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emilyinherhead's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
What I loved most about this book was the narrator’s voice. Courtney Maum perfectly captures the feeling of being a 15-year-old girl who is often left to her own devices while her mother’s attention is elsewhere. The longing is palpable.
I wish I were a mermaid. I wish that I could swim. I wish that I could scream until my pores were tentacles and I pulled each and every person down with me until life was soft again. And then I would come up on the shore and I’d be human. And I’d know where to go.
I also really bought the interactions between the artists who live with the young protagonist and her mother. Their dynamic is entertaining and felt real—of course, they are based on real figures from history, so that scans.
The diary format of the story works well, and I liked the addition of a few illustrations.
That’s what I want. To make something truly beautiful. To make something that stays with you in that upsetting way.
Having read this one a couple of months ago now, I’ve already forgotten some plot details. But the mood of it has stayed with me in that upsetting way. Overall, it’s a well-told story, with lots of beautiful prose sprinkled throughout. I found myself wanting more at the end!
miriamv's review against another edition
5.0
A lovely little novel with literary punch and surreal, dreamlike quality. I felt for Lara at every minute.
lisagfrederick's review against another edition
4.0
4.5. I loved this dreamlike, luminous tale of avant-garde artists and writers spirited away to the Mexican jungle in the ‘30s to escape Hitler’s tyranny, but context is everything. It’s based on Peggy Guggenheim, whose namesake museum in Venice is one of my favorites in all the world, and her daughter, Pegeen, a talented yet troubled artist of whom very little is written. Had I not already taken an interest in the lives of these two women I doubt I’d have found the novel so compelling, but knowing their stories helped to color in the background and amplify the too-faint details.
Here, Peggy and Pegeen are transformed into Leonora and 15-year-old Lara, who narrates the story in diary and sketchbook format. Leonora’s self-absorption and carefree neglect have a quietly devastating effect on her restless and sensitive daughter, desperate for the same attention Leonora lavishes on her guests. Her loneliness leads to a one-sided infatuation with sculptor Jack Klinger, the only adult on hand who truly sees her. The other characters are more loosely drawn, but that didn’t bother me—the effect is like a painting with Leonora, Lara and Jack in crisp focus while everyone else blurs into the middle distance. Maum's spare writing style beautifully evokes the wild exuberance of the jungle and the coast without a word wasted. Although the ending felt strange and abrupt at first, the more I thought about it the more appropriate it seemed: a teenager trying to slam the book shut on a painful chapter of her life.
Here, Peggy and Pegeen are transformed into Leonora and 15-year-old Lara, who narrates the story in diary and sketchbook format. Leonora’s self-absorption and carefree neglect have a quietly devastating effect on her restless and sensitive daughter, desperate for the same attention Leonora lavishes on her guests. Her loneliness leads to a one-sided infatuation with sculptor Jack Klinger, the only adult on hand who truly sees her. The other characters are more loosely drawn, but that didn’t bother me—the effect is like a painting with Leonora, Lara and Jack in crisp focus while everyone else blurs into the middle distance. Maum's spare writing style beautifully evokes the wild exuberance of the jungle and the coast without a word wasted. Although the ending felt strange and abrupt at first, the more I thought about it the more appropriate it seemed: a teenager trying to slam the book shut on a painful chapter of her life.
maureenmccombs's review against another edition
1.0
1.2 stars only because it is an arbitrary number to represent the arbitrary nature of this book. Aimless, plotless, pointless, ineffectual, and a futile effort at a poorly executed vanity project. The only good thing I have to say about it is that I am done with it. I hated this book.
seabuns's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
emilyacres's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to Tin House for sending me this ARC. All opinions are my own.
Review to come.
Review to come.
sregitnig's review against another edition
2.0
This novel was inspired by Peggy Guggenheim and her daughter.. I mean, sign me up! But unfortunately it fell pretty flat. I didn’t like the pacing, I didn’t like the diary structure, I didn’t like the little drawings or underlined words. And the characters were surprisingly boring considering who they were based on. So that’s leaves the premise which I initially thought sounded promising but the whole thing just left me very underwhelmed. Upsetting.
klbrida's review against another edition
5.0
Costalegre by Courtney Maum. It’s 1937: an heiress/modern art collector brings her daughter & a group of artists to Costalegre after Hitler has denounced them as “cultural degenerates” and in direct opposition to his regime.
Told through fragments from 14-year old Lara’s diary, this novel explores the relationship between mother & daughter, coming of age in chaotic & fraught times, and coming into one’s art.
Costalegre is heartbreaking, searing, and engrossing. Lara’s narration lends itself to explosive intimacy through coupling strange/wonderful images with such exact emotion. Although this novel ended a bit abruptly for me, that ending paragraph was so beautiful & encapsulated the turbulence present, I was still satisfied. I couldn’t help but read this novel with such admiration & heartbreak.
-
Note I received a copy of this novel from Tin House in exchange for an unbiased review.
Told through fragments from 14-year old Lara’s diary, this novel explores the relationship between mother & daughter, coming of age in chaotic & fraught times, and coming into one’s art.
Costalegre is heartbreaking, searing, and engrossing. Lara’s narration lends itself to explosive intimacy through coupling strange/wonderful images with such exact emotion. Although this novel ended a bit abruptly for me, that ending paragraph was so beautiful & encapsulated the turbulence present, I was still satisfied. I couldn’t help but read this novel with such admiration & heartbreak.
-
Note I received a copy of this novel from Tin House in exchange for an unbiased review.
bookishcassie's review against another edition
5.0
Read it in a day, three settings. The voice, the extravagance, and the books of the whole world make this book just deliberate, and cunning, and beautiful. I have most pages dog eared for quotes to write down. Thanks Tin House for an ARC.