'A racy, muscular, enlightening beauty of a novel.' - James McManus Brilliant but pragmatic Emma Dial has found a way to survive in the high-stakes New York art world - she is the trusted assistant to Michael Freiburg, a famous and controversial painter. Michael develops ideas for paintings, but it is Emma who applies the paint to canvas. And despite two decades' difference in age, the two are also lovers. As Emma becomes worn down by Michael's schizophrenic affection and by guilt over her own neglected work, her striking looks and virtuosity catch the eye of another powerful painter, Philip Cleary. Respected, fearless, and charismatic, Philip compels Emma to emerge from her isolating serfdom in Michael's self-obsessed world and become a painter in her own right. Samantha Peale writes with astonishing insight about a young woman who risks everything to fulfill her ambitions as an artist.

'This is the novel about New York's art world I have always wanted to read.' - Gary Shteyngart