The Optickal Illusion

Based on a true story, Rachel Halliburton’s novel The Optickal Illusion is about a female artist seeking renown in patriarchal British high society.

It is 1797 and in Georgian London, nothing is certain anymore: the future of the monarchy is in question, the city is aflame with conspiracies, and the French could invade any day. Amidst this feverish atmosphere, the American painter Benjamin West is visited by a dubious duo comprised of a blundering father and vibrant daughter, the Provises, who claim they have a secret that has obsessed painters for centuries: the Venetian techniques of master painter Titian.

West was once the most celebrated painter in London, but he hasn’t produced anything of note in years, so against his better judgment he agrees to let the intriguing Ann Jemima Provis visit his studio and demonstrate the techniques from the document. What unravels reveals more than West has ever understood?about himself, the treachery of the art world, and the seductive promise of greatness.

Drawn from a genuine scandal that deceived the British Royal Academy, The Optickal Illusion demonstrates the lengths women must go to make their mark on a society that seeks to underplay their abilities.

“A remarkable true story of vanity and delusion, which Halliburton turns into a gripping and only partly fictional whodunnit . . . brings the artists and their art to colorful life and brushes in streaks of feminism, via Mary Wollstonecraft, as well as dark shadows of the French Revolution.” —Award–winning Author John Spurling

“A vibrant portrait of an age of political and artistic revolution as well as a gripping story.” —Library Journal