'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 can only dream of: shows in London and New York, paintings sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. 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 have known once - as impoverished art students in London, there was nothing they didn't share. But Thomas traded their early intimacy for international fame, and the promises made to him by Claude Berlins: the urbane and ruthless dealer whose appetite for Thomas is all-consuming. Now the owner of her own gallery, Lorna must watch his ascent from the sidelines.
On the eve of his latest show, the luminaries of the artwork - including Lorna - gather to fête Thomas once more. But the sudden death of a young man casts a pall across the event, setting off a chain of events that will lead both of them back into the past, to confront who they have become.
The Violet Hour exposes the unsettling underbelly of the art world, asking who is granted admission to a world that only seems to glitter, what is sacrificed, and who is left outside, their faces pressed to the glass.
'I really loved The Violet Hour . . . 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
'Beauty, money, power, seduction, betrayal. It's all here'
CHLOE ASHBY, author of Wet Paint
'Pulsing with violence and longing, this is a sumptuous, sinister morality tale'
CLARE POLLARD, author of Delphi
'A hugely enjoyable yarn by an author hitting his literary stride'
SARAH LUCAS
'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?
