First published 2016
Kenneth Brill sits in custody as World War II nears its end. British authorities arrested the young artist for painting landscapes around Heathrow Village, convinced his canvases hide coded secrets about the military airfield under construction. Brill insists he simply wanted to capture a disappearing world before it vanished forever. During questioning, he reveals fragments of his past. He grew up among the market gardens of The Heath. He moved through London's art circles in the 1930s. He wandered the darker corners of Soho among prostitutes and pimps. He broke into a royal residence. He connected with fascist sympathizers across Europe. The interrogation reveals competing versions of the same man. Was Brill the war hero of El Alamein who masterminded crucial military deception as a camouflage officer? Or was he the lover of Italian futurist painter Arturo Somarco, himself a fascist sympathizer? Why did the Slade School of Fine Art expel him? What drew him to Hillmead, the rural community led by Rufus Quayle, a friend of Hitler? Brill possesses an artistic vision so sharp it blinds him to immediate reality.
Genres: art, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: dual-timeline, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Heathrow Village, The Heath, Soho, Hillmead, El Alamein
Period: World War II
400 pages · Paperback · Pegasus Books
Content warnings: violence