Little, Brown and Company, and Whitney Scharer for free e-Arc in return of my honest review.

The Age of Light is a compelling story of a young American woman in search of herself in Paris in the beginning of 20th century. She used to work as a model for most dazzling magazines in New York but finds herself interested as a photographer instead. She ventures to Europe with camera and desire to succeed. The Age of Light has everything that roaring 20s has to offer - glamour dresses and vast parties, opium and champagne, love and betrayal, but most importantly, it has art. Whitney Scharer is successful in creating a beautiful stage for the story to unravel.

At the same time, there were too many issues at hand to work with. The relationship between Lee (the protagonist) and her lover, Lee's relationship with father and men when she was just a girl, her self-awareness and desire to succeed in photography - this is just to much for one book. I felt like some issues are just thrown in to make the reader feel sad about Lee, but all it made for me personally is to despise her. I supposed her to be a strong-willed woman working on her insecurities, but all she did was hiding and whining. It could have been fine for the beginning of the novel, when the reader can see her grow, but it continued through all the story.

I wish I liked the book more.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2020 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2020/01/2020-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

The Age of Light is a solid historical fiction debut by Whitney Scharer. I can't wait to see what she writes next!

The Age of Light was a deeply interesting story; I must confess that I did not know it was about a real person, Lee Miller, but once I realized that, it was based on a real story it was more interesting even.
At first, it was very slow in the first chapters and I could not really get into the story, but when I continued reading it became more and more compelling. Lee was someone exceptional, she was so complex, it was nice to see how she was growing up, and becoming the person that she was meant to be; she was just looking for her own place in the world and to leave her own mark, as many of us are.
It was very nice to read, the entire story takes place in Paris and we get to know the people that she met and some of them that were not only part of the history of art in many cases but also part of her life and her professional career.
Overall, it was very interesting indeed, my main problem with the book was probably that the flashbacks were a little bit confusing. I was a little bit confused about the storyline and I think that we got to see all of her past and her life in Paris but after that it does not say what happened or how did she became a chef or married Roland and all of that, and I would have liked to know more about that time in her life.
However, it was a nice read. It took me a long time to read it, I usually do not take that much to read a book and it usually happens it is because I am not engaged in the book or the story but in this case, it was not about that. I just needed to read it as slowly as possible to enjoy it, so I could really understand what was happening in her life. It was a really unique, compelling and complex story and it helped me to understand a little bit more about Lee as a person and as an artist, that is why I can say that I liked the book and I recommend it.

The Age of Light is a story of the personal and professional relationship that developed between Man Ray and Lee Miller. One part fiction, one part historical, this book brings into light Paris between the wars, the development of experimental photography, and how the artist's soul can be a little more than temperamental.

I've been reading a healthy dose of historical fiction lately, and compared to some of the other titles I have picked up, this book is historical fiction done right. Not only do readers get to see what's going on in the real lives of these characters, you can also look up many of the photographic references to get an added layer to the story, not just what things may have been, but what they actually were and still are in the art/photography world. It makes for an excellent reading experience, and I would definitely read this author again.

I love reading historical fiction novels that give credit to phenomenal women throughout history and acknowledge the contributions they have made to their fields. Before The Age of Light I knew nothing of Lee Miller or her creation of solarization, so this was a particularly interesting read for me. Many moons ago when I was in college I took a few photography classes and learned to develop film and print enlargements and I definitely get her draw to it.

What I enjoyed about this book:

~ Lee was a survivor and that was accurately portrayed in this novel. The things she survived and the person she became was quite remarkable despite the toxic people in her life. I couldn't imagine seeing the things she saw post WWII and retaining my mental sanity. The way she described those times made me queasy and my heart broke for those being liberated.

~ The fact that Lee was a sexual person and wasn't ashamed of it was inspiring and written especially well. During that time period women weren't sexually liberated (slut shaming was huge back then) and Lee was still who she was. While I do believe her circumstances contributed to her promiscuity, her confidence and appreciation of the beauty of the human form was one of my favorite parts of this book.

