The Art Of Unmaking
by Parker Lennox
You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Feb 04 2025 | Archive Date Jul 15 2025
Description
In 1922 York, England, Clara Bennett knows exactly who she's supposed to be. Or at least she thinks she does. As a promising young artist at the prestigious Fleming Academy, she perfects her style through classical training. Her days are filled with strict rules, proper techniques, and the weight of her mother's expectations.
But when she encounters the mysterious Evelyn Price at a controversial exhibition, Clara's carefully ordered world begins to unravel.
Drawn into the mysterious Blackwood Society, Clara discovers art that defies reality itself. Torn between her rigid training and an intoxicating new freedom, she finds herself questioning everything she once believed. But the price of this freedom may be higher than she ever imagined, and the person she's becoming could be her very own undoing.
Clara will have to decide how much she's willing to sacrifice for greatness. Because as her art transforms, so does her heart—but nothing in the Society is quite what it seems, and some secrets are painted in shadows too dark to escape.
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9798991112857 |
| PRICE | |
| PAGES | 268 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Hayley B, Reviewer
“The Art of Unmaking” by Parker Lennox is a wonderful historical fiction novel about two women from opposite sides of the art world. Clara is trapped in a traditional school, traditional values, and traditional expectations. And Evelyn belongs to a world promising innovation, illumination, and freedom. The book reminisces of Gentleman Jack in Evelyn’s critique of normality and her pushing the usual boundaries of what’s expected of women and Portrait of Lady on Fire with its dive into artistry and creation paralleling a burgeoning relationship.
Lennox does a wonderful job of illustrating the artworks and life of Clara and her society with just her words. I was enthralled and fascinated every step of the way. I could picture the foggy streets just as much as the impasto paintings they created together.
The book was filled with yearning and longing both for a destiny and a person beyond expectation. These themes feel so valid and relatable even 100 years later. I got goosebumps from the pining and the chemistry.
The only thing about this novel I wish I could change is its scope and length. Only 268 pages and easily consumed (but not easily forgotten). I want to dive deeper into this world and the relationships held within. I could easily see this being a series, but I would have loved to read 600 pages.
As an art history nerd, this book scratched an itch I didn’t know I had. I highly recommend “The Art of Unmaking” to book and art lovers in addition to those who love romance and fantasy.
Bonus! In addition to the beautiful cover, the book includes a lovely piece of art depicting Clara and Evelyn that I can imagine they would be proud of.
