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Pollock's Last Lover: A Novel of Art and Deception – A Multigenerational Story of Women's Ambition and Jackson Pollock's Legacy
Not yet published
Expected 19 May 26Set in New York City in alternating time periods—the 1960s 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. It is her biggest project yet, and the company must have absolute certainty. With every step she takes into the investigation, though, she finds larger questions—about Ruth’s cunning climb in the art world, and even about what caused Pollock’s sudden and violent death.
What follows, in alternating chapters and time periods, is a multigenerational portrait of women’s ambition set against the life and work of Jackson Pollock. From smoky Greenwich Village dive bars to glitzy art auctions, from the empty studio of a man once known for his artistic stamina to the fine museums where his works hang, Ruth’s controversial painting is a window into two eras—and the ongoing struggle of women to develop power and freedom on their own terms.
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. It is her biggest project yet, and the company must have absolute certainty. With every step she takes into the investigation, though, she finds larger questions—about Ruth’s cunning climb in the art world, and even about what caused Pollock’s sudden and violent death.
What follows, in alternating chapters and time periods, is a multigenerational portrait of women’s ambition set against the life and work of Jackson Pollock. From smoky Greenwich Village dive bars to glitzy art auctions, from the empty studio of a man once known for his artistic stamina to the fine museums where his works hang, Ruth’s controversial painting is a window into two eras—and the ongoing struggle of women to develop power and freedom on their own terms.
352 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication May 19, 2026
About the author
Stephen P. Kiernan
12 books1,038 followersStephen P. Kiernan's latest novel is THE GLASS CHATEAU, out June 20 and available for pre-order now.
Stephen's most recent book is UNIVERSE OF TWO, a love story set in 1944, amid the development of the atomic bomb. Charlie is a young math whiz drafted into the Manhattan Project, where his duty tests his morals. His sweetheart Brenda, prohibited for security reasons from knowing what he's doing, sees these ethical hesitations as weakness, and urges him to be a soldier, be a man. After the war, Charlie feels culpable for thousands of deaths, while Brenda feels guilty for making him contradict his conscience. Together they spend the rest of their lives seeking redemption -- and they find it.
Stephen also wrote THE BAKER'S SECRET, the story of D-Day from the French perspective: what it was like to live in occupied Normandy with no rights, little food and less hope, until one day hundreds of thousands of soldiers and sailors arrive to fight for liberation.
He's author of THE HUMMINGBIRD, about a hospice nurse whose husband has returned from his 3rd deployment in Iraq with PTSD, and she is determined to help him heal. It is a story about loyalty, patience, and fierce love.
Stephen's first novel was THE CURIOSITY, a scientific thriller and a love story across two centuries. The book came out in numerous foreign editions, and it is currently in development as a television series.
Stephen worked for decades as a journalist, winning over 40 awards. His first book, LAST RIGHTS, was a nonfiction expose of the overly aggressive medical treatment most people receive in the last chapter of their lives, with many suggestions for ways of providing more humane care. His second non-fiction book, the Silver Nautilus Award-winning AUTHENTIC PATRIOTISM, describes the potential for national renewal through nonpartisan civic engagement and volunteerism.
A graduate of Middlebury College, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Iowa's Writers Workshop, he lives in Vermont.
Stephen's most recent book is UNIVERSE OF TWO, a love story set in 1944, amid the development of the atomic bomb. Charlie is a young math whiz drafted into the Manhattan Project, where his duty tests his morals. His sweetheart Brenda, prohibited for security reasons from knowing what he's doing, sees these ethical hesitations as weakness, and urges him to be a soldier, be a man. After the war, Charlie feels culpable for thousands of deaths, while Brenda feels guilty for making him contradict his conscience. Together they spend the rest of their lives seeking redemption -- and they find it.
Stephen also wrote THE BAKER'S SECRET, the story of D-Day from the French perspective: what it was like to live in occupied Normandy with no rights, little food and less hope, until one day hundreds of thousands of soldiers and sailors arrive to fight for liberation.
He's author of THE HUMMINGBIRD, about a hospice nurse whose husband has returned from his 3rd deployment in Iraq with PTSD, and she is determined to help him heal. It is a story about loyalty, patience, and fierce love.
Stephen's first novel was THE CURIOSITY, a scientific thriller and a love story across two centuries. The book came out in numerous foreign editions, and it is currently in development as a television series.
