Content Notes: Some descriptions of nudity and thoughts of infidelity
I love a scholarly read and Queen of the Owls by Barbara Linn Probst is that kind of a book. Elizabeth is a PhD Art History student, pursuing her research on the painter Georgia O’Keeffe while managing married life and motherhood. Her marriage doesn’t have the spark that she sees in other couples’ and when she gets an opportunity to not only get to know O’Keeffe’s work better by recreating it, she finds out something about herself and her sensuality. When the photos become public and the photographer, Richard, refuses to take them down saying they are his work, Elizabeth must decide how much her reputation and what people think of her matters to her.
Themes for Thought
Queen of the Owls is a captivating read about how academic work can blur into a personal experiment and what it means to break free of the perceptions and identities that society imposes on all of us – sometimes, the only way to be seen is to show ourselves.
Who owns the art: the model or the photographer?
Elizabeth’s dissertation focuses on the period in painter O’Keeffe’s life when she lived in Hawaii and her paintings underwent a dramatic transformation. In the attempt to understand this change, Elizabeth has to study O’Keeffe and her life holistically, looking at the times before and after Hawaii. This means digging deeper into the photographs that photographer Steinberg took of O’Keeffe.
When Elizabeth recreates these photos with Richard, the photographer from her Tai Chi class, she finds herself in a situation similar to O’Keeffe. Just like Georgia never wanted these photos to be made public, Elizabeth’s career and family life are threatened when Richard showcases them at a nearby gallery.
Though the reasons why O’Keeffe took part in those photos may be different from Elizabeth’s intentions, the consequences are still the same. Their reactions are similar and through this experience, Elizabeth gets to understand the painter better. Since she is also teaching a class about feminist art, Elizabeth also gets to discuss the idea of who owns the art: the model or the photographer? How much part of the work does the muse get in a painting?
Are we who we told we are?
One of the aspects of the relationships in this book that I really enjoyed was Elizabeth and her sister, Andrea. Both are starkly different and while growing up, Elizabeth was always the smart one and Andrea was the pretty and confident one who got everything she wanted. As the story progresses and we see the struggles in both their married lives, deep seated resentments about their upbringing are exposed.
The sisters grew up knowing their roles in their family and they are still stuck in those roles decades later. The fact that Elizabeth is smart and cannot make mistakes is often thrown at her because that is who her family wants her to be. In the process of recreating the photographs, Elizabeth confronts these roles and learns to break free of them. She learns to give herself breathing room to be who she is, not what others expect her to be.
Balancing the academic and home life
Through Elizabeth, I gained a glimpse into what it would be like to pursue a PhD (something I hope to do one day) while bringing up kids. A post doctorate dissertation is the stepping stone into tenure track positions and Queen of the Owls does a fantastic job of exposing the pressure of impressing the right people and keeping the academics on her committee happy. Though the profession may be sympathetic to missing events due to kids, graduate students are expected to step up and make a name for themselves. Whether it was making it to meetings with professors who only had set office hours or giving up library hours to placate the child throwing tantrums at daycare, I really appreciated this honest view of pursuing education as a mother.
Significance of the Owl
Throughout this story, there were a couple of references to owls and owlish behaviour but it was unclear to me why this was the title of the book. After reading up more about owls and their spiritual meaning, I found that owls are seen as messengers of change and represent wisdom. With her academic thesis as the driver, Elizabeth undergoes a massive change in her outlook of the world as well as herself, acknowledging what isn’t working for her anymore and what needs to change. At the end, she comes out a new person with a renewed spirit, reconnecting with the magic of life.
Conclusion
A well researched book that makes me question the choices that the main character is making is a book I always enjoy. Queen of the Owls is a book that provided ample opportunities for discussion, looking not just into the personal and ethical dilemmas of the situations but also questioning bigger ideas around art, feminism, and ownership.
Queen of the Owls is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of April 7th 2020.
Will you be picking up Queen of the Owls? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A chance meeting with a charismatic photographer will forever change Elizabeth’s life.
Until she met Richard, Elizabeth’s relationship with Georgia O’Keeffe and her little-known Hawaii paintings was purely academic. Now it’s personal. Richard tells Elizabeth that the only way she can truly understand O’Keeffe isn’t with her mind—it’s by getting into O’Keeffe’s skin and reenacting her famous nude photos.
In the intimacy of Richard’s studio, Elizabeth experiences a new, intoxicating abandon and fullness. It never occurs to her that the photographs might be made public, especially without her consent. Desperate to avoid exposure—she’s a rising star in the academic world and the mother of young children—Elizabeth demands that Richard dismantle the exhibit. But he refuses. The pictures are his art. His property, not hers.
As word of the photos spreads, Elizabeth unwittingly becomes a feminist heroine to her students, who misunderstand her motives in posing. To the university, however, her actions are a public scandal. To her husband, they’re a public humiliation. Yet Richard has reawakened an awareness that’s haunted Elizabeth since she was a child—the truth that cerebral knowledge will never be enough.
Now she must face the question: How much is she willing to risk to be truly seen and known?
