Art Hour at the Duchess Hotel
by Sophie Green
Hachette
On a whim, Joan leaves her Sydney life, her husband, her children and her grandchildren and drives to the Mornington Peninsula where her parents used to bring her and her sisters when they were younger.
Marriage and motherhood had been good until her husband Isaac became more focused on work and reputation, and neglected to realise the role that Joan had played. Deciding that she needed to find herself after 35 years of being everything for everyone else, she checks in to the grand old Duchess Hotel.
The Duchess Hotel was a place where Joan could get back in touch with her younger self, and recover that part of herself that she didn’t know she was missing until she found it again.
The location is blissful and Joan feels free from all the roles she has been expected to take. It is 1999 and Joan realises that she used to be good at painting before her life went in a different direction.
Painting allows her to look at life differently and she also gathers a small band of hotel regulars who want to join her. There is Francis, who walks to the hotel every day, Francis’s daughter Alison and hotel maid Kirrily.
Author Sophie Green says “The art class and practice of art is central to this novel, as a means of showing that we need to heal ourselves. And creativity is incredibly important for each person’s wellbeing.”
The weekly hour-long art classes are a way for the four women to indulge in creativity and conversation and to take time to look closely at things. Rather than reacting to life all the time, it is a chance to take a breath and work out what makes them happy.
There are many twists and turns as the characters try to unravel complications in their lives but, at the end of the day, the art and the friendships help them all to find make fresh starts.
Lezly Herbert
