The Violet Hour

Two gallerists battle over the right to represent an aging painter in this uneven novel from Cahill (Tiepolo Blue). Lorna Bedford, a New York City art dealer, was once close friends with famous painter Thomas Haller. She represented Haller during his early career and helped lead him to success. Now, however, Haller is working with Claude Berlins, a new dealer in Europe. Meanwhile, billionaire real estate developer and arts patron Leo Goffman wants to buy Haller’s new work but despises Berlins and would prefer to work with Lorna. Over the course of several twists and turns, Lorna seeks one last payout from Thomas, via Leo. It’s an affecting tale of the friends’ tangled bonds in a fickle industry, but the novel falters under the weight of its myriad subplots: a young man falls to his death, Goffman hits a woman with his car, a love child is given up for adoption. Still, Cahill writes beautifully of Haller’s work and creative process, as in the description of two abstract paintings that appear side by side as “an expanse of luminous pink, the brushstrokes destabilised in places by the action of a spray can and splashed solvents,” which turn out to be fragments from film stills. This is worth a look. Agent: Isobel Dixon, Blake Freidman. (Mar.)