Brighten the Corner Where You Are: A Novel Inspired by the Life of Maud Lewis

By Carol Bruneau

Book Overview

Brighten The Corner Where You Are has been Longlisted for 2022 Dublin Literary Awards, and was the winner of the 2021 Miramichi Reader's "The Very Best!" Book Awards.

A brilliant novel reimagining the life of internationally renowned folk artist Maud Lewis by an award-winning author.

But I had known since forever that it's colours that keep the world turning,
that keep a person going.

One glimpse of the tiny painted house that folk art legend Maud Lewis shared with her husband, Everett, in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia, during the mid-twentieth century and the startling contrast between her joyful artwork and her life's deprivations is evident. One glimpse at her photo and you realize, for all her smile's shyness, she must've been one tough cookie. But, beneath her iconic resilience, who was Maud, really? How did she manage, holed up in that one-room house with no running water, married to a miserly man known for his drinking? Was she happy, or was she miserable? Did painting save or make her Everett's meal ticket? And then there are the darker secrets that haunt her story: the loss of her parents, her child, her first love.

Against all odds, Maud Lewis rose above these constraints--and this is where you'll find the Maud of Brighten the Corner Where You Are speaking her mind from beyond the grave, freed of the stigmas of gender, poverty, and disability that marked her life and shaped her art. Unfettered and feisty as can be, she tells her story her way, illuminating the darkest corners of her life. In possession of a voice all her own, Maud demonstrates the agency that hovers within us all.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1771088834
• ISBN13: 9781771088831
• Release Date: September 2020
• Publisher: Vagrant Press
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant!

Carol Bruneau has a giant story to tell about Maud Lewis, internationally lauded folk artist. Bruneau, known for her indefatigable research, creates a novel that is in itself a literary work of art and history. Maud Lewis, suffering from birth rheumatoid arthritis, grows hands that close permanently as clubs instead of wandering fingers. Unable to hold a paintbrush in any conventional way, Maud never-the-less finds in her love of color and nature, a passion for painting. Abused in childhood as a freak, Maud suffers gross cruelty from her husband, but not without determination to find bits of joy in corners, especially in making others happy. Painting her entire house (a shack, really) with folk art seems natural. When kindness comes her way, Maud is almost overwhelmed and grateful. Maud and her great love, a crow Maud names Matilda, accept nature and events like existentialists, observing, talking, helping each other at critical times. Maud Lewis paintings hang in museums all over the world. (The best are in Halifax.) Although each work is now worth many thousands of dollars, the Maud we meet typically charges $4 to tourists for her housepaint-on-board paintings. How beautiful is Bruneau's writing, a masterpiece of clear, unjudgmental storytelling! The narrative compels page-turning. Additionally, the author is gifted with hearing the many dialects of Nova Scotia, creating with precision her own painting in words. I think of this book every day and am likely to read it many times.