The Violet Hour 'A meditation on mortality and the unreliable consolations of art, love and materialism' Patrick Gale

<p>'An enthrallingly intricate novel . . . impressive'<br><b><i>GUARDIAN</i></b><br><br>'There's something of F. Scott Fitzgerald about the way Cahill writes about the very rich'<br><b><i>DAILY MAIL</i></b><br><br>'A biting satire of the art world's glamour, pomp and greed . . . lucid and evocative'<br><b><i>DAILY TELEGRAPH</i></b><br><br>'I really loved <i>The Violet Hour . . . </i>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'<br><b>PATRICK GALE, author of <i>Mother's Boy</i></b><br><br>'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'<br><b>CHLOË ASHBY, author of <i>Wet Paint</i><br></b><br>'I'm overwhelmed by the beauty of James Cahill's writing and storytelling'<br><b>SANTANU BHATTACHARYA, author of <i>Deviants</i><br></b><br><br><i>'Artists are slaves to their vanity. But in the end, in time, they see things as they really are.'</i><br><br>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. <br><br> 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. <br><br> 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. <br><br> A story of deception, power play and longing, <i>The Violet Hour</i> exposes the unsettling underbelly of the art world, askin who is granted admission to a world that only<i> seems</i> to glitter and who is left outside, their faces pressed to the glass?<br><br><br><b>PRAISE FOR <i>TIEPOLO BLUE</i><br></b><br>'The best novel I have read for ages . . . masterly'<br><b>STEPHEN FRY<br></b><br>'An exhilarating, erudite read'<br><b>VOGUE.COM<br></b><br>'Electric'<br><b><i>GUARDIAN</i></b><br><br>'Startlingly impressive'<br><b><i>DAILY MAIL</i></b></p>