The Violet Hour : An utterly gripping story of love, art, ambition and lies - James Cahill

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 WideThomas 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?