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cometreadings's review against another edition
5.0
Drawing Lessons is a fantastic portrait of a woman in her sixties, who suddenly must face suffering and loss, and fight again for her dreams. Patricia Sands has wonderfully presented all her characters. She has drawn them, like in a painting. While I was reading, I could actually see them, and all her descriptions have such strength and delicacy.
Years before Arianna Papadopoulos Miller have abandoned all her artistic dreams when she and her husband Ben decided to manage the family restaurant which represented all the hopes of her father, Nikos and the anchor to their Greek origins. Now with Ben’s illness, everything is going to change, and after about two years in dealing with this situation, her family encouraged her to take part in an artists’ workshop in Arles, France, to finally rediscover her dreams and herself.
This challenge could be a new beginning for Arianna, a deserved second chance to observe in a new perspective all the events which have colored her life, both joyful and painful. In Arles, Arianna will learn to share her story and emotions with new courage, thanks to a wonderful group of artists that will live side by side in the amazing atmosphere of the Mas des Artistes. Juliette, Bertie, Barbara, Joan, Lisa … you will like every individual of this colorful group. In fact, each one with different and sometimes painful experiences will receive and give support to the others, not only in the artistic field.
I really enjoyed reading about Arianna and her family and all the love and enthusiasm which made the Papadopoulos Miller family bond so special. Patricia Sands is really an acute and emotional observer. I appreciate her talent in describing with so many details not only her characters’ personalities but also the beautiful panorama, that give you a perfect glimpse of Arles and surroundings. While reading, I can feel all her enthusiasm and love for the places and the situations she has described, and that made me smile so many times.
Drawing Lessons is a very heartwarming and touching novel about love, dreams, being faithful to open our heart and soul to new opportunities, and don’t be afraid to rediscover all the colors’ beauty and their numerous nuances.
I also posted my review at CometReadings.com
Years before Arianna Papadopoulos Miller have abandoned all her artistic dreams when she and her husband Ben decided to manage the family restaurant which represented all the hopes of her father, Nikos and the anchor to their Greek origins. Now with Ben’s illness, everything is going to change, and after about two years in dealing with this situation, her family encouraged her to take part in an artists’ workshop in Arles, France, to finally rediscover her dreams and herself.
This challenge could be a new beginning for Arianna, a deserved second chance to observe in a new perspective all the events which have colored her life, both joyful and painful. In Arles, Arianna will learn to share her story and emotions with new courage, thanks to a wonderful group of artists that will live side by side in the amazing atmosphere of the Mas des Artistes. Juliette, Bertie, Barbara, Joan, Lisa … you will like every individual of this colorful group. In fact, each one with different and sometimes painful experiences will receive and give support to the others, not only in the artistic field.
I really enjoyed reading about Arianna and her family and all the love and enthusiasm which made the Papadopoulos Miller family bond so special. Patricia Sands is really an acute and emotional observer. I appreciate her talent in describing with so many details not only her characters’ personalities but also the beautiful panorama, that give you a perfect glimpse of Arles and surroundings. While reading, I can feel all her enthusiasm and love for the places and the situations she has described, and that made me smile so many times.
Drawing Lessons is a very heartwarming and touching novel about love, dreams, being faithful to open our heart and soul to new opportunities, and don’t be afraid to rediscover all the colors’ beauty and their numerous nuances.
I also posted my review at CometReadings.com
susanthebookbag's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my gosh, reading Drawing Lessons took me to the South of France where I was in seventh heaven—enjoying the food, wine, friendships, art, and the absolute beauty of the area. The words the author wrote were so descriptive and beautifully written that I felt like I was there. I truly savoured those words as I soaked up the experience.
Arianna travels to Provence to escape her life for just a mere two weeks, as she tries to reconnect with herself. Her love of art has been put aside all these years as she fulfilled her life's duties as wife and mother. What she finds is a house full of strangers who have come together because of their love of art, strangers who quickly become friends.
I appreciated the fact that the author made Arianna a women of a mature age, dealing with issues common to that age. Her life experiences and the situation she finds herself in are different from what a 20-something would be dealing with and as a more mature reader, I found myself relating to her and her life.
Drawing Lessons is the first book by Patricia Sands that I have read but it will not be my last. I fell in love with her prose and descriptive passages. I became totally immersed in the story and loved my trip to the South of France. I found myself thinking about the characters and the setting when I wasn't reading the story and couldn't wait to go back there. Thank you, Patricia, for the wonderful little vacation that I was able to take without leaving my couch.
Arianna travels to Provence to escape her life for just a mere two weeks, as she tries to reconnect with herself. Her love of art has been put aside all these years as she fulfilled her life's duties as wife and mother. What she finds is a house full of strangers who have come together because of their love of art, strangers who quickly become friends.
