Dazzling ... offers a kind of transcendent ghost story, where the past never seems to leave the present’s side. [Scharer's] narrative moves hypnotically back and forth through time and through three very different Lees ... he book is so much about the difference in what we believe to be true and what is true, how a photograph can be absolute truth or manipulated ... Part of the heady pleasure of Scharer’s novel is the writing, which is as seductive and beautiful as her descriptions of the shimmery satin kimonos in the opium den. Juxtaposed with that flossy Paris time is the war ... An absolutely gorgeous and feminist novel about art, love, and ownership, The Age of Light’ is truly a work of art in itself, both deeply moving and thrilling.
Readers who can’t get enough of [the 20th century Paris] milieu will be more than gratified by Whitney Scharer’s first novel, The Age of Light ... Scharer interleaves her tale with all-too-brief snippets of Miller’s later life, which was every bit as momentous as her time with Man Ray ... [Some reders] will salute Scharer for emphasizing the romantic aspects of her historical romance, wading into the sexual politics of the era and thus exposing our own.
In her debut novel, The Age of Light, Whitney Scharer delves with great sensitivity into this past and its effect on Lee ... Yet the pedestrian, realist form the novel takes is baffling ... this is precisely what is missing from Scharer’s novel: any sense that language can be 'solarized' like a photograph, that life’s 'luminous halo' can register on the page ... When Scharer intersplices short scenes from Miller’s time as a photojournalist during the war, the juxtaposition is promising, but doesn’t quite work; the Man Ray material unfolds at so leisurely a pace that it feels jarring when she interrupts it to flash forward ... It’s a shame because Scharer is herself a talented image-maker ... Scharer also excels at conjuring Lee’s ever-evolving understanding of the power of images ... The Age of Light flickers companionably, but never ignites a fire.
The novel’s present-tense narration might suggest a sense of immediacy, but Scharer’s account is shot through with nostalgia: this is the 1930s Paris of our collective cultural imagination. Everything is dazzling, everyone seemingly either a genius or beautiful, or, in the case of Miller, both. Though it occasionally verges on the overblown, there is a sensory pleasure to be taken from this 'opulent world', in which opium dens are hidden behind bookcases, drunk party-goers debate art versus commerce, and everybody knows everybody ... When Ray’s sense of entitlement to Miller reaches too far, there is a cathartic joy in witnessing her react with righteous anger. The brilliance of this portrayal is in Ray’s bemusement: it had not crossed his mind that her work was not, essentially, his own.
Scharer's debut is both engrossing and cinematic, a must for readers who enjoy a fictional peek into the lives of real-life artists. Recommend to admirers of Harriet Scott Chessman's Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper.
In her bold debut novel, The Age of Light, Whitney Scharer gives new life to Lee Miller ... Scharer’s lusty prose illuminates Lee’s struggles and ambition in this lush tale.
Whatever reams of research Scharer put into excavating Miller’s story she distills here into clean, consistently evocative prose. The glittering bohemia of 1930s Paris, the pastoral boredom of mid-’60s Sussex, the hollowed-out carnage of postwar Europe; all come equally alive on the page ... But none breathe more vividly than Miller herself: Fiercely independent but racked by self-doubt, desperate for affection and approval even as she chafed at sentiment, she spent decades fighting to find her voice. It was worth the wait.
And The Age of Light is sumptuous, full of the kinds of details of Parisian culture and life that can captivate readers ... While some of the emotionally charged dialogue exchanged between Man and Lee feels contrived at times, The Age of Light is still a beautifully written story with its lush descriptions and skilled characterization. Where the novel loses its way – though by no means fatally so – is in the weakly integrated war scenes that appear periodically throughout the novel and feel like an afterthought. Given that the story of Lee Miller as a respected artist in her own right arguably began with her war correspondence – not necessarily during the tumultuous few years she spent with Man Ray – more might have been made of these scenes in this otherwise absorbing novel.
Superb ... Scharer’s intoxicating first novel adds depth and shade to the picture, bringing a stunning chiaroscuro effect to the saga of a woman transforming herself into an artist ... charer effectively jumps back and forth in time, moving from bohemian Paris to the battlefields of Europe to Miller’s declining years in England, and she is always alert to the interplay of passion, intelligence, exhilaration, bitterness, and melancholy that fueled this unique woman to create a life of her own.
Decadent and captivating ... Mesmerizing, wickedly sexy and full of girl power, The Age of Light is historical fiction for the modern reader. This unflinching portrait of one of the most iconic and yet often underlooked female artists will fill in many of the blanks in your knowledge of art history, while simultaneously reminding you to celebrate women’s contributions to the industry. Whether you have a Lee Miller print hanging in your home right now or have only ever heard of Man Ray, The Age of Light will immediately pull you in.
For her debut novel, Scharer wisely focuses on the formative years that Miller spent with Ray ... Readers watching her mind at work may be tempted to say, 'Oh, grow up!' But Miller's dilemma illustrates the pressures that many ambitious young women face in their love and work lives.
Scharer’s hypnotic prose seams together a profoundly absorbing, atmospheric novel ... Lyrical, sensual, raw, and heartbreaking, The Age of Light is Scharer’s own masterful portrait of a woman driven by longings, whose passions verge on demons, who thinks it might be safer to live behind the lens but in the end discovers that it isn’t.
Scharer sets her viewfinder selectively, focusing on her heroine’s insecurities as much as her accomplishments as an artist; her hunger to be more than 'a neck to hold pearls, a slim waist to show off a belt' is contrasted with her habit of solving problems by simply leaving. The price for Lee is steep, but it makes for irresistible reading ... Sexy and moving.