Stephen worked for decades as a journalist, winning over 40 awards. His first book, LAST RIGHTS, was a nonfiction expose of the overly aggressive medical treatment most people receive in the last chapter of their lives, with many suggestions for ways of providing more humane care. His second non-fiction book, the Silver Nautilus Award-winning AUTHENTIC PATRIOTISM, describes the potential for national renewal through nonpartisan civic engagement and volunteerism.
A graduate of Middlebury College, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Iowa's Writers Workshop, he lives in Vermont.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I have read other books by Stephen P. Kiernan that I have enjoyed, especially The Baker’s Secret and Universe of Two, so I was excited to see that he had a new book coming out that was historical fiction, and not on a topic that’s been written about regularly.
In a roundabout way, his book about Jackson Pollack does bring up some interesting points, including the fight women have to be taken seriously and as respected as their male colleagues, and that someone can be immensely talented and an absolutely awful human being.
Covering the latter item first, Jackson Pollack was an immensely talented artist (occasionally) and an awful human being (all the time in this book). Since the book provides only the barest of glimpses of his life before he met Ruth Kligman, and I haven’t read any biographies about him, it’s hard to know if he was a messed up human who was enabled with his bad behavior because of his talent, or because art was such a consuming part of his life that normal behavior was out of the realm of his capabilities. He’s basically a one dimensional character in this book that isn’t even producing art during the time of the story, he’s just rutting, drinking, moping, and driving at high speeds.
To the first point, the primary protagonists, Ruth and Gwen, kind of ruin it for me. The women I felt the worst for were Janet Vogel and Pollack’s artist wife Lee Krasner (though her appearance was actually a historical liberty taken by Kiernan) in the brief appearances they make.
Ruth was for me a problematic character. There’s not much redeeming about the character. She pursues Pollack knowing exactly who he is and knowing he’s married, but doing it because it could benefit her to be associated with him. She convinces herself that’s she’s his muse, while enabling his drinking and reckless behavior, and actually moves herself into the house he shares with Krasner while she’s in Europe. Her willingness to do whatever Pollack wants may speak to the ability of women to sell their body and their loyalty to someone who can elevate their status in a way that isn’t mirrored to the same extent in men, but it does nothing to elevate women to being regarded equally for their integrity, intelligence, and hard work.
Gwen, in the later storyline, is working for an auction house that Ruth comes to, trying to convince them to sell a painting she owns that she claims was painted by Pollack, despite dubious provenance. Gwen is almost the exact opposite of Ruth, an obsessive workaholic who has no time for fun or friends, and is often blunt to the point of being rude. This is also problematic to me because it presents her as a woman who focuses so singularly on her career to succeed that she sacrifices any kind of life she could have outside it. That she experiences harassment and it takes threatening to go public in professional circles before her boss will do anything about it, and experiences disrespect from both a male coworker and a female coworker who has seniority over her who are resentful she was given the project over her feels both unsurprising and predictable.
Both major female characters feel one dimensional in their pursuit of a goal, whether it’s a man or a career, and the storylines don’t do them any favors by being particularly interesting. Most of Ruth’s story is her fawning over Pollack, and there’s a lot of snarky conversations between Gwen and various people about how important the Pollack project is, as well as her friend and colleague Chillie trying to convince her to come to brunch. This and the constant yelling of their colleagues to tell them to be quiet in the workplace feel like tired shticks to try and talk about anything but the Pollack project in the later timeline.
Finally, the later timeline is all focused on trying to prove the provenance of the painting in Ruth’s possession in 2007, but it has nothing to do with the storyline between her and Pollack in the fifties. I get that it would be speculative on Kiernan’s part to write a history that isn’t actually historically documented, but I kept waiting for the painting to bring the storylines together and it just doesn’t. According to the author’s note the ending he gives it has historical accuracy, but the only thing connecting the dual timelines is Ruth. She doesn’t come off as the most ‘with it’ in 2007. If she had, the painting could have at least served as a transition to telling Gwen about her time with Pollack and why she made the choices she did.
As much as I wanted to like this, unlikable, one-dimensional characters, storylines with limited connections, and those storylines not having a lot of depth to them sunk this book for me.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
In a roundabout way, his book about Jackson Pollack does bring up some interesting points, including the fight women have to be taken seriously and as respected as their male colleagues, and that someone can be immensely talented and an absolutely awful human being.
