The Marriage Artist: A Novel

"A powerful intellect, fearless emotion, and gift for provocative metaphorical narrative, all drive this sweeping, unflaggingly intense novel."—Francisco Goldman, author of The Divine Husband

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.