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The Prize: A Novel by Jill Bialosky
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The Prize: A Novel (edition 2015)

by Jill Bialosky (Author)

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392630,766 (4)None
"What do we prize most? Are integrity and ambition mutually exclusive, as we seek a place in the world? How do we value, ultimately, a piece of art - or a life? These are the questions at the core of the evocative new novel by New York Times bestselling author Jill Bialosky. Talented, successful, blessed with a loving wife and daughter, Edward Darby has everything a man should hope for. With a rising career as a partner at an esteemed gallery he strives not to let ambition, money, power, and his dark past corrode the sanctuary of his domestic and private life. Influenced by his father, a brilliant Romantics scholar, Edward has always been more of a purist than an opportunist. But when a celebrated artist controlled by her insecurities betrays him, and another very different artist awakens his heart and stirs up secrets from his past, Edward will find himself unmoored from his marriage, his work, and the memory of his beloved father. And when the finalists of an important prize are announced, and the desperate artists maneuver to seek its validation, Edward soon learns that betrayal comes in many forms, and that he may be hurtling toward an act that challenges his own notions about what comprises a life worth living. A compelling odyssey of a man unhinged by his ideals, The Prize is as well an unflinching portrait of a marriage struggling against the corroding tide of time and the proximity to the treacherous fault line between art and money. Inspired by her work as a poet and the need to preserve a private space for the creation of art, The Prize by Jill Bialosky is her most moving novel yet. "--… (more)
Member:MHanover10
Title:The Prize: A Novel
Authors:Jill Bialosky (Author)
Info:Counterpoint (2015), 325 pages
Collections:Your library, Currently reading, Wishlist, To read, Read but unowned, Favorites
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The Prize: A Novel by Jill Bialosky

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"Why did he feel like all of it was going to unravel?"

Edward Darby is 42, handsome, controlled, an art dealer and aesthete, with an attractive wife and teenaged daughter at home in Connecticut and a successful gallery in New York. He handles his wildly successful artist Agnes Murray with silken care. He's also a discontented, dangerously fragile man haunted by his Romantics scholar father's brilliance and suicide, his own secret compulsions and suddenly wandering eye.

"Gallery owners, dealers, collectors, and artists live for prizes." There are various kinds of prizes in the novel--the prestigious art prize his romantic interest won many years ago, the Tanning Prize the plot moves toward, the house that revenue from Agnes' art bought and furnished, the unused and costly items he keeps hidden at his office--but volatile, thin-skinned Agnes is his "prized artist," his great discovery, his reputation and his goldmine. Until he tells her the truth about her new work, and his honesty sends all of that into a tailspin.

Compelling study of a decent man in crisis. ( )
  beaujoe | Jan 29, 2016 |
This is a slow, leisurely book with beautiful poetic touches throughout. It’s quite an in-depth look into the art world and how passion for creating art and the business end of selling it often clash. I felt as though I was walking next to these characters and living their days alongside of them as their lives are written so realistically.

The main character, Edward, is a partner in an art gallery. He strives to do all he can to help an artist achieve what they want from their art. He puts his heart and soul into his work, often to the detriment of his marriage. His star artist, Agnes, is often insecure and difficult to deal with and has a true artist’s passionate temperament. Their relationship is a fascinating one and I truly enjoyed the hours spent watching how their roles play out.

Also explored in this book is the marriage of Edward and his wife, Holly. Edward has kept something vitally important from his past from Holly. That secret, along with the betrayal that develops at the art gallery, set Edward on an unexpected path as his world begins to unravel. Just as the writing of his life as an artist’s representative is written realistically and beautifully, so are his marriage’s struggles.

I knew I would love this book when I read that the author is a poet. What more could you ask for then an author with the heart of a poet writing about the passionate and turbulent art world? The book never disappointed. Now that I have a taste of this author’s work, I’ll be looking for her other books, especially her memoir about her sister’s suicide.

This book was given to me by the publisher through Edelweiss in return for an honest review. ( )
  hubblegal | Jul 26, 2015 |
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"What do we prize most? Are integrity and ambition mutually exclusive, as we seek a place in the world? How do we value, ultimately, a piece of art - or a life? These are the questions at the core of the evocative new novel by New York Times bestselling author Jill Bialosky. Talented, successful, blessed with a loving wife and daughter, Edward Darby has everything a man should hope for. With a rising career as a partner at an esteemed gallery he strives not to let ambition, money, power, and his dark past corrode the sanctuary of his domestic and private life. Influenced by his father, a brilliant Romantics scholar, Edward has always been more of a purist than an opportunist. But when a celebrated artist controlled by her insecurities betrays him, and another very different artist awakens his heart and stirs up secrets from his past, Edward will find himself unmoored from his marriage, his work, and the memory of his beloved father. And when the finalists of an important prize are announced, and the desperate artists maneuver to seek its validation, Edward soon learns that betrayal comes in many forms, and that he may be hurtling toward an act that challenges his own notions about what comprises a life worth living. A compelling odyssey of a man unhinged by his ideals, The Prize is as well an unflinching portrait of a marriage struggling against the corroding tide of time and the proximity to the treacherous fault line between art and money. Inspired by her work as a poet and the need to preserve a private space for the creation of art, The Prize by Jill Bialosky is her most moving novel yet. "--

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