Covering the latter item first, Jackson Pollack was an immensely talented artist (occasionally) and an awful human being (all the time in this book). Since the book provides only the barest of glimpses of his life before he met Ruth Kligman, and I haven’t read any biographies about him, it’s hard to know if he was a messed up human who was enabled with his bad behavior because of his talent, or because art was such a consuming part of his life that normal behavior was out of the realm of his capabilities. He’s basically a one dimensional character in this book that isn’t even producing art during the time of the story, he’s just rutting, drinking, moping, and driving at high speeds.
To the first point, the primary protagonists, Ruth and Gwen, kind of ruin it for me. The women I felt the worst for were Janet Vogel and Pollack’s artist wife Lee Krasner (though her appearance was actually a historical liberty taken by Kiernan) in the brief appearances they make.
Ruth was for me a problematic character. There’s not much redeeming about the character. She pursues Pollack knowing exactly who he is and knowing he’s married, but doing it because it could benefit her to be associated with him. She convinces herself that’s she’s his muse, while enabling his drinking and reckless behavior, and actually moves herself into the house he shares with Krasner while she’s in Europe. Her willingness to do whatever Pollack wants may speak to the ability of women to sell their body and their loyalty to someone who can elevate their status in a way that isn’t mirrored to the same extent in men, but it does nothing to elevate women to being regarded equally for their integrity, intelligence, and hard work.
Gwen, in the later storyline, is working for an auction house that Ruth comes to, trying to convince them to sell a painting she owns that she claims was painted by Pollack, despite dubious provenance. Gwen is almost the exact opposite of Ruth, an obsessive workaholic who has no time for fun or friends, and is often blunt to the point of being rude. This is also problematic to me because it presents her as a woman who focuses so singularly on her career to succeed that she sacrifices any kind of life she could have outside it. That she experiences harassment and it takes threatening to go public in professional circles before her boss will do anything about it, and experiences disrespect from both a male coworker and a female coworker who has seniority over her who are resentful she was given the project over her feels both unsurprising and predictable.
Both major female characters feel one dimensional in their pursuit of a goal, whether it’s a man or a career, and the storylines don’t do them any favors by being particularly interesting. Most of Ruth’s story is her fawning over Pollack, and there’s a lot of snarky conversations between Gwen and various people about how important the Pollack project is, as well as her friend and colleague Chillie trying to convince her to come to brunch. This and the constant yelling of their colleagues to tell them to be quiet in the workplace feel like tired shticks to try and talk about anything but the Pollack project in the later timeline.
Finally, the later timeline is all focused on trying to prove the provenance of the painting in Ruth’s possession in 2007, but it has nothing to do with the storyline between her and Pollack in the fifties. I get that it would be speculative on Kiernan’s part to write a history that isn’t actually historically documented, but I kept waiting for the painting to bring the storylines together and it just doesn’t. According to the author’s note the ending he gives it has historical accuracy, but the only thing connecting the dual timelines is Ruth. She doesn’t come off as the most ‘with it’ in 2007. If she had, the painting could have at least served as a transition to telling Gwen about her time with Pollack and why she made the choices she did.
As much as I wanted to like this, unlikable, one-dimensional characters, storylines with limited connections, and those storylines not having a lot of depth to them sunk this book for me.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was a very interesting book, told in two time periods, 1950s and early 2000s (iphones are the fancy new thing and get a lot of commentary without actually being identified as the Apple product). We follow a fictionalize version of Ruth, a woman who had an affair with modern artist Jackson Pollack before his death; and Gwen, an ambitious woman working for a prestigious auction house, tasked with verifying the veracity of Ruth's claim that she has an unseen Pollack that she is ready to sell. As Sotheby's just sold a large Pollack canvas for 150 million dollars, if Ruth's claims are true, it would be a huge coup for Gwen and her bosses.
Ruth is single, and new to the big city, she wants a BIG life but isn't sure how to go about it. She finds a savvy roommate and a job at a small art gallery. To supplement her income, she begins to do some modeling. Just as she begins to start getting bigger contracts, unbeknownst to her the photographer takes photos of her changing clothing and circulates nudes of her, costing her her ability to get big jobs. Fortunately, at the art gallery she begins to do more than make coffee and sweep up, getting to know the artists and even selling several paintings. When one artist asks her to meet him for a drink to discuss his upcoming showing, she accepts, which changes the trajectory of her life.
That evening at the Cedar, she learns that artist Jackson Pollack frequents the establishment and she makes it her mission to meet the great man.
