Slow Reveal

Author: Melanie Mitzner

Description:

"A poem is never finished, only abandoned," wrote Paul Valéry, a reflection on a marriage that implodes. Set in New York City in the 1990s, art, addiction and family dysfunction culminate when Katharine, a film editor, ends her decade long affair with Naomi, a lesbian poet. After years of emotional distance, Katherine is determined to reconcile with her husband Jonathan and repair relations with her daughters Ellie, an artist and Brigitte, an aspiring writer mired in addiction. After Jonathan is censured for the politicization of art in his installation Old World Charm, a brief affair leads to an open marriage with Katharine. But Jonathan's struggle with sobriety and abandoning art for advertising eventually deepens the chasm in their relationship. When unforeseen tragedy strikes, the family must confront the truth that time doesn't always heal as they try to hang onto their former lives, which barely represent the ones they're living now. Flashbacks of the past clarify moments, but they don't provide relief. Written in hybrid fiction and poetry excerpts, Slow Reveal is a compelling and timely novel tackling the themes of art and how art is shaped and defined by media and influencers, social and political injustice, gender identity, family dynamics, and the parallels between the artistic process and intimacy and trust in relationships.