>Review: In Pursuit -The Katherine Mansfield Story Retold by Joanna FitzPatrick

fiction

by admin | on November 22nd, 2010 | 0 comments

Genre : Biographical Fiction

Source : Author

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis:

(Goodreads)

With great excitement and relief, Katherine waved furiously at her parents as the ship pulled out of the harbor. They grew smaller and smaller until they were only dots on the dock and Katherine was far out at sea.

In Pursuit . . . reinvents the life of Katherine Mansfield, the modernist writer who revolutionized the short story––a writer whose spiraling career ended abruptly at thirty-four.

Born in 1888, she was a contemporary of Virginia Woolf, who famously said that Mansfield created the only writing she was ever jealous of.

Interweaved into the story are Mansfield’s volatile and often consuming relationships with John Middleton Murry, her husband, and Ida Baker, her lifelong companion and caregiver.

A wandering consumptive with a fierce grip on life and her writing case, she travels from London to Paris, to the Riviera and to the Alps in pursuit of a cure, not only for herself, but through her work, perhaps, for others.

In Pursuit . . . is an absorbing tale of desire, impermanence, and atonement. A haunting exploration of one woman’s powerful determination to live a full and challenging life in spite of the limitations forced upon her by illness.

Review:

In Pursuit is not only a captivating but a thought-provoking read.

I have never read anything by Katherine Mansfield, though I have heard of her.After reading In Pursuit, I really asked myself why I haven’t read anything by her. The fact that Virginia Woolf was jealous of Katherine Mansfield’s writing makes me want to read her work even more.

I have read few biographical fiction but I don’t remember being so captured as I was by this book.

The beauty of this book is that the author presents Katherine , not like an enigma, but a very real person who lived and suffered . Through the book we get to know this talented and brave young woman.

Katherine was a rebellious and a daring young woman .She didn’t care about “feminine” things or societal customs-something that made me like her instantly. This book begins in Wellington , New Zealand in the year 1908 when Katherine , at the mere age of 19 , left for London , to chase her dream of becoming a writer.

Ultimately, Katherine did become a celebrated writer but her life was never easy . She was a consumptive for most part of her life.This beautifully written book captures her pain so well that I couldn’t help but feel so deeply for her.There’s so much the world doesn’t know about Mansfield, apart from the fact that she was a brilliant writer.She was struggling to survive.One of the things that this book made me realize was that we assume so many things about a person, when we actually will never know what’s actually going on beneath the surface.

Apart from her illness, Katherine’s dependent relationship with her husband was another source of pain for her.You can’t help but feel sad for this strong woman.Despite everything, her determination to fight her situation is really awe-inspiring.

The author has brought to life this inspiring woman, from whom we all can learn from.This is not even a fictional character we are talking about, but a real person who lived and breathed like us. Katherine’s endless courage was accompanied by several dark moments , but she never stopped attempting to defy her situation. Her will to live was so strong , that it almost makes one feel ashamed of how much we whine about every little thing that goes wrong.

In Pursuit is a beautiful tribute to Katherine Mansfield.From her heartbreaks to her illness,Joanna Fitzpatrick in a way has resurrected Mansfield.Letters and journals beautifully entwine with the author’s words to bring Katherine Mansfield to life.You will find yourself involved in Mansfield’s life-her triumphs, failures, joys and sorrows.

It doesn’t matter whether you have read anything by Katherine Mansfield or not. I think this book can be read by anyone.It will be worth your time, I guarantee you. This is a book which cause you to ponder a lot. In pursuit is a poignant description of the brief life of a very talented woman.

I will be looking forward to more from Joanna Fitzpatrick. I not only thoroughly enjoyed In Pursuit , but it was also a learning experience for me.

Favourite Quote:

“There’s nothing to learn from suffering if you do not accept it fully-make it a part of your life.Everything in life that we really accept undergoes a change.So suffering must become love..”

Overall:

A beautifully crafted novel which will move and inspire you

Recommended?

Yes! To everyone looking for a good read.

Similar Books:

Katherine Mansfield by Claire Tomalin

About the Author:

Joanna FitzPatrick lives and writes in New York City and Teyssières, southern France.

Her first foray into writing came about when she wrote Hollywood screenplays and learned to see through the eye of a camera. The result was “White Lilacs and Pink Champagne.” She then turned to the music field and had a successful and vibrant career working with Bette Midler and managing The Manhattan Transfer. Later she left Hollywood for Manhattan to become the managing director of Gramavision Records, promoting jazz, blues, and eclectic classical music.

She left the music industry several years later and returned to her first passion, literature.
Majoring in English, she returned to college, graduated cum laude from SUNY Purchase and went on to receive a Master’s degree in writing at Sarah Lawrence College.

This is her first novel. Visit her website joannafitzpatrick.com for information on her memoir, Princess of the Lanes: A Hollywood Girl.