The Glimpse

Lis Bensley

Jun 2021 · Troubador Publishing Ltd

About this ebook

Liza Baker, a rising star in the burgeoning Abstract Expressionist era, finds herself sidelined when she gets pregnant, and decides to have the child. Yet, against conventional wisdom, she’s convinced she can have a successful career and be a good mother to her daughter, Rouge.
She takes a job teaching at a college and comes up against the harsh realities of the male-dominated art world. Unable to build a successful career, she watches as her former lover, whose work resembles hers, skyrocket to fame. Liza develops a drinking problem and often brings home artist lovers she’s met in the city. When Rouge meets Ben Fuller, one of Liza’s discarded lovers who subsequently fosters Rouge talent in photography, the complexity of the mother-daughter relationship takes on the added charge of a competition between the two, one that Liza tries to sabotage.
THE GLIMPSE is a moving, unsentimental tale of the charged New York art world of the 1950s and the relationship between a mother and daughter as they grapple with their relationship that becomes pivotal to their artwork.

Ratings and reviews

It has been a while since I have read a book as good as The Glimpse by Lis Bensley. Although there are plenty of fiction books describing the life of an artist, there are very few that depict a chaotic life of an artist as fabulously as The Glimpse. Author Lis Bensley does an incredible job in transporting her readers into the art scene of New York in the 1950's. The level of accuracy with which she describes the era is outstanding, In addition to involving famous abstractionists of the time into the plot, making them vivid and a vital part of it, Bensley manages to capture the free-spirited nature of the decade. The book is filled with an admiration and passion for art, and this helps readers immerse themselves in the story, culture and the main character as well. But once Bensley is sure the reader is fully in Liza Baker’s headspace, she starts unravelling the deep and dark psychological issues and dilemmas that the protagonist is battling with. I admire how boldly Bensley describes depression and jealousy for the success of others. The reader is able to witness firsthand how Lisa Baker is trying extremely hard to combat her inner demons and how, sadly, demons win over her most of the time. I also love how masterfully Bensley juggles with time. The plot jumps back and forth between the 50s and 60s, and then towards the end it becomes paralleled, with Bensley providing two perspectives of the events that are happening. With all those shifts in time taking place, the plot itself remains clear and easy to follow. The Glimpse is a riveting historical fiction novel that is clearly written with a passion for the arts and a keen understanding of human struggles which are explored in dramatic ways throughout the story.

About the author

Lis Bensley has worked as a journalist for The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, and as an arts writer for ArtNews, The New Mexican, Elle Décor, The Santa Fean. She has previously authored The Women’s Health Cookbook and has written articles for Fine Cooking.