MARRIAGE ARTIST

When the wife of renowned art critic Daniel Lichtmann plunges to her death, she is not alone. Lying next to her is her suspected lover, Benjamin Wind, the very artist Daniel most championed. Tormented by questions about the circumstances of their deaths, Daniel dedicates himself to uncovering the secrets of their relationship and the inspiration behind Wind's dazzling final exhibition.

What Daniel discovers is a web of mysteries leading back to pre-World War II Vienna and the magnificent life of Josef Pick, a forgotten artist who may have been the twentieth century's greatest painter of love. But the most astonishing discoveryis what connects these two artists acrosshalf a century: a remarkable woman whose response to the tragedy of her generation offers Daniel answers to the questions he never knew to ask.

Ambitious, haunting, and stunningly written, The Marriage Artist tells a universal tale of a family dramatically reshaped by the quest for personal freedom in the face of inherited beliefs, public prejudices, and the unfathomable turns of history. It is at once a provocative snapshot of contemporary marriage, the recovery of a passion that history never recorded, and a fierce reminder of the way we enlist love in our perpetual search for meaning and permanence.

"Powerful . . . ambitious . . . audacious."

—Publishers Weekly (Starred review)

"A tour de force of provocative ideas . . . expressed through emotionally riveting characters."

—Kirkus Reviews (Starred review)

"Andrew Winer is a formidable writer. He has erected an amazing Tower of Babel, a tower of history, love, marriage and art, Europe and America. In Winer's building, though, there is no confusion of languages—or only to the extent that it can fuel the masterful plot. This novel is a page-turner with a deeper meaning, a very rare amalgam indeed."

—Adam Zagajewski, author of Eternal Enemies and A Defense of Ardor

"In this intricate and far-ranging novel, Andrew Winer writes brilliantly about art and love, history, debts that can and can't be paid, fatherhood in all its guises, the importance of bearing witness, the fragile border between mortality and immortality, the speakable and the unspeakable. The Marriage Artist weaves together the lives of characters, past and present, with consummate skill, and the result is an utterly absorbing and profound novel."

—Margot Livesey, author of The House on Fortune Street

"A powerful intellect, fearless emotion, and gift for provocative metaphorical narrative, all drive this sweeping, unflaggingly intense novel. The Marriage Artist takes on big themes—love, death, faith, history—with a riveting mix of seriousness and enchantment."

—Francisco Goldman, author of The Divine Husband"Winer creates complex characters by sketching compelling portraits. . . The result is a story that is engrossing and haunting." —abcnews.com “Unforgettable . . . evocative . . . lyrical . . . The Marriage Artist gives us a reason to celebrate.” —Bookpage “ [a] fearless examination of sexual power, love. . . hatred between fathers and sons, maternal instinct [and] grief. . . .” - The Rumpus   “. . . a mystery, a romance and a ghost story, and the author is adept at weaving all of these narrative threads into a single compelling tale.” - The Jewish Journal

“. . . breath-bating . . . a high-minded fusion of dark anti-love story and ethnographic detective fiction.” - The Boston Globe “An intense and complex examination of love. . . . a mystery that raises the question of how memory, identity and love are entangled.” - Star Tribune

—Vogue

“Intricately wrought. . . There are passages of great beauty tenderly delineating the mysteries of love and creativity.”

—The Washington Post

“A story that is engrossing and haunting. . . important.” —The Salt Lake Tribune

“Powerful . . . ambitious . . . audacious.”

—Publishers Weekly (Starred review)

“A tour de force of provocative ideas . . . expressed through emotionally riveting characters.”

—Kirkus Reviews (Starred review)

“Andrew Winer is a formidable writer. He has erected an amazing Tower of Babel, a tower of history, love, marriage and art, Europe and America. In Winer's building, though, there is no confusion of languages—or only to the extent that it can fuel the masterful plot. This novel is a page-turner with a deeper meaning, a very rare amalgam indeed.”

—Adam Zagajewski, author of Eternal Enemies and A Defense of Ardor

“In this intricate and far-ranging novel, Andrew Winer writes brilliantly about art and love, history, debts that can and can't be paid, fatherhood in all its guises, the importance of bearing witness, the fragile border between mortality and immortality, the speakable and the unspeakable. The Marriage Artist weaves together the lives of characters, past and present, with consummate skill, and the result is an utterly absorbing and profound novel.”

—Margot Livesey, author of The House on Fortune Street

“A powerful intellect, fearless emotion, and gift for provocative metaphorical narrative, all drive this sweeping, unflaggingly intense novel. The Marriage Artist takes on big themes—love, death, faith, history—with a riveting mix of seriousness and enchantment.”

