One of the satisfactions of Emma Donoghue's masterful fourth novel, Life Mask, is the tension between the writer's contemporary interests, like lesbianism and the balance of power in marriage, and her 18th Century subject matter. Life Mask is a fictional recreation of a plausible (but unproven) love triangle between the comedic actress Eliza Farren, the sculptor Anne Damer (the niece of Horace Walpole, a fantastic minor character here), and Edward Smith-Stanley, the twelfth Earl of Derby, a Whig (liberal) politician who left his name to the horse race he founded. Like her bestseller Slammerkin, the novel spins an intricate story from the slightest of historical traces, in this case a single reference in the commonplace book of Hester (Thrale) Piozzi: a snarky four-line epigram that hints at the danger to Miss Farren's reputation in consorting with "one whose name approaches 'Damn Her.'"

Readers who stay with Donoghue through the crowded and confusing early chapters of Life Mask will find a skillful, partly sympathetic portrait of English aristocracy during and after the French Revolution, a trove of period detail, and a spellbinding tale of unlikely but enduring love. --Regina Marler

I was a 17-year-old lesbian in 1953, when it was worth your life to let even a hint emerge that you might be 'that way'. It was like being a member of the French resistance in Berlin during WW2.

To me, the erotic longings of the three main women characters, Anne, Eliza, and Mary, are the linchpin, the actual plot, of this pleasantly meandering novel, a study of how deeply forbidden lesbian love was.

Yep, I read it, then I read it again.

I am in absolute awe of this author's commitment--not only is her writing laudable, but her research is meticulous.

The book opens with one of the main characters, Eliza Farren, in a carriage as she is driven to Richmond House, marking her entrance, if not her belonging, into the highest ranking class--the aristocracy. With her, the reader is also introduced into this dissonant world of sumptuous excess and controlled exteriors, of masks, of lies, of politics, and of love.

All the while, French troubles slowly develop in the background before finally erupting into the Revolution, throwing the English aristocracy into a state of anxiety over their own security and right to title.

The author masterfully develops her multitudinous cast against this tumultuous backdrop, especially in the person of Anne Damer. Getting to know the nuanced characters is like peeking beyond their masks, a kind of literary voyeurism.

Emma Donoghue is both historian and artist, and the result is a lavish and decadent novel meant to be savored. Enjoy.

Emma Donaghue has written a beautifully layered, exhaustively researched and all-round enjoyable historical novel.

While some readers may consider the book to be too long and rambling in telling its story, I never experienced a moment of boredom.

From the lesbian love story of Anne Damer, to the tales from the political scene of a late 18th century England - all strands of the plot were immensely entertaining.

I was fascinated with the fate of every character and delighted to discover that all of the cast are indeed based on real historical figures.

Very interesting was also the parallels the author has drawn to the modern day, including the issue of homeland security and its consequences, as well as the fascination with the tabloid press.

Life Mask was one of the first historical novels I had read, so the further along in the story I read the more I became disatisfied with the lesbian character Anne Damer. I learned that when the review describes a character as "intimate friendship" on the back cover it's an indication that there is implied homosexuality written within the story. Other than that I enjoyed the hetersexual relationships protrayed, however the book could be condensed by a couple hundred pages and still spike interest.

The reviewer who likened this work to "one of those great nineteenth century novels" must have been self-medicating when he wrote those words. The only thing this clunker has in common with said great works is a title and pages. Life Mask is set in one of the most boring times of British history: the reign of nutty old George III, and is populated by a cast of richy-riches who busy themselves staging amateur productions, killing foxes and killing time gossiping with and about each other. This is a plot? The fact that many names dropped in this volume are actual historical figures does nothing to enhance interest for this reader. We are dealing here with a clutch of pompous, stuffy, out-of-touch politicos obsessed with jockeying for position and cheating on their wives. I can read storylines such as this and snoop on the doings of the rich-and-famous in any supermarket check out line. It was no more interesting in 18th Century England than in 21st Century Washington. The ultimate failure of this novel was the fact that I could have cared less about the fate of Our Heroine or any of her companions. To my mind, a worthwhile read either educates, uncovers truths about human nature, relates to interesting historical (or fictional) events, or in some way results in the reader experiencing some kind of emotion or gaining some kind of understanding. Nothing of that sort is available here. Unless the intimation of intra-female eroticism is enough to keep you reading, there's not much here to reward.