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camilleisreading24's review against another edition
5.0
This is the kind of book I can sink into for a whole weekend. A very light and fun romance set in 1920s New York--that is my ideal Sunday afternoon book. Socialite Vera married according to her station and spends her days attending luncheons and events with the other residents living in her husband's luxurious hotel. She is surrounded by beautiful things, but is unfulfilled, and possesses an art history degree from Vassar that goes unused. Until the ladies of the building decide to commission an artist to paint a mural in the pool room. Emil Hallan arrives with an air of mystery-- nobody knows his backstory, he insists on working in the pool room alone and with the door locked, and he is drawn to Vera.
I enjoyed how the narrative oscillated between 1913 at Vassar and 1923 in New York. It was interesting to see how much Vera changed and just what parts of herself she sacrificed in her marriage. I also enjoyed the subplot of art forgery and betrayed friendship. I would recommend this book and will certainly read more like it.
I enjoyed how the narrative oscillated between 1913 at Vassar and 1923 in New York. It was interesting to see how much Vera changed and just what parts of herself she sacrificed in her marriage. I also enjoyed the subplot of art forgery and betrayed friendship. I would recommend this book and will certainly read more like it.
fireflyhollow's review
4.0
A Fine Imitation follows the story of Vera, a high society socialite, during her senior year at Vassar College in 1913 and in New York City ten years later. The book alternates between the two timelines. Early on we know that some scandal happened while she attended Vassar after meeting another student named Bea who isn't as refined as Vera. We also know early on that Vera's marriage in 1923 isn't a happy one; her husband is rarely home and when he is home he doesn't give Vera the time of day. When an artist is commissioned to paint a mural in the pool room of the building where Vera lives (of which her husband designed and owns), Vera is tempted to fill the void left by her husband when the artist begins to show interest in her.
This story was a very quick and entertaining read. It's very easy to see how Vera would eventually look for love and affection elsewhere after being in an empty marriage for ten years. I personally found the 1923 timeline to be more interesting, but the two do end up merging to complete the story of how Vera ends up where she does. Although I never agreed with
This story was a very quick and entertaining read. It's very easy to see how Vera would eventually look for love and affection elsewhere after being in an empty marriage for ten years. I personally found the 1923 timeline to be more interesting, but the two do end up merging to complete the story of how Vera ends up where she does. Although I never agreed with
Spoiler
Vera's affair with the artist, Emil, I was glad that she left her husband in the end. He never loved Vera and only used her as a cover to hide the fact that he's gay. Vera's mother was also intolerable especially when she told Vera that it was her husband's right to have an affair and that Vera just needed to learn how to deal with it.smderitis's review against another edition
3.0
Might be closer to 2.5 stars...
This book definitely drew me in and kept me interested enough to want to finish and find out the ending. I love reading books set in the 1920s, but this didn’t fully immerse itself in the setting. I was invested in both storylines, but the climax for each one felt lackluster; there was a lot of secrecy and build up for two different plot points that felt predictable.
This book definitely drew me in and kept me interested enough to want to finish and find out the ending. I love reading books set in the 1920s, but this didn’t fully immerse itself in the setting. I was invested in both storylines, but the climax for each one felt lackluster; there was a lot of secrecy and build up for two different plot points that felt predictable.
gilmoreguide's review
2.0
There is the cold, trainer kind of a mother whose only interest in her daughter is as a thoroughbred who may be married off to someone who will enhance the family line. And if that gent has no interest in his new bride, well, she will have been suitably well-taught to channel her energy into shopping and gin and tonics. Lorna Longacre is one such woman and her daughter Vera, is no more likely to oppose her mother than she would be to try heroin. A senior at Vassar she’s never even been to a football game, used slang, or had a drink. Of course, it is 1913, but her new friend Bea Stillman (of the Atlanta Stillmans) has done all of the above and she’s determined to help Vera live before she’s married off. These are the early days of Amber Brock’s debut novel A Fine Imitation. A decade later and Vera has achieved the goal of marrying an appropriate man and now lives in a NYC penthouse. It takes two separate incidents: running into Bea again and the co-op board bringing in an artist to paint a mural in one of the building’s rooms, to make her wealthy life feel distinctly poor.
Some of the aspects of A Fine Imitation are fascinating, namely the proscribed life of wealthy young women in the first half of the 20th century. In modern day America these are the girls who go without underwear, spend money like water, and laugh at the very idea of “the family name”. Shame is an unknown concept today, but for Vera the fear of her mother means she never believes she has options. She isn’t allowed to graduate from Vassar because she needs to plan her wedding and she’s married to a virtual stranger, but she must either behave or be cut off completely. Brock writes well and captures the feel of 1920s Manhattan society and what is a familiar ‘poor little rich girl’ plot is jazzed up with a twist on Vera’s marriage. A Fine Imitation is just that. A perfectly fizzy bit of chick-lit historical fiction.
