Told across two timelines, one in the early ’50s and the other in the mid-’60s, Liza Baker’s story unfolds like a bildungsroman in reverse: the unmaking of an artist by misogyny, addiction, bad luck, and unhappy childhood. Can she keep the same from happening to her daughter? Can she still reclaim her place as one of the visionaries of her generation?

"It’s not easy to pin painting — such less the hunger to create — to the page.  Lis Bensley has done both in this luminous novel about mothers and daughters, ambition and art, and — especially -- about the empty spaces and roiling undercurrents in between.  The Glimpse will be following you around for days.”— Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Stacy Schiff

“The Glimpse beautifully captures the punishing life of the artist, the fickleness of fame, the self-doubt, the dissatisfaction, the thrill of small breakthroughs, and the quest that drives it all.” — Elizabeth McKenzie

AWARDS:

• Literary Lion Gold Award

• Independent Press Distinguished Favorites

• IPPY Silver Best Regional Fiction

• Elit Books Bronze in Literary Fiction

• National Indie Press Award, finalist

REVIEWS:

The Glimpse offers a believable tale of a generation in which female artists were sidelined and preyed upon—a dynamic with continued resonance in the current moment. It is also a story about familial inheritances in which Liza’s complex relationship with her parents filters down to Rouge’s unanswered questions about her own. The author paints her characters and environments without the touristy flourishes of some period fiction. The result is a satisfying, art-minded character study.

– Kirkus Review

It has been a while since I have read a book as good as The Glimpse by Lis Bensley.

– The Literary Titan

The author paints pictures in words with the skill of an old master and all the originality of abstract expressionism. This is a book full of life and passion.

- Netgalley