book thoughts: Still Lives by Maria Hummel

The basics:  "Kim Lord is an avant-garde figure, feminist icon, and agent provocateur in the L.A. art scene. Her groundbreaking new exhibition, Still Lives, features portraits in which she depicts herself as famous, murdered women—the Black Dahlia, Chandra Levy, Nicole Brown Simpson, among many others—and the works are as compelling as they are disturbing, implicating a culture that is too accustomed to violence against women. As the city's richest art patrons pour into the Rocque Museum's opening night, all the staff, including editor Maggie Richter, hope the event will be enough to save the historic institution's flailing finances. Except that Kim Lord never shows up to her own gala."--publisher

My thoughts: I am perhaps the perfect audience for this novel: it's a mystery, but it's also a thoughtful examination of the contemporary Los Angeles art world, the role of women in art (as artist and subject), and how we view violence against women. I would gladly read a book about any one of those things, so to have them all in one book thrilled me.

When I finished this novel, I found myself of two minds. This book is brilliant in its feminist depiction of crime and art. As a mystery, it wasn't as compelling. What started as a five-star read ended up with four-stars. It's a book I want to reread because of the passages about art and crime, but it's also one I'll recommend with a caveat. Ultimately, I think readers looking for a mystery might be disappointed and readers looking for an art novel might be happier. As I've reflected on this novel for the past few days, I find myself wishing something I rarely do: that this novel were longer. Hummel packs a lot in these 288 pages, but I think another 40 pages might have let the end come together for me more.

Despite my partial disappointment with this novel, I still love it because of the fictional Kim Lord:

"I remember something Kim Lord said about paint, her chosen medium: “The Lonely Hearts Killer, the Original Night Stalker, the Grim Sleeper—Los Angeles serial killers get these profoundly cool names. Meanwhile, their victims look like models. There’s this glamour that glosses their suffering and their humanity,” she said. “Photography is partly to blame, I think. It’s an instant medium and only captures the flash of surfaces. Which is why I wanted to paint these women.”"

For a book about such serious subjects, Hummel also made me laugh out loud more than once at her descriptions of Los Angeles (and its inhabitants):  "It’s Nelia or Sara, on Greg’s other side. I can’t tell them apart, especially in the fading light. They are both attractive red-haired life coaches, and they’ve cowritten a book that is made up entirely of bullet points."

While the ending left me a little disappointed, this book made me a fan of Maria Hummel, and I'll be first in line when her next book comes out.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: June 5, 2018
Source: library

Favorite passage:  "“I thought still lifes were grapes and dead hares and stuff,” he says. “Aren’t these portraits?” he asks. “Not according to the artist,” I say. “She says that these paintings are still lifes because the subjects are inanimate and positioned to relay a meaning.” “Kim Lord is inanimate?” “Her photos of herself are. And the victims are.” Kevin looks dubious. “Also, because still lifes were often a display of opulence or wealth,” I explain. “Some rich person showing off the luxuries they own. Well, what if the liberated woman is one of our society’s luxuries? And what if she’s something hunted and killed, too?”"

Want to read for yourself? Buy Still Lives from Amazon (Kindle edition.)

Challenges: Booked (New to You author), Litsy A to Z, Pop Sugar (two books with same title), and Hello Sunshine

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