I appreciated the fact that the author made Arianna a women of a mature age, dealing with issues common to that age. Her life experiences and the situation she finds herself in are different from what a 20-something would be dealing with and as a more mature reader, I found myself relating to her and her life.
Drawing Lessons is the first book by Patricia Sands that I have read but it will not be my last. I fell in love with her prose and descriptive passages. I became totally immersed in the story and loved my trip to the South of France. I found myself thinking about the characters and the setting when I wasn't reading the story and couldn't wait to go back there. Thank you, Patricia, for the wonderful little vacation that I was able to take without leaving my couch.
illidia316's review against another edition
5.0
This book is so heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time. I wish the characters were real people that I could call my friends. All of them are warm, caring and quirky. I loved the storyline and all of the facts about France. Absolutely recommended!
~I received an advance review copy of this book from the Great Thought's Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own~
~I received an advance review copy of this book from the Great Thought's Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own~
monaha74's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
crolovr's review
5.0
Drawing Lessons by Patricia Sands is a beautifully written story that had me savoring every word. I am around the same age as Arianna and could relate to her feelings. Arianna was a wife, mother, artist and helped in the family restaurant. When dementia takes her husband mentally away from her, she feels lost. With her family's support, Arianna takes an art class in Arles, France. The way Patricia describes Arles, France, the Camargue, and the other people in the art class made me feel I was in France with them. I am so intrigued about Arles, I am planning a future trip to France. The description of the food made me salivate. The story is about renewal and rediscovering yourself.
I highly recommend this book.
I highly recommend this book.
clairewords's review against another edition
5.0
I read [b:The Bridge Club|34859630|The Bridge Club|Patricia Sands|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1492221101s/34859630.jpg|14284427] by Patricia Sands and loved it. Her ability to immerse the reader into the emotional lives of her characters is thoroughly engaging and insightful and the stories of those women characters and the event that brings them all together to share parts of their history together has long stayed with me.
Drawing Lessons offers something a little different, in that this time the main character, 62 year old Arianna, leaves her Toronto home, family and troubles behind, somewhat reluctantly, but with the blessings and encouragement of those she's left behind, to try and heal a little from the heartbreak of what she has left behind her.
It is an interesting an provocative premise. Her husband has been diagnosed with a debilitating dementia and her family have encouraged her to go on this two week artist's retreat/workshop in the countryside and landscape that inspired Van Gogh, Arles to produce over 300 works of art in the frenzied sixteen months he spent there, until driven out by the locals.
She hasn't painted for a long time and is wracked by guilt at leaving. Slowly she will find her way, through the surroundings and with the eclectic band of artists that have come together to reaquaint with their inner muse. And then there is the strange allure of the man from the Camargue.
Living in this area and knowing how much the author loves the south of France and how much of her writing is informed by her own experiences of living a few months of every year here, I wasn't surprised to feel how immersed in the area this book made me feel. She really does capture something of the essence of being in this region of Provence, in the landscape and the town of Arles, adding something of the fantasy of a mysterious artist, horseman, the romance element.
It's a timely read if you're interested in Van Gogh, as this year there was the film Eternity's Gate that came out and he is also the subject of the new show running from March 2019 - January 2020 at Carrières de Lumières in Les Baux de Provence, a truly spectacular and original depiction of works of art, set to music, displayed on the inner walls of an old stone quarry.
Certainly, if you haven't been here and have any interest in open air painting, it's a read that transports you to this place and ignites the imagination and is likely to make Francophile readers wish to visit.
The cover couldn't be more appropriate, it being May and everywhere you go at the moment, the poppies are in full bloom.
Drawing Lessons offers something a little different, in that this time the main character, 62 year old Arianna, leaves her Toronto home, family and troubles behind, somewhat reluctantly, but with the blessings and encouragement of those she's left behind, to try and heal a little from the heartbreak of what she has left behind her.
It is an interesting an provocative premise. Her husband has been diagnosed with a debilitating dementia and her family have encouraged her to go on this two week artist's retreat/workshop in the countryside and landscape that inspired Van Gogh, Arles to produce over 300 works of art in the frenzied sixteen months he spent there, until driven out by the locals.
"In his letters to his brother Theo, he said drawing helped him combat his depression. He knew, as we do, that working en plein air, we are able to capture light and images more quickly and from that create our interpretation."
She hasn't painted for a long time and is wracked by guilt at leaving. Slowly she will find her way, through the surroundings and with the eclectic band of artists that have come together to reaquaint with their inner muse. And then there is the strange allure of the man from the Camargue.
