Artistic Licence

by Katie Fforde

Thea, fed up with being mother to a houseful of students, accepts her bossy friend Molly's offer of an art appreciation holiday in Provence. While there, Thea meets the gorgeous Rory, an artist who is as attracted to her as she is to him, in spite of him being several years younger. So when Thea hears that her student lodgers have had a party and her house is a tip, she decides to extend her holiday and accept Rory's invitation to his house in Ireland, where she discovers a studio full of wonderful paintings. But her home life won't leave her alone. Molly, her annoying niece Petal, not to mention their enigmatic cousin Ben and his son Toby, all appear on the doorstep, just as Rory's dog is about to have puppies. And then everyone is roped into helping when Thea decides to open an art gallery to show Rory's work. But will she end up with Rory, who wants her, or with Ben, who maddeningly, doesn't seem to?

• ISBN10: 0712669728
• ISBN13: 9780712669726
• Publish Date: 3 May 2001
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 16 April 2005
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Cornerstone
• Imprint: Century
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

Artistic Licence is one of my favourite Katie Fforde novels. I’ve read it three times and loved it each and every time. It tells the story of Thea, a landlady with a house full of students. After a trip to France with her best friend Molly she decides to go to Ireland with Rory – an artist she met in France – to get away from it all. Trouble is Molly, Petal (one of Thea’s lodgers) and Petal’s Uncle Ben rock up in Ireland demanding to see Rory’s paintings. And that’s just the start of things!

I loved Artistic Licence. I thought it was an easy read and I really enjoyed all of the characters. Reading about Thea trying to set up an art gallery after seeing Rory’s paintings was brilliant, the whole will-he-won’t-he regarding showing with Thea in the provinces or showing in London was an interesting part of the story, too.

Sure, Thea swanning off to Ireland seemed very sudden but the spontaneity of it was great to read. Who doesn’t dream of swanning off somewhere and getting away from it all?! I thought Thea was really well written and I enjoyed the dilemma’s she faced and I couldn’t help hoping she would pull it off.

I also really enjoyed the interaction between Ben and Thea and was rooting for them throughout. From the first meeting in the dustbin to the end, their relationship was a really great part to the novel. The build-up for it was really great and well done by Katie and my favourite aspect of the story.

I enjoyed all the minor characters, Molly, Petal, Rory but my favourite of the minor characters was Ben’s son Toby. He was really enjoyable to read about. Another part of the story I enjoyed was Rory’s dog, Lara, having her puppies and, when Rory went to London, reading how Thea looked after them.

Artistic Licence is written in the third-person as all of Katie’s books are and I love how that’s done. Depending on the author, I alternate between which style I prefer. I’m generally a fan of first-person but I love when third-person is really well written and Katie definitely manages that.

Overall, Artistic Licence is a really great read, and although a lot of people (on Amazon – where some reviews cannot be classified as reviews) say Katie’s writing style is “old-fashioned” I disagree with them, I love how Katie writes her books. It’s well worth a read if you like a good romance!

Rating: 5/5