Infinite Books

The family, friends, and influential art people gather at the Hanrahans’ house in North London to witness Ray Hanrahan’s big comeback. The long weekend is when his new exhibition will hopefully secure his place in the art world as a painter. Yet, ironically, this is also the weekend when his wife, Lucia, a sculptor, receives excellent news from her gallery art critic – something that may change her life. She decides to hide this from her husband not to upset him.

“The Exhibitionist” by Charlotte Mendelson started for me as a good satire of the art world, especially the comparison of women’s and men’s roles in art. There are many examples when a woman artist is overshadowed in marriage by her husband. As mentioned in the novel, “Artists need wives.” However, it may be true that “Artists don’t need husbands,” not the husbands depicted in Ray. He is highly self-centered, throws tantrums like a spoiled child, blames others for his failures, and shows no interest or empathy for other people’s problems, not even if it concerns his wife or children. His daughter Leah adores him to the point of obsession and guards him against everything that could upset “the genius.” His stepson, Patrick, a man with mental problems magnified by ridicule and criticism, lives in a van in Ray and Lucia’s garden. Jenn, another daughter, managed to escape to another city to free herself from her father, but now she’s back and realizes that her mother is “beyond saving.”

“The Exhibitionist,” longlisted for the 2022 Women’s Prize, is heralded as funny, but it was almost painful for me to observe Ray’s impact on everybody in his family. Gradually, I became annoyed by Lucia’s compliance to withstand her husband’s constant verbal abuse. The characters are one-dimensional, with Ray as a typical villain. However, the novel’s language is excellent, with witty metaphors and skillful mirroring of how family members speak, interrupting and not coming to conclusions. By the end of the weekend, we can only hope that Lucia has enough willpower to realize that she has to protect –and save – herself and not her husband.

THE EXHIBITIONIST by Charlotte Mendelson, St. Martin’s Press, 2023