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    The Curiosities: A Novel
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    The Curiosities: A Novel
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    The Curiosities: A Novel
    Ebook330 pages4 hours

    The Curiosities: A Novel

    By Susan Gloss

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    The follow-up to Susan Gloss's successful debut, Vintage, is a charming mid-western story of artists, inspiration, and how to reinvent your life with purpose and flair.

    Nell Parker has a PhD in Art History, a loving husband named Josh, and a Craftsman bungalow in Madison, WI. But her last pregnancy ended later in the second trimester, and rather than pausing to grieve, she pushes harder for testing and fertility treatments. Urging Nell to apply for jobs, Josh believes his wife needs something else to focus on other than a baby that may never be.

    Finding a job turns out to be difficult for an art historian . . . until Nell sees the ad seeking a director for a new nonprofit called the Mansion Hill Artists' Colony. The colony is the brainchild of the late, unconventional society dame Betsy Barrett, who left behind her vast fortune and a killer collection of modern art to establish an artist-in-residency program to be run out of her lakeside mansion. The executor of Betsy's estate simply hands Nell a set of house keys and wishes her luck, leaving her to manage the mansion and the eccentric personalities of the artists who live there on her own.

    Soon one of the artists, a young metal sculptor named Odin, is keeping the other residents awake with his late-night welding projects. Nell is pretty sure that Annie, a dreadlocked granny known for her avant garde performance pieces, is dealing drugs out of the basement "studio." Meanwhile Paige, an art student from the university, takes up residence in the third-floor turret, experimenting with new printing and design techniques, as well as leading a string of bad boyfriends upstairs when she stumbles home late at night. 

    Despite all the drama, Nell finds something akin to a family among the members of the creative community that she’s brought together. And when her attraction to Odin begins to heat up, Nell is forced to decide what will bring her greater joy—the creative, inspired world she's created, or the familiar but increasingly fragile one of her marriage.

     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateFeb 5, 2019
    ISBN9780062270382
    Author

    Susan Gloss

    Susan Gloss is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin Law School. When she's not writing fiction, Susan can be found working as an attorney, blogging at GlossingOverIt.com, or hunting for vintage treasures for her Etsy shop, Cleverly Curated. She lives with her family in Madison, Wisconsin.

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    Reviews for The Curiosities

    4/5

    19 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      fullsizeoutput_3b95.jpegLinda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Curiosities” by Susan Gloss, William Morrow, February 5, 2019Susan Gloss, Author of “The Curiosities” has written an intriguing, and entertaining novel. The Genres for this novel are Fiction and Women’s Fiction. The timeline for this story is in the present and goes back to the past when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. The author describes her characters as complex and complicated.Nell Parker has a PhD in Art History, and her husband Josh is an attorney. They had lost a daughter very early in Nell’s pregnancy, and after several rounds of fertility treatments that produced no results, Nell would like to try again, but Josh has had enough. There is tension and friction in their marriage. Nell looks for a job and finds one as a director in a not for profit Center for Artists. Nell is in charge of three artists that have gotten residencies.The three artists live in the mansion, and have different interests in their creative process and art. Each of the artists has their own set of problems to work out, but each is extremely talented. Nell is there to over-see what goes on, and does go home at night. Nell also has some secrets she is keeping from her husband.I appreciate that the author describes the importance of family, friendship, communication, honesty, emotional support, love and hope. This is also a story of artists, creativity, growth, and friendship. I would recommend this story for those readers who enjoy dramatic stories. I received an ARC from Edelweiss for my honest review.
    • 4/5
      4.5 Stars for this ARC!

      This book has so many layers to it! I thought I knew where it was going at the beginning, but I got so much more! Everyone has a story, and these characters told theirs beautifully, and were so real and raw.

      Nell, for me is the most relatable. Anyone who has dealt with or is dealing with infertility and loss can relate to the monthly roller coaster of hope, mood swings, and feelings of defeat and failure. Although my outcome was much happier and no where near as intense as Nell’s, I so could relate. Brought back many memories and long talks. Very real portrayal.

      Besty, maybe on the other end of the spectrum, is ahead of her time. She makes no apologies for it. I loved her! Her love of all things art leads her to set up a residency for three artist to work on their craft. The first year artists are hand picked by Betsy. Nell takes the job as the Director of this non profit art program. She takes the job as the way to get out of a sticky situation. We meet Paige, Annie and Odin, all talented artists running from life.

      All these characters tell their stories with no urgency, slowly unfolding each, till the author finally shares with us in her time, how they intersect. The ending....for me was perfect! Make sure you take time to look up the art described at the beginning of each chapter.

