The Work

A stunning debut novel about art, power, love and money from the acclaimed and bestselling author of Eggshell Skull.


'This novel isn't just good; it's superb. Assured, and powerful, and intelligent, and very, VERY hard to put down. I consumed it in a passion.' – Annabel Crabb


'Smart, witty and super steamy, The Work oozes intelligence and pulses with energy. I devoured it!' – Emily Maguire


'A completely exhilarating, powerful, mesmerising novel, filled with ALL my favourite things: sex, art and New York City.' – Jessie Tu


'A glamorous and dirty capitalist fever dream ... complex, opulent and horny.' – Ella Baxter


'Caoilinn Hughes' The Orchid and the Wasp meets Andrew Lipstein's Last Resort. A smart, sexy page-turner.' – Madeleine Gray


'Work, power, passion, intimacy and vulnerabilities collide, and best of all, SMUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' – Flex Mami


'A brilliant meditation on the gap between the person we wish to be and who we actually are. I was completely gripped.' – Bridie Jabour


'An ambitious and meticulously modern fable about art, sex, money, power and the perils of self-curation.' – Gina Rushton


'Pacy, racy and high-octane, The Work delves into the volatile world of contemporary art, forcefully exposing it as a bedfellow to the world of high finance.' – Caoilinn Hughes


Lally has staked everything on her Manhattan gallery; Pat is a scholarship boy trying to carve out a place in Sydney's antiquities world. When they meet at the Armory Show in New York, their attraction is immediate—an argument about art and politics their foreplay.


Across oceans and careers, each wrestles with the uneasy bargains of ambition and ethics, commerce and creativity. Lally grows rich from being the gatekeeper of talent; Pat can scarcely pay his rent. Both are drawn toward choices that could undo the very lives and careers they are building.


The Work is dazzling, funny and unforgettable: a novel of art and love, power and privilege, and the quiet devastation of wanting more than the world can give.


'Lee has used her knowledge from her already praised non-fiction to craft an intelligent and stimulating story which hopefully is just the beginning of future fictional works.'

ArtsHub


'Thoroughly entertaining and extremely riveting ... The Work comments on the intersection between art and money, intimacy and distance, talent and entitlement, and makes pointed observations about class.'

The Courier-Mail