The Violet Hour Audiobook By James Cahill cover art

The Violet Hour

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The Violet Hour

By: James Cahill
Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
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About this listen

 '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

'A highbrow whodunnit, and grippingly so, but it's much more than that'
PATRICK GALE, author of Mother's Boy

'As sensuous and glimmering as it is dark and unsettling . . . a novel to get sucked into'
JENNY MUSTARD, author of Okay Days

'It's brilliant . . . the human drama of it is just pitch perfect . . . Hypnotic'
SEÁN HEWITT, author of All Down Darkness Wide

'Artists are slaves to their vanity. But in the end, in time, they see things as they really are.'

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.

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?©2025 James Cahill (P)2025 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Psychological Satire Thriller & Suspense Witty
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I enjoy slowburns, that's why I allowed the book around 8 hours to peak my interest, but it failed. The characters are very pretentious and I appreciate that this is kind of the point of the book - a mockery of the art world - however it's simply not enough to root for anyone. Minor spoiler: the most intriguing part about the plot is the suicide (or murder?) of one of the minor characters, but it is explored (or not) at such a tragically slow pace that I simply have no encouragement to follow the story further. The explicit scenes as well made me think that there is maybe more to them but at times they feel like just a random ad break. And the relationships between characters are... well, they definitely don't make you envious. I really wasn't a huge fan. From a technical point of view the writing is good, but it's just not my thing.

EDIT: I couldn't refund the book, so I decided to finish it. With 2 hours left on the title, one character - Lorna - gained my respect, but only for a moment, really. As I had written above in the spoiler warning, that murder/suicide plot in the end turned out to be extremely predictable. I've seen some other reviews and I will say though that the book feels rather cinematic, whether that's good or bad, I will leave that to the potential listeners. I liked the editing on the phonecalls - really nice touch for the sake of immersion.

The performance of the narrator feels underutilised on that material. His wonderful voice elevates it but at times... There isn't much to elevate. I'm not sure if I am right about it, as I realised almost at the end of the story, but there is almost no usage of "she said", "he said" etc and it makes me think that the book might be confusing to read without the narrator's voice acting.
3/5

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