~ I loved how she realized her relationship with her father was toxic and she learned to stand up for herself. Some of the descriptions of her early childhood made me sick and I was disgusted with her father. As a mother, there is no way I would have allowed that to gone on in my household.

I really did enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or a nice romance. Lee Miller's life was an extraordinary one and I enjoyed learning all about her.

Thank you Netgalley and Little Brown for a review copy in exchange for an honest review. A positive review was not required and all opinions are my own.

Another historical win for my books! I do agree that this does seem to be more of a romance novel than historical fiction but it makes it a great gender blendy piece of work so it worked for me. I loved my romance with some substance so the material presented was unexpected but it worked. I was not expecting the sex scenes but it wasn't a jarring experience so in the end I was satisfied with the story I had read. I wasn't in love with it but I appreciated having read it and getting to share in the journey of these two people.

This book is based on the true story of Lee Miller and Man Ray. It takes place in alternating times between the 1930’s and WWII. I enjoy historical fiction, especially when I know nothing about the characters beforehand, which was the case with this book.

Lee Miller was a model for Vogue before she moved to Paris and later went on to become a photographer and photo journalist. While in Paris, she is taken under the wing of Man Ray. Man Ray was an American living in Paris. He was a Surrealist creating many forms of art: painting, sculpture, films, prints and poetry.

The prologue of the book opens with Lee Miller in Sussex, England in 1966. She has had culinary training and makes multi course dinners almost every weekend and writes about them for Vogue. She is the magazines domestic corespondent. She started with them in 1927 as a fashion model, then she became their fashion corespondent and then their war corespondent.

As she is cooking dinner, a loud slap of the screen door sends her into a panic. Having a PTSD flashback, she finds herself huddled in the corner. Remembering the sounds of the bombs during the war.

As she is serving her fancy dinner, the editor at Vogue tells her that she wants Lee to write a piece about Man Ray. That Vogue is getting away from their domestic articles and that this piece is what they want or they will renegotiate her contract. She says she will do it, but that she wants her photos included not Man Ray’s. When the editor argues that it’s a story about Man Ray, Lee thinks to herself that it’s not.

Then Chapter One begins with Lee meeting Man Ray and the story unfolds from there.

I enjoyed the book and read it with no idea about the characters. I didn’t find any of them particularly likable, but they were interesting. The whole book is very well written.

I received an ARC of the book.

A well-written, atmospheric novel for Francophiles - a great read for anyone wishing they could be roaming the streets of Paris.

The Age of Light # NetGalley
Whitney Schafer. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a debut book for Whitney Schafer. You can tell she did quite a lot of research for this novel. The characters Lee Miller and Man Ray are real people who lived in Paris in the early 1900’.s. I had to goggle them when I finished reading the book. They were both artists, painting and photography. This is during the Bohemian age and just about anything was acceptable. There is lots of drinking and sex in the book, so if this bothers you, this is not the book for you. I enjoy reading historical fiction usually, but this had more romance in it than usual. I have read about. Hemingway and his time in Paris and this follows along those lines. Mostly enjoyable and
I give it 4 stars.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received this advanced read copy from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.

Unfortunately I received this book for free from the publisher with less than 10 days to read and review before it is archived. As I am unable read the book in full I will not post a review besides this statement. I will read it in the future however. Thank you though to the publisher and I’ll be happy to correct my review once the book is read in full.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my unbiased review. I knew nothing about Lee Miller and little about Man Ray, but found this novel compelling and ended up researching the artists to learn more. This is a well-crafted book about a complicated woman. I am not sure the flash forwards were always logical or necessary, and I think the author elided much of Miller’s life, but I enjoyed the évocation of a very specific place and time. And I’m always happy to visit Paris, in life or in fiction.

Loved this book. I should have read this sooner. Thanks for the copy. I loved the cover of the book as well. I found that it blends well with the book.