In this short, witty audiobook, author Christine Coulson briskly delivers the text of various museum wall labels that tell the long life story of Caroline Margaret Brooks Whitaker, known as Kitty, who is portrayed as a precious object to be admired--like a work of art. As Kitty's "provenance" grows through multiple marriages and the labels become hilariously longer, Coulson maintains the seriousness of a museum docent. Narrators Chris Henry Coffey, Jackie Sanders, and Megan Tusing interrupt the tour with gossipy comments that point out Kitty's surface craquelure, unflattering chiaroscuro lighting, and significant need for restoration. Kitty is an eccentrically independent woman who strives to become a true masterpiece that can withstand the shallowness of upper-class art collectors. As tastes in art change, the exhibit closes, and her portrait goes into permanent storage. J.E.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

08/14/2023

Coulson’s innovative yet disappointing sophomore outing (after Metropolitan Stories) is an experiment in structure that details the life of an American socialite through museum wall labels. Born in 1906, Kitty Whitaker is “all fireworks, golden child.” The novel’s first label belongs to a portrait of Kitty at age five and describes her as a “delirious display of Bernini verve and unrivaled WASP artistry.” In subsequent portrait captions, Kitty is depicted as confident, a little cruel, and ready to take her place as the “centerpiece of a dynastic collection” through her 1926 marriage to the heir of a Pittsburgh mining fortune. Though her wedding initially seems to be the first of many triumphs, Kitty’s life takes an unexpected turn when she’s unable to bear a child and her husband dies in WWII. In the following decades, she remarries, seduces a stepson, and, at age 69, even applies for a job as a docent at the Metropolitan Museum. The prose is often witty and dynamic, but the constrained format limits the story rather than adding to it, and the mildly feminist arc of Kitty’s self-realization feels predictable. Despite its novel structure, this turns out to be an unsatisfying showcase. Agent: Elizabeth Weed, Book Group. (Oct.)

A modern masterwork.”
—NPR

"A lovely, smart, fun, and very funny new novel . . . If you love art and museums as well as brilliant and fun novels, this is one for you. I read it in one sitting. . . . It’s a zinger.”
—Airmail

“A jewel box of a novel . . . Coulson’s innovative form is the perfect vehicle for her wry commentary on the complexities of seeing and being seen. . . . She is gifted at conveying astute observations through small, often humorous details. . . . A pleasure to read.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“It’s clear that Coulson is writing what she knows, and a passionate, lively imagination also pervades her prose. In One Woman Show, she sketches the outlines of a bourgeois 20th-century woman’s life with wit, exquisite detail, and poetic brevity. . . . The writer embraces delight. Her enthusiasm is infectious and propulsive. It does what a good wall label does: it helps her work come alive. . . . As Coulson revels in the decorative and in historical femininity, she evokes the films of Sofia Coppola. . . . Propulsive and highly enjoyable.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books

“Elegantly wrought . . . Carefully arranged within Coulson’s precisely pointed prose, even strictly rationed words can deliver an abundance of meaning. . . . Her lapidary, impeccably composed labels typically finish with a punchline.”
—The New Criterion

“Perfectly formed.”
—Harper’s (UK)

“A highly original and imaginative work that captivates and intrigues. The book is so brief that it can be read straight through in an hour, but that is not to say it is slight. Kitty is a pinball that rebounds off the major historical events of the 20th century and this, as well as the inclusion of Kitty’s deeply personal struggles, results in a character of huge pathos and empathy. . . . Coulson’s unusual command of language rewards multiple readings. It is probably best summed up by her American publisher’s initial response to the manuscript—‘bananas brilliant.’”
—The Irish Times

“A delight! This novel’s formal audacity—a book told in fragments culled from a museum’s walls—is an impressive feat of imagination. One Woman Show is a moving story of privilege, womanhood, and the sweep of the twentieth century told through a single American life. I loved this book.”
—Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind

“Wildly original . . . A tiny but powerful novel . . . It’s sometimes snarky, sometimes sad, with enough poignant moments to make me wish it could go on and on. . . . You can sit down and read it in less time than it takes to drive to the art museum, but you’ll be thinking about it for far longer. If you appreciate truly original structure and storytelling, put this modern masterwork on your reading list.” —KMUW, Book Review with Suzanne Perez

One Woman Show is a moving story of privilege, womanhood, and the sweep of the twentieth century told through a single American life. I loved this book.”

★ 12/22/2023

The objectification of women takes on a literal meaning as Coulson (Metropolitan Stories), a former senior writer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, tells the story of a 20th-century woman's life, portraying her as an artifact, a porcelain figurine in a museum. Clever in the extreme, the novel covers Kitty Whitaker's long life through the use of museum wall labels. Whitaker's three marriages, temporary placement into storage during the war, and eventual removal from display are documented with artistic vocabulary and insightful turns of phrase. Coulson's wordplay and delightfully written prose will compel readers to read some passages again and again as the ups and downs of Whitaker's life are portrayed with sympathy and wit. VERDICT To be devoured in one or two sittings, this wonderful novel is astounding and ingenious. It will be a highlight of many book discussion groups and for devotees of art museums, especially women.—Lisa Rohrbaugh

2023-07-26
The life of Caroline Margaret “Kitty” Brooks Whitaker is related entirely in the form of museum wall labels, as if she were a painting.

Coulson is a former writer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and here she endeavors to conjure a woman's life entirely through wall labels. The labels follow the variously cruel, obsessive, and disaffected Kitty from her gilded childhood in the early 1910s—when she's described as a “golden child, a delirious display of Bernini verve and unrivaled WASP artistry”—through several marriages and to her death. “A pretty thing entitled to pretty things,” Kitty wavers between reveling in the admiration and envy garnered by being a human objet d’art and her longing for freedom from the restraining gaze of others. Coulson is gifted at conveying astute observations through small, often humorous details: A supportive husband is compared to a “sterling silver knife rest” and small sandwiches are described as “an abstract portrait of caloric constraint” rendered with “Mondrian rigor.” Coulson’s innovative form is the perfect vehicle for her wry commentary on the conventions of art criticism, the complexities of seeing and being seen, and the desire for possession that is inherent in the art collections of the wealthy. The collecting of art on this scale, the novel seems to suggest, seems to tempt the collectors to see everything, even themselves and others, as objects made for consumption. Reading the novel effectively gives readers a sense of being held captive by the same forces that constrain Kitty. We observe and admire, but always with the sense that reality remains obscured by an excessively slick finish or a too-bright bit of gold leaf. While a pleasure to read and occasionally insightful, the novel never quite attains the depth required to elevate it from a fun satire to a truly profound commentary on art and the upper classes.

A jewel box of a novel that could have used a bit of polish to make it truly shine.