Some of the aspects of A Fine Imitation are fascinating, namely the proscribed life of wealthy young women in the first half of the 20th century. In modern day America these are the girls who go without underwear, spend money like water, and laugh at the very idea of “the family name”. Shame is an unknown concept today, but for Vera the fear of her mother means she never believes she has options. She isn’t allowed to graduate from Vassar because she needs to plan her wedding and she’s married to a virtual stranger, but she must either behave or be cut off completely. Brock writes well and captures the feel of 1920s Manhattan society and what is a familiar ‘poor little rich girl’ plot is jazzed up with a twist on Vera’s marriage. A Fine Imitation is just that. A perfectly fizzy bit of chick-lit historical fiction.
amymo73's review
4.0
A girl walks into a bookstore. If that girl is me and you think I walk out without purchasing anything, we have clearly never met.
This was the second book I purchased at the bookstore in Saratoga Springs during Lake George vacation week last month. It was set in the 1920s, a favorite era of mine to read and romanticize about, and it sounded like an interesting read. Turns out, it was.
The book chapters alternate between 1913, the year that the main character, Vera, is a student at Vassar, and 1923, when she is married and has taken her place in New York society. The back-and-forth feels seamless, something that I rather enjoyed. Also because there was a clear distinction between the two worlds -- college and New York society -- but the main character stayed the same.
It's interesting how the "scandals" in here are things we wouldn't even think twice about today. Or maybe I come from too low on the social scale to see the issues. But I can appreciate how sneaking out of college for the weekend without proper permission was a horrible offense, how a marriage proposal meant the end of studies, how family names can be so important. Vera is caught in what her heart wants -- to study art and be in the art world -- and what is expected of her.
Her life as a married woman centers on a husband who is never home and an artist who comes into her apartment building to create a mural in the pool room. There is much speculation over his background. At the end when he final reveals his troubles -- that he is German, not English or French and was in World War I, drafted on the German side and is a deserter, the impact is real but I felt it was the only place where the writing was a bit thin. I felt this was such a huge thing, the "war to end all wars" and the horrors men saw and lived through, the aftermath, etc. That felt like an emotional spot Amber Brock could have explored deeper. Then again, the central figure of the book was Vera, not the artist. So I get it.
What was different as well, was Vera's realization that she wasn't choosing between the artist and her husband. She was ultimately choosing herself. And the best lines come near the end, when Vera realizes this:
"But it was not too late. Vera had time to give her life meaning. She had time to become a woman of value. She could learn how to mend a stocking and wash linens and make her own tea. How to breathe. How to be someone of worth and merit outside of the building's walls. She had never been the woman her mother spent decades shaping her to be. She had been playing a role all her life, and being good at it was no excuse for giving in to it.
"Leaving was not the answer. It was the question: Who could se become? What opportunities awaited her?
"The artist did not have to free her.
"She could free herself."
This was the second book I purchased at the bookstore in Saratoga Springs during Lake George vacation week last month. It was set in the 1920s, a favorite era of mine to read and romanticize about, and it sounded like an interesting read. Turns out, it was.
The book chapters alternate between 1913, the year that the main character, Vera, is a student at Vassar, and 1923, when she is married and has taken her place in New York society. The back-and-forth feels seamless, something that I rather enjoyed. Also because there was a clear distinction between the two worlds -- college and New York society -- but the main character stayed the same.
It's interesting how the "scandals" in here are things we wouldn't even think twice about today. Or maybe I come from too low on the social scale to see the issues. But I can appreciate how sneaking out of college for the weekend without proper permission was a horrible offense, how a marriage proposal meant the end of studies, how family names can be so important. Vera is caught in what her heart wants -- to study art and be in the art world -- and what is expected of her.
Her life as a married woman centers on a husband who is never home and an artist who comes into her apartment building to create a mural in the pool room. There is much speculation over his background. At the end when he final reveals his troubles -- that he is German, not English or French and was in World War I, drafted on the German side and is a deserter, the impact is real but I felt it was the only place where the writing was a bit thin. I felt this was such a huge thing, the "war to end all wars" and the horrors men saw and lived through, the aftermath, etc. That felt like an emotional spot Amber Brock could have explored deeper. Then again, the central figure of the book was Vera, not the artist. So I get it.
