Book Recommendation: Drawn From Life by Jonathan Strong

My fellow romper gave me Jonathan Strong's latest book, Drawn From Life as a holiday gift (of course we always trade books!) and because she's the best, had it signed. Naturally I couldn't wait to read it! I was not disappointed. Drawn From Life follows Pete, a man who grew up in the midwest, loving to draw and struggling with his sexuality. The novel traces Pete's life as a young boy on his grandmother's farm to an art student in Cambridge and back to his grandmother's farm in his middle age. Written in the third person, but exclusively from Pete's point of view, Drawn From Life is a novel about all our highs and lows as we work to understand ourselves and find happiness, or at least, an equilibrium. Because Pete realizes he is gay at a young age, he struggles to reconcile his desires with society's expectations and his own family's ready acceptance of Pete in any form. Pete remains detached from himself and finds release and exploration in his artwork, which always features others (people, cars, landscapes) and never himself. Due to Pete's detachment, the tone of the novel stays cool and even keel. What makes this tone resonant so well is Strong's technique of short, staccato chapters that in their brevity reflect Pete's efforts to capture moments of life in his drawings. From an early age Pete attempts to depict the movement of wind in the trees and later bodies moving in the darkness, which mirror the momentary glimpses each chapter provide into Pete's life. Told in chronological order and featuring a handful of consistent characters, Strong's novel very much presents life the way we remember it - specific moments and people in our lives that emerge as important, linked or memorable later. Each chapter works as its own drawing of Pete's life and coheres as a whole. Drawn From Life is an enjoyable read in a refreshing style.

- KER