| RENOWNED ARTIST'S EXPERIMENTAL NOVEL SMASHES CONVENTIONS;
BLURS FANTASY AND REALITY IN SOCIAL COMMENTARY
-- Melissa Henry's The Noble Society offers an eccentric take on the notion
of Utopia NEW YORK, NY -- For years, authors from George Orwell to Lewis Carroll to
Ursula LeGuinn have sparked imaginations and aroused heated discussions with
quasi fairy tale books. Now, in The Noble Society, an internationally
acclaimed artist has found a non-traditional way to create a modern fantasy
novel. Melissa Henry, known throughout the art world as Vera Nova, employs a
distinctive narrative style and refreshingly courteous aristocratic dialogue
in The Noble Society to present a rare combination of a keen modern thought,
satire, and ethical expose. "The Noble Society unexpectedly twists the necessary conventions of our
own society, and invites the reader to discover a hidden human psyche from a
thoroughly unique perspective - a funnier, happier and wiser existence",
says Henry. "I virtually chased shapes, manners and traits on my canvas to develop
characters I've not seen before in any art museum, cartoon or a book. They
finally came out from another dimension", adds Henry. In her stories "from another dimension", Henry reveals a host of characters
who make their way through the mythical community of Bullford; a place
teeming with odd circumstances and fantastic events. The denizens of
Bullford exist in an environment of playful eccentricity; a veritable Utopia
filled with unforgettable personalities such as Mr. Thoughtmill, Lady
Pepperpie, Mr. Greenhorn, and Lady Cherrypin. While the characters look, move, think, and act in amusing and seemingly
ridiculous ways, the ultimate meaning of the tales Henry weaves lies in
rethinking fundamental human concepts such as independence, money,
entertainment, social structures, time, ethics, love and war. | Melissa Henry's art (using the name Vera Nova), has been in private
collections throughout the world since 1979, and her works of "subconscious
realism" have been exhibited in major art shows from New York to California.
A musician, Henry has produced four original CD's. In 1995, she founded and
sponsored the international program, "Art Search for the Most Unique Image",
motivated by an idea to "encourage innovative change in art".
THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS
February, 2003
"THE NOBLE SOCIETY:
Adult Fairy Tales from Another Dimension"
(Psychological Fiction)
TASTE A HAPPIER REALITY
The Utopian fantasy is reinvented for the 21st Century in this dazzling
collection of short stories detailing the eternal life and times of the
denizens of Bullford, a place beyond our recycled human psyche
filled with laughter, hope, and eccentric wisdom.
Written and brilliantly illustrated
by international artist Melissa Henry
A generous portion of food for hungry minds.
"A remarkable and revealing piece of work."
(Professor Ronald Comer,
Princeton University).
A Review by D. Bennett Smith
"FINE ART MAGAZINE International", NEW YORK ART EXPO, SPRING 2003 The Noble Society: Where Original (and wonderful) Literature Resides Everything, it seems these days, is formulaic. Books are no exception.
Publishing houses churn out thousands of cookie-cutter books, most bereft of
originality, with but a scant few offering something approaching unique
thought. | Then, along comes Melissa Henry's The Noble Society. Having adored her
subconscious realism art (as Vera Nova) for years, I was amazed to discover Henry somehow managed to write with the same wistfulness and understated elegance evident in her paintings. The Noble Society - like Vera Nova's
art - encourages one to think beyond the norm; beyond our self-imposed
limitations of what is real and what is important; beyond the very notion of what
or who we really are. In her stories "from another dimension", Henry reveals a host of characters
who make their way through the mythical community of Bullford; a place teeming
with odd circumstances and fantastic events. The denizens of Bullford exist in an
environment of playful eccentricity; a veritable Utopia filled with unforgettable
personalities such as Mr. Thoughtmill, Lady Pepperpie, Mr. Greenhorn,
and Lady Cherrypin. While the characters look, move, think, and act in amusing and seemingly
ridiculous ways, the ultimate meaning of the tales Henry weaves lies in rethinking fundamental human concepts such as independence, money, entertainment, social structures, time, ethics, love and war. The beauty of The Noble Society comes from its conceptual elusiveness; you
don¹t know, at first reading, why or where this place called Bullford exists, or
what it means. But alas, it falls into place in your mind, the pieces drifting seamlessly together in this fantasy puzzle. It hits you: You do know this place called Bullford. You do see the words
between the lines of age. You do see the societal glimpses of a virtual Nirvana;
reflecting images which bounce off our own sturdy barriers of what is right and
good and meaningful. You discover that Bullford "this seemingly bizarre, genteel town with
off-beat inhabitants" is real. You begin to know what Melissa Henry has created
as your very own. You begin to see in your own mind. You know this place. Or do you? |
