The world of 1930s Berlin becomes a lethal game of survival for two women consumed by desire and art, in a blisteringly passionate and defiant story of resistance.

Venus, Vanishing is the blisteringly passionate and page-turning debut novel from Rebecca Birrell, of desire, art, and the stories lost to the darkness of history - for readers of Sarah Waters, Yael van der Wouden, and Alice Winn. Berlin, 1928. Hannah is new to the pleasures and freedoms of the city. An artist, a runaway, she is building a new life, loving without boundaries and sketching with a cutting edge. But the party is ending. Hannah begins a recklessly consuming affair with a powerful man's wife and it soon threatens to do more than ruin both of their reputations. People are disappearing. The shadows of something unspeakable are growing darker. Her art could be the thing that secures her survival - or will deny her any chance of escape.

Details

ISBN13: 9781035085774
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 384
Edition:
Publication Date:
Publisher:
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 23.8(H)x15.5(L)x2.9(W)474
Weight (gm): 474

Author Biography

Rebecca Birrell is a Research Affiliate at The Fitzwilliam Museum and a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow at the University of St Andrews. Her first book, This Dark Country: Women Artists, Still Life and Intimacy in the Early 20th Century was awarded an Antonia Frazer Award for a Biography in Progress by the Society of Authors, and was chosen as a Guardian/Observer Art Book of the Year. Venus, Vanishing is her first novel.

Reviews

A gripping, gorgeously written debut that I couldn't put down -- Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre
This vivid novel of 1930s Berlin asks what it means to make art in an emergency. A skilful and loving restoration of Jewish art and women’s lives -- Eleanor Catton, Booker Prize winning author of Birnam Wood
A story of queer desire and artistic coming of age . . . devastating . . . Here are fleshy encounters, full of stockings draped on the floor, sketchbooks, swims in a lake and postcards scribbled with cryptic notes of love * Literary Review *
A rare and precious combination of emotional warmth and cleverness -- Sarah Moss, author of Ripeness
This book offers us a radiant vision of art against evil, of the endurance of love, ambition and vitality amidst the worst of atrocities and betrayal. A bold, moving novel -- Megan Hunter, author of Days of Light
Venus, Vanishing floored me. It is utterly captivating, from first to last -- Lauren Elkin, author or Scaffolding
Wonderful. Sharp and deft, yet alive with a deep, resonant tenderness. I absolutely LOVED Venus, Vanishing -- Elizabeth O'Connor, author of Whale Fall
Extraordinary. Venus, Vanishing moved me deeply; I didn't want it to end. The rare sort of book that brings the past back to trembling life -- Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of Said the Dead and A Ghost in the Throat
A page-turner that crackles with menace and humanity . . . A deeply satisfying novel -- Bea Setton, author of Berlin
A deeply felt debut -- Chloe Ashby, The Art Newspaper
There's a sombre gorgeousness to Birrell's smart, sensuous debut . . . Vital, luminous * Daily Mail *
Gripping . . . an engrossing, vital tale of love, friendship and betrayal which is bursting with humanity * Irish News *