Living in this area and knowing how much the author loves the south of France and how much of her writing is informed by her own experiences of living a few months of every year here, I wasn't surprised to feel how immersed in the area this book made me feel. She really does capture something of the essence of being in this region of Provence, in the landscape and the town of Arles, adding something of the fantasy of a mysterious artist, horseman, the romance element.
It's a timely read if you're interested in Van Gogh, as this year there was the film Eternity's Gate that came out and he is also the subject of the new show running from March 2019 - January 2020 at Carrières de Lumières in Les Baux de Provence, a truly spectacular and original depiction of works of art, set to music, displayed on the inner walls of an old stone quarry.
Certainly, if you haven't been here and have any interest in open air painting, it's a read that transports you to this place and ignites the imagination and is likely to make Francophile readers wish to visit.
The cover couldn't be more appropriate, it being May and everywhere you go at the moment, the poppies are in full bloom.
lsmoore43's review against another edition
5.0
I have to thank NetGalley for letting me have a copy of this book for my honest review. Also a big thank you to the Lake Union publishers.
This story starts out very emotional. Ben and Arianna have been deeply in love forever. They get the most devastating news that a couple can get. Ben has dementia. It did not take long for him to get to a state where he did not know Arianna any longer. Her children talked her into taking a retreat to Arles.
Arianna meets several other artists while in France and learns to live her life again. She goes through many ups and downs with guilt and finally does learn that she needs to live her life. She meets a man there who is an artist and decides to take him up on an offer to spend a few days with him on his boat before she leaves to go back home.
Arianna and Jacques de Villeneuve develope deep feelings for each other and she ends up staying longer. She goes back home to see Ben but he has no idea she’s even there or who she is anymore. It’s so hard for her that everyone decides she does not need to stay and just be upset all the time.
Arianna finds a life. She deserves to have a happy life.
Although I had a hard time reading a lot of this story, due to lots of tears, I also laughed along with the characters. They were fun and got on very well together. They all seemed to need to be where they were and together. This book is beautifully written and describes France in a way that makes you feel like you are there. It’s a very emotional book and one that will keep you turning pages until the very end. I enjoyed it immensely and would recommend it to anyone that loves a tearjerker and love story.
I look forward to reading more by this author as this was my first book by her.
It was a definite 5 star book.
This story starts out very emotional. Ben and Arianna have been deeply in love forever. They get the most devastating news that a couple can get. Ben has dementia. It did not take long for him to get to a state where he did not know Arianna any longer. Her children talked her into taking a retreat to Arles.
Arianna meets several other artists while in France and learns to live her life again. She goes through many ups and downs with guilt and finally does learn that she needs to live her life. She meets a man there who is an artist and decides to take him up on an offer to spend a few days with him on his boat before she leaves to go back home.
Arianna and Jacques de Villeneuve develope deep feelings for each other and she ends up staying longer. She goes back home to see Ben but he has no idea she’s even there or who she is anymore. It’s so hard for her that everyone decides she does not need to stay and just be upset all the time.
Arianna finds a life. She deserves to have a happy life.
Although I had a hard time reading a lot of this story, due to lots of tears, I also laughed along with the characters. They were fun and got on very well together. They all seemed to need to be where they were and together. This book is beautifully written and describes France in a way that makes you feel like you are there. It’s a very emotional book and one that will keep you turning pages until the very end. I enjoyed it immensely and would recommend it to anyone that loves a tearjerker and love story.
I look forward to reading more by this author as this was my first book by her.
It was a definite 5 star book.
pussreboots's review against another edition
4.0
Drawing Lessons by Patricia Sands is about a woman taking a trip to Provence after a year of caring for her husband who was diagnosed with a rapid form of dementia. Arianna attends a two week long artists retreat.
After a slow start that lingers over Ariana and Ben's relationship, marriage, children, and his rapid decline, the novel settles into a delightful armchair tour of the landscape that inspired Van Gough. If you have any artistic inclinations, you will find yourself inspired to paint or draw.
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comments_08/drawing_lessons.html
After a slow start that lingers over Ariana and Ben's relationship, marriage, children, and his rapid decline, the novel settles into a delightful armchair tour of the landscape that inspired Van Gough. If you have any artistic inclinations, you will find yourself inspired to paint or draw.
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comments_08/drawing_lessons.html
prpltrtl946's review against another edition
4.0
Emotionally hard, but worth it!
Excellent explanation of illness and dementia ripping through family! Wonderful descriptions of people, places, and their histories. I really enjoyed the historical details. Not the art I was hoping for.
Excellent explanation of illness and dementia ripping through family! Wonderful descriptions of people, places, and their histories. I really enjoyed the historical details. Not the art I was hoping for.