Pat Barker's Life Class centers around several main characters, all of whom are artists. Paul Tarrant and Elinor Brooke are friends at London's Slade School of Fine Art. Kit Neville is a former student who continues to hang around the school as his paintings become more popular.

At the start of the novel, Paul begins an affair with a model for a life class who has a troubling relationship with her estranged husband. Meanwhile, Neville and Elinor also start a perhaps one-sided relationship. But then World War I starts and things change quickly. Paul realizes he actually loves Elinor and finds himself involved in a love triangle. Neville is quick to enlist so he can use the war as a painting subject. Paul works in a hospital and then as an ambulance driver, seeing horrors and eventually putting them on paper in graphic artwork. Elinor refuses to become involved in the war and pursues her own art aggressively.

The first half of Life Class is slow and meandering, and some story lines seem abruptly dropped. While the three main characters are certainly interesting and unique, only Paul is truly likable. Neville is portrayed as egotistical and obnoxious, whereas Elinor seems spoiled and unsympathetic at times.

However, the novel certainly does have its positives. The second half of the story is much more engaging than the first, particularly the letters between Paul and Elinor. Barker seems comfortable describing Paul's work as an orderly in a field hospital and an ambulance driver to the front lines. She shows a passion for art and how war affects art and love.

Overall, it appears as though Barker was overly ambitious in her choice of plot and scope. While Life Class is an interesting, at times enjoyable read, the slow beginning and inconclusive, somewhat disconnected ending may be off-putting to some readers.

- Ashley