It's not Lilly's life that is Luminous, but the people around her shine brightly. (The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite - Beatrice Colin)

Member Name: Rhiana

Product:	The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite - Beatrice Colin
Date:	10/05/09 (240 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic Characters, brilliantly descriptive, leaves you wanting to learn more.

Disadvantages: the background setting at the beginning is too long, I almost gave up and missed a fantastic book.

I'm quite a fan of the Richard and Judy Book club, and have read some fantastic books I probably wouldn't have had they not been one of their recommendations. Working my way through the 2009 list, I have just finished The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite by Beatrice Colin.

The book tells the story of Lilly Nelly Aphrodite, illegitimate child to a cabaret dancer, born in Berlin at the turn of the twentieth century.

Quickly orphaned she is took in by Sister August at a catholic orphanage, where she meets Hanne who will become a life long friend.

We follow the struggles Lilly faces as she leaves the orphanage to go into domestic service, through the first world war and the subsequent post war years of the Weimer Republic. As circumstances work against her Lilly is forced to continually reinvent herself, for her own survival leading her from house maid to cocktail waitress, Munitions factory worker to star of the new silent movie industry with various periods of destitution and fortune along the way, as well as many loves gained and lost.

I have to say, I almost gave up on this book in the early stages. The first 80 or so pages focus on lilly's childhood in the orphanage, and while introducing us to the kind but misplaced Sister August, who young Lilly is in love with and Hanne, her life long friend, nothing much happens and it isn't particularly interesting. I appreciate it was setting the background for Lilly's life, but felt it could have been done in around half the pages. There seemed to be characters introduced and anecdotes told for seemingly no purpose. One such instance is when a photographer visits the orphanage when Lilly is 6. Lilly is asked to show the photographer out, but instead decides to take him and show him her cot. She then just shows him out. I can't really understand the purpose of this as it doesn't set Lilly up to be a flirt, for instance. Nor does he abuse her in anyway. She shows him, he say's 'oh' then she shows him out, end of.

However I did carry on with the book, hoping that it would get better and I am very pleased that I did. The story takes us on a remarkable journey through German history between the First world War, economic collapse and the rise of the Nazi Party. I don't know a lot about this period in history, but the author writes in such a way that the mood, suffering, poverty, frustration, anger, violence and hedonism of this age is almost tangible.

While the book is titled The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite, it's the people in and around Lilly's life who truly shine. Lilly herself is at times somewhat dull, being carried along from one tragedy to another, we often don't know Lilly's own emotions or feelings and can be difficult to relate to. However, the author seems to use Lilly as a vehicle to introduce the wonderful characters who slip in and out, and back into her life again.

Told in the third person throughout we really get to know the friends and loves in Lilly's life. Her friend Hanne is the one who shone the most for me. A wild industrious girl, tingle-tangle dancer, prostitute, gold digger, drug addict. She doesn't sound as if she possesses heartwarming qualities, but her vividness and spirit make her an incredibly interesting character and you can not help but empathise with her. Other characters such as Eva: the jealous and deceitful Communist in love with Lilly, Kurt: a violent brown shirt injured in the first world war, Ilya: the Russian film director and Lilly's tragic love, all possess great depth. Sometimes I wondered about the relevancy of some characters as they are introduced into Lilly's life and disappear just as quickly, but they are brought back or the story is tied up and all have their own significance.

I raced through the book from around page 80 and couldn't put it down. There isn't an awful lot of dialogue, however the author managed to capture feelings and moods with raw descriptive text. There is a lot of historical fact in the book, and I found this was wrote in a way to be informative and interesting, and never deviating or distracting from the story.

My one complaint, apart from the somewhat labourous beginning, would be towards the end. Obviously not wanting to give too much away, I feel the detail into the makings of Silent Movies became too factual and the characters where slightly lost in this part. Each chapter of the book begins with a snippet from a film script, scene from an actress, or a description of someone visiting the early German Cinema's. At first I couldn't really understand the point in these exerts, however I did come to appreciate them, giving me an insight into what was a revolutionary industry, which despite poverty, suffering and political unease captured the imagination of a nation.

Overall I enjoyed this book very much, after getting past the first couple of chapters. I feel not only was I entertained, but I learned a great deal about a period in history I have little understanding of and would like to learn more. The character development is fantastic, and even after finishing the book they have stayed with me. The ending is shocking, in a way that is unexpected. while a lot of loose ends are tied up, more questions are raised and left unanswered giving you something to ponder over for hours after.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction as a genre, has a keen interest in this era of history or a passion for film making, particularly silent movies. If you can get past the first 80 pages, then I believe you are in for a treat.

~About The Author ~

Beatrice Colin was born in London and Lives in Scotland. she has previously worked as a freelance journalist and playwright for BBC radio. her inspiration for the book came from her German born aunt, who scorned her ignorance of this period in history. She lists a vast bibliography of books she took her research from at the back of the book and states that while much of her novel is based on fact, the characters, events and films are completely fictional.

~ Details~

The Luminous Life Of Lilly Aphrodite by Beatrice Colin
Published in 2008 by John Murray (publishers)
paperback edition published in 2009
400 pages
RRP £7.99 available from amazon.co.uk for under £4

Summary: A really intriguing book I enjoyed very much.