Tiepolo blue

Cahill, James

£9.99

Cambridge, 1994. Professor Don Lamb is a revered art historian at the height of his powers, consumed by the book he is writing about the skies of the Venetian master Tiepolo. However, his academic brilliance belies a deep inexperience of life and love. When an explosive piece of contemporary art is installed on the lawn of his college, it sets in motion Don’s abrupt departure from Cambridge to take up a role at a south London museum. There he befriends Ben, a young artist who draws him into the anarchic 1990s British art scene and the nightlife of Soho. Over the course of one long, hot summer, Don glimpses a liberating new existence. But his epiphany is also a moment of self-reckoning, as his oldest friendship – and his own unexamined past – are revealed to him in a devastating new light. As Don’s life unravels, he suffers a fall from grace that that shatters his world into pieces.

Out of stock

Publish Date: 27/04/2023

Description

Longlisted for the Authors’ Club First Novel Award

‘Divine . . . the smart, sexy read you need’ Evening Standard

Startlingly impressive’ Daily Mail

Exhilarating’ Vogue.com

‘An electric new novel’ Guardian

AN EXQUISITE DEBUT NOVEL. A MID-LIFE COMING-OF-AGE STORY CHARTING ONE MAN’S SEXUAL AWAKENING AND HIS SPECTACULAR FALL FROM GRACE IN 1990S LONDON. FOR FANS OF ALAN HOLLINGHURST AND EDWARD ST AUBYN.

Exiled from his university position for an inexcusable blunder, art historian Don Lamb flees to London, a city alive with sex and creativity. There, over the course of a long, hot summer, as he is immersed in the anarchic art and gay scenes of the mid-90s, Don sees his carefully curated life irrevocably changed. But his epiphany is also a reckoning, as his unexamined past is revealed to him in a devastating new light.

Intense and atmospheric, Tiepolo Blue traces Don’s turbulent awakening, and his desperate flight from art into life.

‘Wildly enjoyable . . . A novel that combines formal elegance with gripping storytelling’ Financial Times

‘Dizzying and exciting and unsettling, and beautifully told’ Reverend Richard Coles, Daily Mail

Additional information

Weight 249 g
Dimensions 196 × 128 × 36 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

352

Language

English

Edition

1st paperback ed

Dewey

823.92 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K