First published 2007
Oscar Feldman painted female nudes while his contemporaries like Pollock and Rothko created abstract works in 1940s and 1950s New York. When the painter dies in 2001, his obituary mentions his wife Abigail, autistic son, and sister Maxine, also a painter. What the obituary doesn't reveal is Oscar's secret Brooklyn life with mistress Teddy St. Cloud and their twin daughters. Teddy knows Oscar needed women like plants need water. Now two competing biographers arrive with book contracts, ready to uncover the real story. Abigail, Maxine, and Teddy each get their chance to share their version of the truth about the man they knew. The three women must navigate the biographers' questions while protecting their own interests and memories. Their conflicting accounts reveal the messy reality behind artistic fame. The story exposes the egos, rivalries, and hidden truths that lurk beneath the polished surface of the art world.
Genres: art, 20th-century, contemporary, biographical-fiction, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: conflicting-accounts, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Brooklyn, New York
Period: 1940s, 1950s, 2001
301 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday