The Pelton Papers

Coates’s stirring debut imagines the life of painter Agnes Pelton (1881–1961). Set up as a memoir Agnes wrote in the last year of her life, the narrative begins in 1888, when she and her parents move from Germany to her grandmother’s home in Brooklyn. Her early promise at drawing led to enrollment at Pratt Institute at 14, and at 28 she spends a year in Rome studying painting. She grows artistically and meets friends and admirers but never finds love. While she’s drawn to women, she is stalled by the influence of her devout Christian grandmother, who instilled in her a fear of sin, and her own reserved nature. She returns to New York and is taken under the wing of Alice Thursby, a socialite who helps Agnes find a studio and galleries where she can display and sell her work. When Agnes intuits that her romantic feelings for Alice will never be mutual, she devotes her life to painting. After developing a new abstract style, she gains a following and relocates from New York to California. This captivating story of suppressed sexuality and finding satisfaction through making art offers subtle observations and moments of deep feeling. Coates brilliantly captures the creative eye of an unassuming, uniquely talented artist. (Apr.)