In an age driven by desire, what happens when you want two different things?
Set in the pristine, precarious world of MoMA, The Modern is a brilliantly wry and insightful debut about art, sexuality, commitment and whether being on the right path can lead to the wrong place.
Things seem to be working out for Sophia in New York: having come from Australia to be at the centre of modernity, she’s working at the Museum of Modern Art, living in a great apartment with a boyfriend interviewing for Ivy League teaching positions. They’re smart, serious, dine in the right restaurants and have (a little unexpectedly) become engaged just before he leaves to hike the Appalachian Trail.
Alone in the city, Sophia begins to wonder what it means to be married – to be defined, publicly – in the 21st century. Can you be true to yourself and someone else? In a bridal shop she meets Cara, a young artist struggling to get over her ex-girlfriend, and the two begin a connection that leads Sophia to question the nature of her relationships, her career and the consequences of being modern.
Both playful and profound, inhabiting the gap between what we feel about ourselves and how we behave, Anna Kate Blair’s debut novel is a sparklingly insightful queer exploration of desire, art and her generation’s place in the world. It announces an exceptional new literary voice.
‘Cerebral and sensual … each fork in the road revealing itself with insight and beauty.’ Katerina Gibson, author of Women I Know
‘A dazzling exploration of desire and longing. Anna Kate Blair has given us a new form of fiction – intellectual, yearning, honest and vulnerable.’ Anne Casey-Hardy, author of Cautionary Tales for Excitable Girls
‘This novel is a work of art ... It made me laugh, feel lucky to be alive, and reminded me of the expansiveness of creativity.’ Laura McPhee-Browne, author of Cherry Beach
‘Blair’s novel expertly blends dark, self-deprecating humour with a quest to know oneself through the lens of art … Sophia is a masterpiece of imperfection and an authentic millennial character.’ Books+Publishing
The Modern is a reflective and playful debut novel about Sophia, a young Australian woman who works at MoMA in New York and loves art more than she loves her partner. Surprised by his recent proposal, Sophia looks to art history and her new connection with Cara, an artist working in a bridal shop, to understand brides and marriage in a modern light. As her partner leaves to trek the Appalachian trial, Sophia grows closer to Cara and attempts to reconciles queer identity with visibility, informed by the archives of modern artists she studies who defy convention to create lasting works of art that reflect their true inner worlds.
This debut is an engaging queer reflection on what is modern and what remains when all things are questionable. Against the backdrop of an energetic city and the unstable category of modern art, The Modern looks at what it means to exist in flux: living abroad, shuttling between temporary jobs, facing up to society’s expectations. I loved the depth Anna Kate Blair goes into when discussing the history of female artists that explore marriage in their work, as well as the thoughtful nature of Sophia’s insights as she deconstructs her world.
