Life Drawing is the first novel from critically acclaimed writer Robin Black. Her collection of short stories If I Loved You, I Would Tell You was a finalist for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Prize.

This book is riveting from the very first sentence. I read this book quickly and was completely involved in the story. Black really is a writer of note. Her way with words is nothing short of stunning and the novel really captures marriage, betrayal and love. It also captures a writers life well too.

The characters, particularly Augusta, are likeable despite their flaws. I even find myself staying up late to finish the book and rereading sentences and paragraphs. I really loved this book. I would say it is one of the best of the year. Pack it in your suitcase for your holidays, but only if you want to spend all of your time reading. Riveting.

Life Drawing is a fierce, honest and moving story of married life – its betrayals, intimacies, and secrets. Augusta and Owen have taken the leap. Leaving the city and its troubling memories behind, they have moved to the country for a solitary life where they can devote their days to each other and their art, where Gus can paint and Owen can write. But the facts of a past betrayal prove harder to escape than urban life. Ancient jealousies and resentments haunt their marriage and their rural paradise. When Alison Hemmings moves into the empty house next door, Gus is drawn out of isolation, despite her own qualms and Owen’s suspicions. As the new relationship deepens, the lives of the two households grow more and more tightly intertwined. It will take only one new arrival to intensify emotions to breaking point. Fierce, honest and astonishingly gripping, Life Drawing is a novel as beautiful and unsparing as the human heart

Life Drawing can be bought here.