      Thanks to Edelweiss, Ms Gloss and #tallpoppywriters for this ARC. All opinions are my own!
    • 4/5
      It's been way too long of a wait for a new book by Susan Gloss but I am happy to tell you that the wait is over and the new book is fantastic! It has everything needed to make a good novel - great characters, friendship, loss and love plus the added descriptions of paintings and sculptures.Nell takes a job as the director of an artist's colony. Even though she has a PhD in art history, she hasn't worked in several years while she and her husband go through several rounds of fertility treatments. Betsy Barrett had set up the artists colony in her will and after he death, the first group of artists arrived for an in-residency program. Nell and Betsy are total opposites - Nell lives her entire life around the dream of being a mother, Betsy was childless by choice. Nell is not sure what she wants to do with her life while Betsy was a strong determined woman who lived her life on her own terms. The three artists who arrive for the first in-residency program give Nell a chance to learn her new role. Not only do the artists work in different mediums but they are totally different types of people, all with lots of personal baggage. Will helping these three artists realize their potentials help Nell to recover from her heartbreak and become more inspired with her life or will it make her even more fragile?I enjoyed all the art references in this book and getting to know the various artists - they were a very eccentric group of people. I especially enjoyed Nell as she tried to turn her life around and discover the person that she really wants to be.Thanks to Edelweiss for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
    • 5/5
      Nell looks for a job after all their efforts with fertility treatments fail (and after she has wracked up huge debt without telling her husband). In a remarkably easy job hunt that happens only in fiction(!) she lands a job as the first director of a new nonprofit artist's colony. I love Nell, as she struggles to learn how to lead a non-profit, come to terms with the loss of her infant child, save her marriage, and bring an old mansion up to 21st century standards. The artists who live in the colony all present their own special challenges--culminating in a tragic incident that brings the police to the colony/mansion. Characters are well drawn, and once again the Madison setting is a bonus.
    • 4/5
      The Curiosities by Susan Gloss is an engrossing, character driven novel.

      Nell Parker and her husband, Josh, have been struggling with infertility since the loss of their baby. Following another failed IVF, Nell accepts a position as the director of a newly formed artist colony. Art collector Betsy Barrett created an artist in residence program shortly before passing away and then donated her estate to house the artists and provided the money to finance the program. She selected the inaugural artists whom Nell is in now in charge of helping encourage and nurture. A bit out of her depth, Nell nonetheless enthusiastically undertakes the challenge while hoping to keep Josh from uncovering the truth about their finances.

      When Nell and Josh first moved to Madison for his job, she was pregnant so she put off finding a job.  Following their heartrending loss, a career is out of the question during the rounds of IVF she is undergoing.  After their last attempt fails, Josh refuses to agree to continuing treatment.  Nell has kept vital information about how she has been paying for the expensive treatment, so she hopes to pay down the debt before he discovers her deception. Jobs are scarce so she eagerly but nervously accepts the position at the artist colony.

      Before long, the program's artists arrive and begin work. Paige Jewell is the youngest member of the program and although enormously talented, she lacks focus as she flits from one medium to another. Photographer Annie Beck is the oldest member of the group and she is hoping to jumpstart her once lucrative career with her latest ambitious project. Metal  Sculptor Odin Sorensen is hoping to expand his career as he shifts from creating small, top pieces to much larger works of art.

      Interspersed with Nell and the artists' stories in the present,  Betsy's life is revealed through a series of flashbacks. Married to a much older man who encouraged her love of art, Betsy carefully curated an enviable collection through the years.  Two of the artists in the program have unexpected ties to their generous benefactress although how their lives intersect is not made clear until close to the novel's end.

      The Curiosities is an engaging novel with underlying themes of grief and moving forward after tragedy. The characters are well-developed and multi-dimensional with interesting backstories and artistic talents.  Although a bit slow-moving initially, the story gradually picks up steam and Susan Gloss brings this creative novel to a satisfying conclusion.
    • 4/5
      Before I start the book review I just want to note how much I love the cover – it’s really eye catching. Nell and Josh are living in Wisconsin and longing for a child; Nell far more so than Josh. She has been undergoing IVF treatments after a miscarriage and she is devastated when the last implant does not take. Josh says that’s it – he’s done and feels Nell needs to find a place to direct her energies. She looks for and actually finds a job in short order.There is more between these two but all marriages are complicated. Nell is given the reigns of an artist’s colony through a trust of a wealthy woman who loved art. She dives into her new job with little experience and less supervision. As she makes the place into what she believes the former owner would want it to be she learns about that woman, about herself and how far love can stretch before it breaks.This was a quiet read in many ways. It had a quirky cast in that it involved artists and creative types and they are often a little different from the rest of the world. At the heart of the book though is the relationship between Nell and Josh. These are two people who are deeply in love but one – Nell – wants a baby so badly and feels deeply inadequate for not being able to do this one seemingly simple thing. Josh is fine one way or the other and suffers for the hurt the struggle is causing Nell. He hopes that her new job will redirect her energies but he doesn’t know how bad things really are with Nell.She does throw herself into the work but soon the distraction Josh was hoping for comes in the form of one of the artists in residence. Not exactly what either Nell or Josh was expecting. So will these two be able to work through these dark times in their lives and their marriage?I was drawn to the book through the mention of art and art history and yet found very little of both. That does not mean I didn’t find a book well worth reading. It was just more of romantic drama than I was initially expecting. It was full of interesting characters with compelling stories. All of them, living and dead had much to say about life and yes art. The book ended in a way I never would have expected and yet in a way it really could not have ended any other way.