Gwen has a list of things to do and not much time to do it. The painting in question has the paint drop style of a Pollack but it's much smaller than his other works and not painted on canvas. On the other hand, it is a known fact that Ruth was involved with Pollack and could have been gifted this piece. Gwen needs an authenticator to verify the age of the painting, the paint, the style etc. Next, she needs to get Ruth to provide provenance. Did Pollack actually give it to her? Did she steal it? Did his wife Lee know about it? Is it technically part of the Pollack Estate and not Ruth's to sell?
Gwen does a deep dive into all things Pollack and goes to meet Ruth to start asking questions.
The Ruth Gwen meets is a Miss Havisham type character who in their first seconds together is sobbing about an errant lipstick. Ruth has a story to tell and an audience, she will take her time, much to Gwen's chagrin. Ruth refuses to say anything relevant about the painting, a small work done on wood, that she calls Red, Black and Silver.
Gwen has a month to figure out if this is a genuine Jackson Pollack painting, if Ruth is the rightful owner, and if so, mount a public auction that could bring in millions and millions of dollars including a nice commission for herself. She pursues this information with a single mindedness that worries her friend Chilton and Arthur a potential love interest.
Being a New Yorker, I have always known about Jackson Pollack, local phenom but wasn't necessarily a fan of his style. I didn't know what to make of the splatters of paint on enormous canvases that seemed to fall in that window of where do a child's casual scribbles turn into a talented artist's deliberate brush strokes? I don't know enough about art to really understand his work, so this made for an interesting read.
The way they describe his paintings, and explain his method and particular genius, it did make me curious enough to google some images.
Additionally, this book is bound by some real-world facts, though the author makes a deliberate choice to have Gwen encounter Lee Pollack years after the real Lee would have died. A funny moment has Gwen instructing her BlackBerry and Palm Pilot wielding boss and rival in all things smartphone next gen (unnamed iPhone).
Readers can find out for themselves if Red, Black and Silver is the real thing or not.
Ruth is single, and new to the big city, she wants a BIG life but isn't sure how to go about it. She finds a savvy roommate and a job at a small art gallery. To supplement her income, she begins to do some modeling. Just as she begins to start getting bigger contracts, unbeknownst to her the photographer takes photos of her changing clothing and circulates nudes of her, costing her her ability to get big jobs. Fortunately, at the art gallery she begins to do more than make coffee and sweep up, getting to know the artists and even selling several paintings. When one artist asks her to meet him for a drink to discuss his upcoming showing, she accepts, which changes the trajectory of her life.
That evening at the Cedar, she learns that artist Jackson Pollack frequents the establishment and she makes it her mission to meet the great man.
Gwen has a list of things to do and not much time to do it. The painting in question has the paint drop style of a Pollack but it's much smaller than his other works and not painted on canvas. On the other hand, it is a known fact that Ruth was involved with Pollack and could have been gifted this piece. Gwen needs an authenticator to verify the age of the painting, the paint, the style etc. Next, she needs to get Ruth to provide provenance. Did Pollack actually give it to her? Did she steal it? Did his wife Lee know about it? Is it technically part of the Pollack Estate and not Ruth's to sell?
Gwen does a deep dive into all things Pollack and goes to meet Ruth to start asking questions.
The Ruth Gwen meets is a Miss Havisham type character who in their first seconds together is sobbing about an errant lipstick. Ruth has a story to tell and an audience, she will take her time, much to Gwen's chagrin. Ruth refuses to say anything relevant about the painting, a small work done on wood, that she calls Red, Black and Silver.
Gwen has a month to figure out if this is a genuine Jackson Pollack painting, if Ruth is the rightful owner, and if so, mount a public auction that could bring in millions and millions of dollars including a nice commission for herself. She pursues this information with a single mindedness that worries her friend Chilton and Arthur a potential love interest.
Being a New Yorker, I have always known about Jackson Pollack, local phenom but wasn't necessarily a fan of his style. I didn't know what to make of the splatters of paint on enormous canvases that seemed to fall in that window of where do a child's casual scribbles turn into a talented artist's deliberate brush strokes? I don't know enough about art to really understand his work, so this made for an interesting read.
The way they describe his paintings, and explain his method and particular genius, it did make me curious enough to google some images.
Additionally, this book is bound by some real-world facts, though the author makes a deliberate choice to have Gwen encounter Lee Pollack years after the real Lee would have died. A funny moment has Gwen instructing her BlackBerry and Palm Pilot wielding boss and rival in all things smartphone next gen (unnamed iPhone).
