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The Violet Hour: An utterly gripping story of love, art, ambition and lies
James Cahill
Formats & Editions
'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
'The real deal . . . The Violet Hour offers a convincing and compelling portrait of a very rarefied world'
NEW YORK TIMES
'A highbrow whodunnit, and grippingly so, but it's much more than that'
PATRICK GALE, author of Mother's Boy
'It's brilliant . . . the human drama of it is just pitch perfect . . . Hypnotic'
SEAN HEWITT, author of All Down Darkness Wide
'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 Thomas and Lorna 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?
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Praise for The Violet Hour: An utterly gripping story of love, art, ambition and lies
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A riveting, immersive journey into the unsettling underbelly of the art world - BooksellerThere's a thriller element that keeps you reading. This is a novel about art and its moral compromises, and The Violet Hour's tutelary spirit is that of Henry James . . . an enthrallingly intricate novel, with a large cast of characters whose stories and psychological hinterlands are successfully interlinked through the mesh of art, money and desire . . . impressive - GuardianThere's something of F. Scott Fitzgerald about the way Cahill writes about the very rich . . . Cahill writes with an artist's attention to colour and detail, but also with an acute awareness of surface glitter - Daily MailA biting satire of the art world's glamour, pomp and greed . . . Offers a painfully accurate portrait of art dealers and collectors . . . it becomes clear that, in The Violet Hour, the art world is less a professional network than an arena in which psychosexual dramas might play out . . . lucid and evocative - Daily TelegraphAn intriguing look at an industry built on appearances - IndependentThe novel succeeds in showing how individuals erect barricades between each other and the ways in which memory and introspection can offer an escape from the present. The Violet Hour may be a novel about art, but even a self-avowed philistine will find much to chew on - Literary ReviewA riveting, immersive journey into the unsettling underbelly of the art world - Bookseller
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