They’ve been part of the same boisterous friend group since college, and they know that their breakup will devastate the others and make things more than a little awkward.

Wyn Connor and Harriet Kilpatrick were the perfect couple-until Wyn dumped Harriet for reasons she still doesn’t fully understand. The main characters have believable flaws and nuances, and the narrative is adept at interrogating the power imbalances in both the characters’ personal relationships and in an art world rife with sexism and classism.Īn intriguing exploration of art and wealth spearheaded by messy, engrossing characters.Įxes pretend they’re still together for the sake of their friends on their annual summer vacation.

Though the novel can at times be heavy-handed in its messaging, it does an admirable job of parsing such difficult issues as the role of capitalism in art, and references to events such as the Occupy movement give the novel real-world context. In the aftermath, they try to make fresh starts in New York City, where it’s only a matter of time before their paths converge again. Preston, Karina, and Louisa push themselves to challenge the boundaries of their art and their abilities until a vicious prank upends all the characters’ lives. Meanwhile, washed-up painter Robert Berger comes to Wrynn as the artist-in-residence, trying to restart a stalled career that never lived up to the promise of his controversial breakout painting, Dying Man, a portrait of his best friend that Berger painted while Vince was in the hospital dying of AIDS. Preston desires to “live outside capitalism” and produce truly radical art while at the same time he's desperately seeking a way to free himself from dependence on his toxic father’s wealth. Karina is also sleeping with senior Preston Utley, a controversial figure who runs a mildly successful blog called The Wart, where he posts provocative photoshopped images designed to maximize internet traffic.

Karina and Louisa, both queer women, are drawn to each other, first as fellow creatives, then as friends, then lovers, and Karina becomes the model for Louisa’s new series of gruesome and beautiful paintings. The Louisiana native is attending Wrynn on scholarship, and most of her wealthy peers initially dismiss her paintings as “Southern Gothic Lite.” Louisa’s roommate is the icy and beautiful Karina Piontek, daughter of rich yet unhappy art collectors, who had a mental breakdown last semester before returning suspiciously quickly to Wrynn. In 2011, 19-year-old Louisa Arceneaux feels out of place at Wrynn College of Art in the fictional New England town of Stonewater.

Art, money, and ambition collide, first at a prestigious college and again in New York City.

Sirens and muses by antonia angress