Fallen Beauty. Erika Robuck. NAL Trade Paperback. March
2014. 384 pp. ISBN#: 978045141890.
A seductive, jaded poet presents as a liberal
woman in 1928 upstate New York. Anyone
who knows her wants to drink, eat, and embrace free love with her, with no reservations
on a daily basis. The same group from
town, who are riddled with jealousy but who secretly join her bacchanalian
parties, condemn her as an immoral witch.
The last group is emotionally shattered by this free love style which
has sucked up spouses in a parasitic, hallucinatory embrace, the ultimate
betrayal for committed couples.
Yes,
this is the poet, Edna Vincent Millay, known as “Vince” or “Vincie” to those
who have entered her embrace, the woman who leaves behind tormented bodies and
shattered souls, the woman who needs these lovers and worshipers to inspire
her creations of amazingly sensitive and famous poetry. One might call her bohemian or a torturer,
but while reading this novel the reader is enchanted by her poetic, truthful
comments or conversations. The reader is
thus as easily seduced by this poet who seems to exude the truth of beauty and
the beauty of truth, principles which one may come to understand but which
yield to daunting costs and shattering revelations.
While
Millay forges ahead in her campaign of ravishment, a young woman living in the
town next to the countryside where Millay resides is suffering her own betrayal
and shame. Remember, this is 1928 and to
fall in love and bear a child out of that love but outside of marriage is
anathema to any law-abiding middle class resident. Christianity is used more as a tool of
condemnation against Laura Kelley, who attempts to ignore the critics but whose
shame for being an unwed mother of a beautiful child never leaves. She is also a talented seamstress, whose
business declines after she gives birth to a witty, fearless little girl and is
abandoned by a former lover who remains unnamed for a very long time.
Complications
follow involving Laura’s sister, a revered female leader in the town, a group
of Gypsies, and a sculptor. Secrets are
revealed as the relationships of all begin to fragment. The beauty in this novel, however, has to do
with Laura’s significant skill in creating beautiful dresses and gowns reflective
of the Jazz Age, the time in which men and women yearned to be rid of all
rules, laws and boundaries.
Poetry
is an accepted art but at the time the creators of beautiful, liberating
clothing was admired by many but worn by only those daring enough to “not care”
about conventional values. The creation
of both gifts is depicted in exquisite details which can be relished by any
sensitive reader. Yes, Edna or Vincie,
as well as Laura, suffer in order to generate beautiful and liberating
art. Many aspects of several mysteries
are revealed and both women mature (having nothing and everything to do with
art) and both evolve into memorable, dynamic characters. The rest is indescribable but MUST be read
and experienced through one’s intellect and soul. Transformation follows for
all, including the reader. Delightful
historical fiction and highly recommended!
You won’t want it to end at all!
