Emily Carr was a pioneering painter, choosing as her subject the lush landscape and pre-European history of British Columbia. She focused her efforts first on recording the incredible art of the First Nations clans, capturing the spirit of the place - the serenity, power and life’s blood of the centuries-old forests that surrounded her. The path she chose was not an easy one. She refused to conform to the expectations of the white Vancouver society into which she was born. She fought her sisters for the money she needed to paint as she felt she must. She suffered negative reviews and scorn of her countrymen for her focus on native peoples. She pushed her way into art studios in France to learn the techniques she would need to capture the spirit of her beloved forests. She refused to compromise her vision, and finally achieved the recognition she deserved.

Vreeland paints a vivid portrait of Emily. I was captured from the first paragraph. There are passages in the novel that are breathtaking, powerful, urgent, serene and/or heartbreaking. I felt Emily’s frustration, elation, confusion, compassion and joy.

I’ve visited Canada many times, going to art museums in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto and Montreal. Reading the book I can only think that I never saw Carr’s work in all those visits. How could I forget something so evocative and powerful? This novel makes me want to visit “the forest primeval” again, and to see Emily Carr’s paintings.