The Modern by Anna Kate Blair
Natalie @theliteraryshelf reviewed The Modern by Anna Kate Blair for us! If you’re interested in reading advanced copies of fiction and non-fiction in exchange for a review like this then please get in touch with Chloe - shop@unitybooksauckland.co.nz.
In an age driven by desire, what happens when you want two different things?
Set in the pristine, precarious world of MoMA, The Modern is a brilliantly wry and insightful debut about art, sexuality, commitment and whether being on the right path can lead to the wrong place.
Anna Kate Blair’s The Modern is an absolute must-read for Art History nerds, fans of the 20/30-something coming-of-age genre, and lovers of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar.
The Modern is about Sophia, a fellow at MoMA who has a PhD in Art History. At the start of the novel, Sophia gets spontaneously engaged to her long-term partner, Robert, right before he leaves to hike the Appalachian Trail. During Robert’s absence, Sophia strikes up a friendship with a young artist named Cara. What follows is a nuanced exploration of relationships, sexuality, career ambition, marriage, and ultimately, an answer to the question; what is modern?
I loved this novel for many reasons. One being reading about a woman with career ambition. It is immediately clear that both Sophia and Robert put themselves and their careers before anything else, including their relationship with each other. I found it really refreshing to follow a female protagonist putting her own ambitions and desires for her career and life before her desire for a romantic relationship and life partner. Sophia’s love of Art History and deep desire to continue working at MoMA is a really important and compelling narrative thread, and it certainly drew me further into the world of the novel.
I thought Blair did an amazing job of showing the complexities of existing as a woman, and as a queer woman, in a heterosexual relationship. Sophia experiences the paradox of deeply loving and trusting a man and, at the same time, being aware of and uncomfortable about the male gaze. I also found Sophia’s fear of ‘posing’ as a straight woman in her relationship really compelling. This passage sums it up better than I ever could; “I’d worried… that I might be betraying myself when Robert and I indulged in our shared fantasies, as if detailing my desire for women was titillating to Robert only because he didn’t really perceive women as a threat. …I was afraid, instead, that I was complicit in the reduction of queer female desire to something performed for a male gaze.” (p. 17)
I also absolutely loved the parallels to The Bell Jar that Blair drew in The Modern. Sophia is a woman facing several potentially life-altering decisions. While reading, I found myself picturing Esther under the fig tree; paralysed, tired, confused, and at the same time, deeply aware of her selfhood and agency by the time we reach the novel’s end. Sophia knows herself and what she wants in a broad sense. Her journey throughout The Modern is the process of working out some of the finer details, which I thought was quite unique.
Finally, I really loved reading Sophia’s inner debate about the concept of marriage. This is something I haven’t come across in many other books I’ve read. When wedding dress shopping Sophia reflects that “in these stores, marriage appeared to be a ritual sacrifice of women to patriarchy and capitalism.” (p. 48) This is an image that really stuck in my mind.
Anna Kate Blair’s ability to articulate complex feelings and experiences in a digestible and concise way in this novel had me completely hooked right from the first page. I could go on forever about all the other reasons I loved The Modern. It had me emotionally and intellectually engaged from start to finish and I simply did not want to put it down.
- Natalie @theliteraryshelf