Life Class

by PatBarker (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2007

  $3.44

  It is spring, in 1914. A group of students at the Slade School of Art have gathered for a life-drawing class. Paul Tarrant is easily distracted by an intriguing fellow student, Elinor Brooke, but when Kit Neville - himself not long out of the Slade but already a well-known painter - makes it clear that he, too, is attracted to Elinor, Paul withdraws into a passionate affair with an artist's model. As spring turns to summer, Paul and Elinor each reach a crisis in their relationships until finally, in the first few days of war, they turn to each other. Paul's new life as a volunteer for the Belgian Red Cross is a world away from his days at the Slade. The longer he remains in Ypres, the greater the distance between himself and home becomes, and by the time he returns, Paul must confront the fact that life, and love, will never be the same again.

• New

  Paperback
  2008

  $12.16

  Life Class is the first novel in Pat Barker's Life Class Trilogy - a powerful and unforgettable story of art and war Spring, 1914. The students at the Slade School of Art gather in Henry Tonks' studio for his life-drawing class. But for Paul Tarrant the class is troubling, underscoring his own uncertainty about making a mark on the world. When war breaks out and the army won't take Paul, he enlists in the Belgian Red Cross just as he and fellow student Elinor Brooke admit their feelings for one another. Amidst the devastation in Ypres, Paul comes to see the world anew - but have his experiences changed him completely? Triumphant, shattering, inspiring . (The Times). Barker writes as brilliantly as ever ...with great tenderness and insight she conveys a wartime world turned upside down . (Independent on Sunday). Vigorous, masterly, gripping . (Penelope Lively, Independent). Extraordinarily powerful . (Sunday Telegraph). Other titles in the trilogy: Toby's Room, and Noonday.