—Francisco Goldman, author of The Divine Husband

“Winer creates complex characters by sketching compelling portraits. . . The result is a story that is engrossing and haunting.” —ABCnews.com

“Unforgettable . . . evocative . . . lyrical . . . The Marriage Artist gives us a reason to celebrate.” —Bookpage

“A fearless examination of sexual power, love. . . hatred between fathers and sons, maternal instinct [and] grief.” —The Rumpus 

“A mystery, a romance and a ghost story, and the author is adept at weaving all of these narrative threads into a single compelling tale.” —The Jewish Journal

“Breath-bating . . . a high-minded fusion of dark anti-love story and ethnographic detective fiction.” —The Boston Globe

“An intense and complex examination of love. . . . a mystery that raises the question of how memory, identity and love are entangled.” —Star Tribune

When the wife of renowned art critic Daniel Lichtmann plunges to her death, she is not alone. Lying next to her broken body is the body of her suspected lover, Benjamin Wind, a celebrated artist who, ironically, owes his success to Daniel, who made him a star. Daniel is left to grapple with the emotional pain of his double loss and double betrayal.

Decades earlier in a Vienna on the verge of World War II, a child artist prodigy emerges from a most unlikely place, the son of Jews who've turned their back on their religion only to have their son fall in love with his new-found ability to create some of the most beautiful ketubot—traditional Jewish marriage contracts—the world has ever seen. As the young ketubah artist navigates between the survival of his body and of his soul, his choices will shape not only his life, but the lives of those born many miles—and many years—away. The result is a lyrical and unflinchingly honest story that strips away notions of passion and fidelity to reveal an essential truth: there is a love greater than the words that bind it, one that cannot be described, but only illuminated.

When the wife of renowned art critic Daniel Lichtmann plunges to her death, she is not alone. Lying next to her is her suspected lover, Benjamin Wind, the very artist Daniel most championed. Tormented by questions about the circumstances of their deaths, Daniel dedicates himself to uncovering the secrets of their relationship and the inspiration behind Wind's dazzling final exhibition.

What Daniel discovers is a web of mysteries leading back to pre-World War II Vienna and the magnificent life of Josef Pick, a forgotten artist who may have been the twentieth century's greatest painter of love. But the most astonishing discoveryis what connects these two artists acrosshalf a century: a remarkable woman whose response to the tragedy of her generation offers Daniel answers to the questions he never knew to ask.

Ambitious, haunting, and stunningly written, The Marriage Artist tells a universal tale of a family dramatically reshaped by the quest for personal freedom in the face of inherited beliefs, public prejudices, and the unfathomable turns of history. It is at once a provocative snapshot of contemporary marriage, the recovery of a passion that history never recorded, and a fierce reminder of the way we enlist love in our perpetual search for meaning and permanence.

1. Is Daniel and Aleksandras marriage doomed from the beginning? Why cant they make it work?

2. What is the ultimate purpose of the ketubah? What are some of the motives behind the various couples intent to have one made by Josef?

3. Daniels first wife is given no name, and is characterized as being nearly the perfect opposite of Aleksandra. Carmen, by contrast, is not compared to either. What draws Daniel to each of the women?

4. How is Frau Picks outlook on life transformed by her unhappy marriage? What about Daniels? And Hannahs (before her eventual reconciliation with Josef)?

5. Why are Grandfather Pommeranz and Frau and Herr Pick unable to acknowledge Josefs achievement right after his first ketubah is revealed? Why is Herr Pick never able to make peace with his sons art, both Jewish and modern?

6. Why does Josef start creating modern art, especially with the subject matter of nude figures and sexuality?

7. What causes Aleksandra to behave in such a conflicted manner at Benjamins show— by fi rst prostrating herself before one of the works, then saying publicly that the show is just “all right”? Does she wish to send a message to Daniel afterward, during that pivotal walk to Central Park, or is she simply absorbed in her own emotional turmoil?

8. Do you agree with Daniels mothers assessment of Aleksandras death, that she killed herself out of guilt? What about her belief that the only thing that brings joy to people is “beginning”?

9. What compels Daniel to attend Benjamins memorial service? And to go on the spontaneous trip with Max to Vienna?

10. Grandfather Pommeranz tells Josef: “Only an image can fill us with pure joy.” How does this statement affect Josef? How is this different from or similar to Daniels mothers view that only beginnings bring joy?

11. What causes Josefs antagonistic relationship to love and marriage: his own parents unhappiness, or his strange career as a marriage artist?

12. How is Hannahs requirement that love come through “absolute affliction” perfected with her relationship with Josef? How is she able to feel such complete devotion to him before they even speak a word to each other?

13. How is Hannahs view of Josef like her view of God? How does Josef echo her beliefs in his speech to the Gestapo officers and Hannah when he says, “Lovers are like worshippers. . .Dont make me complete my picture of you. I still want to worship you” (page 247)?

14. How does the intense episode of the Gestapo officers assaulting Josef, Hannah, and Herman parallel the questioning of Daniel, Carmen, and Max by the synagogue authorities in Vienna?

15. What bothers Daniel most about Herman? Do the two men have any similarities?

16. How do Hannahs words to Herman on that train to the camp—“Walk away from it all”— become prophetic for his life? Does Hannah do the right thing by trying to make a family with Max? Should they have told Herman the truth about Josef as soon as possible?

17. What is the ultimate meaning of Benjamins last show? Is it, in fact, hopeful? How does Daniels revelation about the origins of the human figures change the meaning he attributed to it in his infamous review (“gave shape to the worlds suffering”)? In what way does Benjamins show fulfill a purpose that the actual graveyard in Vienna neglects to do?