The Age of Light

Whitney Scharer

07 February 2019
9781509889143
720 pages

Synopsis

For fans of Mrs Hemingway and The Paris Wife, Whitney Scharer's The Age of Light is the riveting, vivid and powerful story of the photographer Lee Miller and her lover, Man Ray.

Model. Muse. Lover. Artist.

Paris, 1929. Lee Miller has abandoned her life in New York and a modelling career at Vogue to pursue her dream of becoming a photographer. When she catches the eye of artist Man Ray she convinces him to hire her as his assistant. Man is an egotistical, charismatic force and they soon embark upon a passionate affair.

Lee and Man spend their days working closely in the studio and their nights at smoky cabarets and wild parties. But as Lee begins to assert herself, and to create pioneering work of her own, Man's jealousy spirals out of control and leads to a betrayal that threatens to destroy them both . . .

‘Powerful, sensual and gripping’ - Madeleine Miller, author of Circe
‘Fans of Mrs Hemingway and The Paris Wife will love this one’ - Elle

Scharer captures the thrill of artistic creation and the swirling hedonism of Paris’s beautiful people.
In incandescent prose, Whitney Scharer has created an unforgettable heroine discovering her passion, her independence, and her art – and what she must sacrifice to have them.
I adored this novel. It’s sumptuous and enveloping and beautifully told . . . I can’t believe this is a debut novel - it is so wonderfully assured. Stunning.