What was different as well, was Vera's realization that she wasn't choosing between the artist and her husband. She was ultimately choosing herself. And the best lines come near the end, when Vera realizes this:
"But it was not too late. Vera had time to give her life meaning. She had time to become a woman of value. She could learn how to mend a stocking and wash linens and make her own tea. How to breathe. How to be someone of worth and merit outside of the building's walls. She had never been the woman her mother spent decades shaping her to be. She had been playing a role all her life, and being good at it was no excuse for giving in to it.
"Leaving was not the answer. It was the question: Who could se become? What opportunities awaited her?
"The artist did not have to free her.
"She could free herself."
byashleylamar's review
4.0
One of the things I loved about A Fine Imitation is the double meaning of the title. On one hand it refers to the theme of trying to force ourselves to fit in a predetermined mold set by society. On the other it refers to the art forgery that runs as a parallel storyline. Readers can analyze the dual meanings of the title as they wish but those two themes really stood out to me.
I did find myself increasingly frustrated by the main character, Vera (Longacre) Bellington. The book told Vera’s story chapter by chapter through alternating timelines (1913 vs 1923). As I read through her life in 1913 I kept wishing I could just reach through the pages, grab her by the shoulders, and shake some sense in to her. I wanted her to grow a backbone, stand up to her mother, recognize the bad influence of her friend, and for God’s sake, be honest with Cliff! In the 1923 storyline, I felt the same way but for completely different reasons. She frustrated me so much yet I sympathized with her and kept hoping she would make the right decision about her life. Whether she ultimately does or does not is up to the reader but I felt like the ending fit her characterization.
Some readers will see that I felt frustrated by Vera and think it’s a negative toward the book but it isn’t. Any time an author can make me feel toward a character, either good or bad, it is a credit to the author and a sign of a good book.
My biggest frustration with A Fine Imitation was the ending surrounding the artist, Emil Hallon. His story felt like it wrapped up too quickly and I didn’t feel like I was given the time I wanted to really revel in his reveal and soak it all up. I wanted at least a chapter or two that allowed me to process his background and identity. I wanted more of him in the end. There was an epilogue which offered resolution to the story and the structure of the story and the epilogue made sense but I still felt like I wanted more.
Then again, that’s a good thing too, right? A sign of a good story is to leave the audience wanting more, and I definitely wanted more.
I did find myself increasingly frustrated by the main character, Vera (Longacre) Bellington. The book told Vera’s story chapter by chapter through alternating timelines (1913 vs 1923). As I read through her life in 1913 I kept wishing I could just reach through the pages, grab her by the shoulders, and shake some sense in to her. I wanted her to grow a backbone, stand up to her mother, recognize the bad influence of her friend, and for God’s sake, be honest with Cliff! In the 1923 storyline, I felt the same way but for completely different reasons. She frustrated me so much yet I sympathized with her and kept hoping she would make the right decision about her life. Whether she ultimately does or does not is up to the reader but I felt like the ending fit her characterization.
Some readers will see that I felt frustrated by Vera and think it’s a negative toward the book but it isn’t. Any time an author can make me feel toward a character, either good or bad, it is a credit to the author and a sign of a good book.
My biggest frustration with A Fine Imitation was the ending surrounding the artist, Emil Hallon. His story felt like it wrapped up too quickly and I didn’t feel like I was given the time I wanted to really revel in his reveal and soak it all up. I wanted at least a chapter or two that allowed me to process his background and identity. I wanted more of him in the end. There was an epilogue which offered resolution to the story and the structure of the story and the epilogue made sense but I still felt like I wanted more.
Then again, that’s a good thing too, right? A sign of a good story is to leave the audience wanting more, and I definitely wanted more.
kittykornerlibrarian's review
4.0
It's a two-timeline historical fiction book, alternating between the main character Vera's year at Vassar College in 1913 and a year in her life as a Manhattan married lady in 1923. Vera, who walks the straight and narrow in fear of her controlling mother, befriends a rule-breaker named Bea toward the end of her time in college. In the later timeline, there are multiple hints that the friendship went sour for unspecified reasons. Vera is in a loveless marriage with Arthur, and they live in a swanky new apartment building that Arthur designed and owns. When the Board of the building hires an artist to paint a mural in the room that houses the swimming pool, Vera starts to question the people around her and her own choices and relationships. I enjoyed Vera's story and the setting of the book. I would read another by this author.
deckleeditproof's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
bookwormerica's review
4.0
I forgot to add this when I actually started to read it. I found this book by scanning a library shelf. the cover hooked me...any art deco/golden Hollywood cover and I'm on the hook. so good job publishers lol! I really enjoyed this read. I found myself caring about Vera and what happened to her. her mom truly lived up to the ol battle ax persona. I really thought Emil was cliff....it didn't say in the end what his real name was.....so he might be..both had red hair ....but why wouldn't Vera have recognised his face. I wish I knew