Readers can find out for themselves if Red, Black and Silver is the real thing or not.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Many thanks to the publisher/author via NetGalley for the free copy.
The history in this book was fascinating. I found myself researching as I went along to see how much of this was true, and it was a lot. I loved the learning experience during this reading. I also loved the author’s respect for Lee Krasner, which he emphasized in his author’s note.
In the beginning I was pretty invested, but by the end the book just seemed to drag on and on. I found myself internally groaning every time we got to a 1950s chapter because I’d have to endure an obscene amount of pages of literal abuse that seemed to have little to no relevant plot details most of the time, to the point that I horribly found myself wondering how long we had until Jackson died. (Spoiler: it took literally the whole book, and we saw none of the aftermath from Ruth’s point of view.)
The leading lady, Gwen, and her ambitions are extremely uninteresting. I simply did not care about her whatsoever, and for the most part, I felt no stake in her stakes. As the number of pages left dwindled, I wondered how they would wrap the book up in so little space. I think that’s because I expected more drama, and the book ended with little fanfare. I do wonder if that’s the point, though.
There are random paragraphs of semi-graphic sex, but literally just single paragraphs at a time, so they are easy to skip.
In the end, the history is interesting, but the book itself not particularly riveting.
(R rating)
The history in this book was fascinating. I found myself researching as I went along to see how much of this was true, and it was a lot. I loved the learning experience during this reading. I also loved the author’s respect for Lee Krasner, which he emphasized in his author’s note.
In the beginning I was pretty invested, but by the end the book just seemed to drag on and on. I found myself internally groaning every time we got to a 1950s chapter because I’d have to endure an obscene amount of pages of literal abuse that seemed to have little to no relevant plot details most of the time, to the point that I horribly found myself wondering how long we had until Jackson died. (Spoiler: it took literally the whole book, and we saw none of the aftermath from Ruth’s point of view.)
The leading lady, Gwen, and her ambitions are extremely uninteresting. I simply did not care about her whatsoever, and for the most part, I felt no stake in her stakes. As the number of pages left dwindled, I wondered how they would wrap the book up in so little space. I think that’s because I expected more drama, and the book ended with little fanfare. I do wonder if that’s the point, though.
There are random paragraphs of semi-graphic sex, but literally just single paragraphs at a time, so they are easy to skip.
In the end, the history is interesting, but the book itself not particularly riveting.
(R rating)
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
It was the Canadian writer Guy Vanderhaeghe who first said, “History tells us what people do; historical fiction helps us imagine how they felt.” There's a lot of truth to that, and it explains why we love to read historical fiction -- and why I devoured Stephen Kiernan's, POLLOCK'S LAST LOVER. We all know a little about Jackson Pollock and we all know a bit about the insane prices that some paintings go for in auction (including Pollock's). The wonder and beauty of a novel like this is the remarkable ways you feel (REALLY feel) what the painters, their spouses, the art house detectives, and (yes) their lovers might have experienced -- first in the 1950s, when the work is being created, and then sixty years later, when one painting may (or may not) come to auction. Is it a real Pollock or a clever forgery? Is the woman attempting to sell it who claims to be Pollock's last lover an elderly grifter or, indeed, the one witness to the painting's creation? It's riveting, all of it: the madness of a painter losing his grip, his inamorata who may never have had a grip to begin with, and the increasing desperation of one art house investigator who realizes she may have on her hands a painting worth $50 million -- or a forgery that may cost her a career. This book is an absolute gem. I loved it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
In “Pollock’s Last Mistress,” by Stephan P. Kieran, Ruth Kligman, Pollock’s mistress in the months before his death in 1956, approaches an auction house in 2007 to sell what she claims to be an unknown painting made for her by Jackson Pollock. Gwen, an up and coming employee at the auction house, is given the potential career making or breaking task of verifying the painting’s authenticity.
The narrative alternates between Gwen and Ruth in 2007, and Ruth in 1956, when Ruth became Pollock’s mistress. The interactions between Gwen and Ruth, as Gwen tries in vain to extract background information on the painting from Ruth, is sometimes fractious, highlighting the vast differences in their personalities. While Gwen is driven and logical, Ruth tends to romanticize the past, describing her time with Pollock as “fated.”
