The Optickal Illusion Rachel Halliburton 9780715653319

In The Optickal Illusion, Rachel Halliburton's meticulous recreation of Georgian society reveals the sordid details of a genuine scandal that deceived the British Royal Academy.

Her debut novel questions the lengths women must go to make their mark on a society that seeks to underplay their abilities - a theme only too relevant today. It is three years from the dawn of a new century and in London, nothing is certain any more: the future of the monarchy is in question, the city is aflame with right and left-wing conspiracies, and the French could invade any day.

Against this feverish atmosphere, the American painter Benjamin West is visited by a strange father and daughter, the Provises, who claim they have a secret that has obsessed painters for centuries: the Venetian techniques of master painter Titian. West was once the most celebrated painter in London, but hasn't produced anything of note in years so against his better judgment he agrees to let the intriguing Ann Jemima Provis visit his studio and demonstrate what she knows. What unravels reveals more than he has ever understood - about himself, about the treachery of the art world and the seductive promise of genius. The nature of truth itself is called into question in this story of envy, lust and corruption.

Rachel Halliburton graduated in English and Classics from Cambridge. As a journalist and the former Deputy Editor of Time Out she has interviewed notable people including Gorbachev, Yoko Ono and Kissinger for publications such as the Times, Financial Times, New Statesman, Spectator, Evening Standard and the Independent. She lives in London.

'An assured and enjoyable debut that asks some uncomfortable questions about women's erasure from the history of art' The Times

'Written with a detail and often a lyricism that makes me go back and reread for the pleasure of it. I am drawn into the history and vibrancy of colour as never before. I see more intensely, and that is a great gift to have been given' Anne Perry, international bestselling author of the Monk and Pitt series

'A most intriguing tale of how the world of high art was convulsed by deceit, desire and delusion' Victoria Glendinning

'A remarkable true story of vanity and delusion, which Halliburton turns into a gripping and only partly fictional whodunnit... brings the artists and their art to colourful life and brushes in streaks of feminism, via Mary Wollstonecraft, as well as dark shadows of the French Revolution' John Spurling, winner of the Walter Scott prize for Historical Fiction for The Ten Thousand Things

'As if stepping into the frame a sensual, intricate and richly textured painting. The novel is a fine achievement by a serious and talented writer' Wendy Wallace, author of The Painted Bridge

'Utterly absorbing... Halliburton builds up the layers of deception, ambition and scandal into a shimmering, fully textured portrait of Georgian London with all its gloss, dross, glamour and corruption' Imogen Robertson, author of Instruments of Darknes