Overview

One of the Best Books of the Year: Parade, Glamour, Real Simple, Refinery29, Yahoo! Lifestyle. ""A startlingly modern love story and a mesmerizing portrait of a woman's self-transformation from muse to artist."" --Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere""I'd rather take a photograph than be one,"" Lee Miller declares after she arrives in Paris in 1929, where she soon catches the eye of the famous Surrealist Man Ray. Though he wants to use her only as a model, Lee convinces him to take her on as his assistant and teach her everything he knows. As they work together in the darkroom, their personal and professional lives become intimately entwined, changing the course of Lee's life forever.Lee's journey of self-discovery takes took her from the cabarets of bohemian Paris to the battlefields of war-torn Europe during WWII, from inventing radical new photography techniques to documenting the liberation of the concentration camps as one of the first female war correspondents. Through it all, Lee must grapple with the question of whether it's possible to stay true to herself while also fulfilling her artistic ambition--and what she will have to sacrifice to do so.

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9781549178108

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Reviews

Scharer's brilliant portrayal of the complicated couple features a page-turning story and thrillingly depicts the artistic process. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Scharer's intoxicating first novel...bring[s] a stunning chiaroscuro effect to the saga of a woman transforming herself into an artist. -- Booklist (starred review) Irresistible reading. Sexy and moving. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Bring[s] a stunning chiaroscuro effect to the saga of a woman transforming herself into an artist. -- Booklist (starred review) An absolutely gorgeous and feminist novel about art, love, and ownership...Read this astonishing novel and then, like Lee Miller, take time to consider the extraordinary cost she paid to be herself. -- Boston Globe Readers...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. -- Washington Post Rapturous and razor sharp all at once, The Age of Light fearlessly unzips anything we might know of Lee Miller as model and muse and recasts her as artist, free thinker, and architect of a singular and unapologetic life. -- Paula McLain, New York Times bestselling author Scharer's brilliant portrayal of the complicated couple features a page-turning story and thrillingly depicts the artistic process. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Author Information

Whitney Scharer earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington, and her short fiction has appeared in the Bellevue Literary Review, Cimarron Review, and other journals. She's received an Emerging Artist Award in Literature from the St. Botolph Club Foundation, a Somerville Arts Council Artists grant, and been awarded a residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. The Age of Light is her first novel. Thérèse Plummer is an actor, award-winning voice-over artist, and counselor. She has won eighteen AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She has appeared in a variety of television and film roles. As a counselor for adolescents, she spent five years using drama therapy techniques in individual and group settings.

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