Michaela Carter

For fans of Colm Tóibín's The Master, a page-turning novel about Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington and the art, drama, and romance that defined her coming-of-age during World War II.

Leonora in the Morning Light

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Leonora in the Morning Light

Author: Michaela Carter

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 2/5

Recommended For...: historical fiction fans

Publication Date: April 6, 2021

Genre: Historical Fiction

Recommended Age: Can’t recommend, DNF-ed

Publisher: Simon Schuster

Pages: 416

Synopsis: 1940. A train carrying exiled German prisoners from a labor camp arrives in southern France. Within moments, word spreads that Nazi capture is imminent, and the men flee for the woods, desperate to disappear across the Spanish border. One stays behind, determined to ride the train until he reaches home, to find a woman he refers to simply as “her.”

1937. Leonora Carrington is a twenty-year-old British socialite and painter dreaming of independence when she meets Max Ernst, an older, married artist whose work has captivated Europe. She follows him to Paris, into the vibrant revolutionary world of studios and cafes where rising visionaries of the Surrealist movement like Andre Breton, Pablo Picasso, Lee Miller, Man Ray, and Salvador Dali are challenging conventional approaches to art and life. Inspired by their freedom, Leonora begins to experiment with her own work, translating vivid stories of her youth onto canvas and gaining recognition under her own name. It is a bright and glorious age of enlightenment—until the shadow of war looms over Europe and headlines emerge denouncing Max and his circle as “degenerates,” leading to his arrest and imprisonment. Left along as occupation spreads throughout the countryside, Leonora battles terrifying circumstances to survive, reawakening past demons that threaten to consume her.

As Leonora and Max embark on remarkable journeys together and apart, the full story of their tumultuous and passionate love affair unfolds, spanning time and borders as they seek to reunite and reclaim their creative power in a world shattered by war. When their paths cross with Peggy Guggenheim, an art collector and socialite working to help artists escape to America, nothing will be the same.

Review: I had to DNF this read at 30%. I will try this book again in the future, but the way that the story is told is very confusing and off-putting to me. It’s hard to tell what’s truth and what’s a hallucination.

Verdict: It’s ok, just confusing.

Renee Blankenship

Thank you to the publisher for my ARC.

Leonora in the Morning Light felt like an indulgence every time I picked it up. Very rarely does a book have so many of the things I fall for: historical fiction (leading up to and during WWII), artists/art world, a coming of age story line, a love story that is once in a lifetime. Each time I entered into the world of Leonora and Max I felt transported into their circle. There is quite a lot to touch upon in this book. It takes you across Europe during the start of WWII. Through relationships and lovers, leaving behind regrets and a feeling of melancholy. It dumps you at the steps of an asylum for a bit, watching through the window as Leonora finally comes back to herself after an insufferable trauma. Further still across the ocean to America, finally (FINALLY!). To the streets of NYC and then the deserts of the wests where there is peace. And at its close, Mexico, where Leonora is able to create in a way she wasn't able to with her heart tethered to Max. 

The imagery you encounter in this story, specifically through Leonora and how she views the world around her, was so beautiful and perfect. I found myself really sinking into Leonora's psyche at times, envisioning her lonely days in France with the cats and goats, immersing herself in the mud of the river. Feeling her struggle as she chooses herself over the love of her life. 

Leonora in the Morning Light unfolds in a way that will have you completely invested in Leonora and the person Leonora becomes at the end of the story. I wish I could know her in real life. She's a character I won't soon forget.

Dakota Gigout

A wild woman. That is the best way I can describe Leonora. She is a wild woman. She is finding her way through life, through the tangles of her mind, through war, in the best way that she can. There is so much change going on around and within her and Michaela Carter does a beautiful job exploring her psyche. 

“Hyenas were practically androgynous, the females in possession of a false penis, a fact which pleased [Leonora]— not or, she thought, but and.” (Page 89). 

In a break from the stoicism of the early 1900’s, Leonora is learning to embrace the “and” of herself. She doesn’t have to be an artist “or” in a relationship. She can do whatever she wants. She simply has to decide what that will be. I simply wish it had not be so centered around men. 

The writing style is pure philosophy. It is dreamy and atmospheric which is a stark contrast to the surrealist movement it depicts. 

I felt so drawn to Leonora. She is the everywoman. But Max? I caught the ick early on the in the book and could not shake it or feel anything pleasant toward his character. But, I believe it to have been the author’s intention to show the flaws as well as the joys of the Surrealist movement. There is a lot of character to this book!

Leonora in the Morning Light

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