The Violet Hour
An utterly gripping story of love, art, ambition and lies
-
- 6,49 €
Descrizione dell’editore
'An enthrallingly intricate novel . . . impressive'
GUARDIAN
'There's something of F. Scott Fitzgerald about the way Cahill writes about the very rich'
DAILY MAIL
'A biting satire of the art world's glamour, pomp and greed . . . lucid and evocative'
DAILY TELEGRAPH
'I really loved The Violet Hour . . . On one level it functions as a highbrow whodunnit, and grippingly so, but it's much more than that, building into a meditation on mortality and the unreliable consolations of art, love and materialism'
PATRICK GALE, author of Mother's Boy
'A thrilling story told in seductive, shimmering prose. Beauty, money, power, seduction, betrayal. It's all here in this bewitching and all too often troubling backstage pass to the commercial art world'
CHLOË ASHBY, author of Wet Paint
'I'm overwhelmed by the beauty of James Cahill's writing and storytelling'
SANTANU BHATTACHARYA, author of Deviants
'Artists are slaves to their vanity. But in the end, in time, they see things as they really are.'
Thomas Haller has achieved the kind of fame that most artists only dream of: shows in London and New York, paintings sold for a fortune. The vision he presents to the world is one of an untouchable genius at the top of his game. It is also a lie.
Who is the real Thomas Haller? His oldest friend and former dealer, Lorna, might once have known - before Thomas traded their early intimacy for international fame. Between his ruthless new dealer and a property mogul obsessed with his work, the appetite for Thomas and his art is all-consuming.
On the eve of his latest show, the luminaries of the art world gather. But the sudden death of a young man has put everyone on edge, and a chain of events begins that will lead the friends back into the past, to confront who they have become.
A story of deception, power play and longing, The Violet Hour exposes the unsettling underbelly of the art world, asking: who is granted admission to a world that only seems to glitter and who is left outside, their faces pressed to the glass?
PRAISE FOR TIEPOLO BLUE
'The best novel I have read for ages . . . masterly'
STEPHEN FRY
'An exhilarating, erudite read'
VOGUE.COM
'Electric'
GUARDIAN
'Startlingly impressive'
DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two gallerists battle over the right to represent an aging painter in this uneven novel from Cahill (Tiepolo Blue). Lorna Bedford, a New York City art dealer, was once close friends with famous painter Thomas Haller. She represented Haller during his early career and helped lead him to success. Now, however, Haller is working with Claude Berlins, a new dealer in Europe. Meanwhile, billionaire real estate developer and arts patron Leo Goffman wants to buy Haller's new work but despises Berlins and would prefer to work with Lorna. Over the course of several twists and turns, Lorna seeks one last payout from Thomas, via Leo. It's an affecting tale of the friends' tangled bonds in a fickle industry, but the novel falters under the weight of its myriad subplots: a young man falls to his death, Goffman hits a woman with his car, a love child is given up for adoption. Still, Cahill writes beautifully of Haller's work and creative process, as in the description of two abstract paintings that appear side by side as "an expanse of luminous pink, the brushstrokes destabilised in places by the action of a spray can and splashed solvents," which turn out to be fragments from film stills. This is worth a look.
