Northshire Manchester: Stephen Kiernan - Pollock’s Last Lover

This is an in-person event at our Manchester, VT store!

Historical novelist Stephen Kiernan will share his latest book, which is set in New York City in alternating time periods—the 1950s and the early 2000s. Pollock’s Last Lover is the engrossing tale of two women whose lives collide as they contend with the art and legacy of the brilliant, tragic painter Jackson Pollock.

In 2006, Sotheby’s sells a painting by Jackson Pollock for $140 million—the highest sum ever paid for a work of art. Two weeks later, an older woman named Ruth Kligman, in high heels and a dusty fascinator, contacts a smaller, less prominent auction house to announce that she was Pollock’s lover, and that he gave her his last painting. She declares that it was selfish to keep it in her apartment for fifty years, and that people should see this masterpiece in galleries and museums the world over. The bidding will start at $50 million.

Gwen, an up-and-coming associate at the firm, is assigned the task of verifying the painting’s authenticity. For Gwen, an ambitious woman in a field often dominated by men, it is her biggest project yet. And the company must have absolute certainty. Yet each step of the investigation raises larger questions—about Ruth’s cunning climb in the art world, and even about what caused Pollock’s sudden and violent death.

"Intoxicating. Kiernan’s latest explores the theme of obsession – in work, in art, and in love – as well as offering a behind-the-scenes peek into the mysterious world of art valuation. He brings Jackson Pollock and Ruth Kligman vividly to life while never letting them off the hook completely, and the result is a spellbinding read that I just couldn’t put down." - Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Queen

Stephen P. Kiernan is the author of the novels The Curiosity, The Hummingbird, The Baker's Secret, Universe of Two, and The Glass Chateau. A graduate of Middlebury College, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he spent more than twenty years as a journalist, winning many awards before turning to fiction writing. He has also worked nationwide on improving end-of-life medical care through greater use of hospice.

If you have questions about this or any other Northshire event, please write us at events@northshire.com.