Off Island - by Lara Tupper (Paperback)

About the Book

"Pure color!" wrote Paul Gauguin to his wife, Mette, from the South Seas. "Everything must be sacrificed to it." In Off Island, author Lara Tupper imagines Gauguin-after new light, new color-ran away to a rugged island off the Maine coast.

Book Synopsis

"Pure color!" wrote Paul Gauguin to his wife, Mette, from the South Seas. "Everything must be sacrificed to it." In Off Island, novelist Lara Tupper imagines Gauguin-chasing new light, new color-ran away to a new island, a rugged outpost off the coast of Maine.

There, Gauguin leaves behind some paintings and letters, and maybe a child. And a hundred years later, another Maine painter, Pete, finds himself torn between his muses-the sturdy, reliable Molly and the unhappy, peripatetic Karla, who promises to take him to other, newer islands.

Off Island captures the lure of the unknown and the pull of the familiar, and questions what it means to be loyal to one's art, one's family and one's home.

Review Quotes

"Lara Tupper's Off Island is a beautiful accomplishment, unlike any other work of fiction I can recall. The two narratives intertwine in such a way as to both demystify historical celebrity and elevate contemporary plainfolk. The prose is seductive and elegant, the story smart, enlightening, and oh so satisfying."

-Antonya Nelson, author of Funny Once