The main and secondary characters are fully fleshed out, but it’s the dynamic dialog that draws in the reader and makes the characters come alive. Although the book contains graphic sex scenes, they are not gratuitous considering the primary focus of the book was Ruth’s purported sexual influence over Pollock’s creativity. I recommend this book to those who like historical fiction populated by vibrant, interesting characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me an ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review.
The narrative alternates between Gwen and Ruth in 2007, and Ruth in 1956, when Ruth became Pollock’s mistress. The interactions between Gwen and Ruth, as Gwen tries in vain to extract background information on the painting from Ruth, is sometimes fractious, highlighting the vast differences in their personalities. While Gwen is driven and logical, Ruth tends to romanticize the past, describing her time with Pollock as “fated.”
The main and secondary characters are fully fleshed out, but it’s the dynamic dialog that draws in the reader and makes the characters come alive. Although the book contains graphic sex scenes, they are not gratuitous considering the primary focus of the book was Ruth’s purported sexual influence over Pollock’s creativity. I recommend this book to those who like historical fiction populated by vibrant, interesting characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me an ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
3.75 The author Stephen P. Kiernan and the book title, Pollock’s Last Lover drew me to request this ARC.
I have been very interested in art recently and am eager to learn about the lives of artist like Jackson Pollock.
Pollock was considered a genius and a madman at the same time. It seems like often the two words are closely related. Pollock was a genius and his lover Ruth was his muse. The story delves into his life as a painter, his drinking and his infidelity.
There is a mystery aspect to the story regarding a painting Pollock’s last lover, Ruth, is trying to sell. The painting does not look like his other paintings so before an auction house will take it they must authenticate it. This part of the story kept me reading.
There are several other artists spoken about in the story that I enjoyed learning about and researching after I finished.
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All in all this was an enjoyable read. I always like learning something new, and I did. The only negative was that I wasn’t completely satisfied at the end.
I have been very interested in art recently and am eager to learn about the lives of artist like Jackson Pollock.
Pollock was considered a genius and a madman at the same time. It seems like often the two words are closely related. Pollock was a genius and his lover Ruth was his muse. The story delves into his life as a painter, his drinking and his infidelity.
There is a mystery aspect to the story regarding a painting Pollock’s last lover, Ruth, is trying to sell. The painting does not look like his other paintings so before an auction house will take it they must authenticate it. This part of the story kept me reading.
There are several other artists spoken about in the story that I enjoyed learning about and researching after I finished.
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All in all this was an enjoyable read. I always like learning something new, and I did. The only negative was that I wasn’t completely satisfied at the end.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A New York auction house is contacted by a woman who claims to have a Pollock painting gifted to her, his lover at the time of his death. This is a career-boosting opportunity for associate Gwen, assigned to authenticate this claim. Married to her job, Gwen is obsessed with the project. Once she meets Ruth, the owner of the artwork, she knows she has a challenge. Through their interactions we learn about the last months of Jackson Pollock, an abusive, depressed alcoholic, married to a woman who has tolerated the drunkenness and random women for years. Stephen P. Kiernan’s novel is a mystery that intrigues us. We want to witness the final determination and how it is reached. Far more interesting than the relationship between Gwen and her man is the story of Ruth and her needy artist and the work that resulted from their love affair. This alone holds my attention till the last page.
March 22, 2026
A bit of a rollercoaster with alternating current and past POVs both embroiled in heated relationships. The central question of provenance of the painting creates engaging intrigue as the story moves forward. An interesting glimpse into the art world as well as the art authentication process.
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this ARC.
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A dual timeline histfic story involving Jackson Pollack, the women in his life, and the authentication of one of his paintings. Art lovers, especially, will find this fascinating.
April 26, 2026
An intriguing journey into the worlds of art, relationships and history.
With thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this e-ARC.
With thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this e-ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
great book ... full review to follow
great book ... full review to follow
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May 10, 2026I just couldn't get into this book. I wanted to like but I struggled with the dual time line and art scene. I like reading about lesser known people so I was hoping to like it.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Written with the unbridled machismo of the era it depicts, this novel drops us into the harrowing last year of in the life of Jackson Pollock, mentally ill alcoholic and artistic genius. We see him through the eyes of his last lover, Ruth, a young woman of exaggerated ambition who turns Pollack's head while hardening his heart. Racing toward its inevitably tragic conclusion, this duel-timeline story considers what made Pollack so attractive in his time--and his art so valuable in ours.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews