The Green Hour - A Novel (Paperback)

A powerful story that explores the modern dilemma of passion versus tranquillity.

Set in Paris and New York, The Green Hour tells the story of Dominique, a brilliant art historian who has recently recovered from a bout with cancer. The novel follows Dominique from her college years to the present, unfolding a moving love story in which Dominique is torn between her passion for the idealistic and seductive Rex, who periodically disappears from her life, and her feelings for Eric, a wealthy American businessman deeply in love with her.

Woven into this romance is the equally gripping tale of Dominique's relationship with art and the cultural turmoils of our time. By portraying a character for whom love and idealism are lost, this novel hauntingly shows us the importance of pursuing both. A Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2002.

"[C]ourageous, adventurous, intelligent and highly original...moments of haunting lyrical power."—Citation for the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters

"An engaging love story, quirky, cosmopolitan, full of upliftings and downturnings..."—Larry McMurtry, author of Lonesome Dove

"A moving novel that explores the nature of love and the relationship between art and life."—Francine du Plessix Gray, author of At Home with the Marquis de Sade

"An elegant exploration of the pained and reckless happiness that shapes the life of a person...richly emotional."—Nuala O'Faolain, author of My Dream of You

"[C]uts brightly into the dark night of our troubled times. Unforgettable."—Oscar Hijuelos, author of A Simple Habana Melody

"I felt moved and involved—and above all envious. I loved this novel and could not put it down."—Steve Martin, author of Shopgirl

"[An] exceptional writer...elegant and always intelligent in his spiritual accounting."— Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Splendidly subversive....Tuten whittles away at the conflicting emotions separating us from our ideal selves and shows us how little of our destinies we control."— San Francisco Chronicle

"Frederic Tuten is a valiant gifted writer whose work honors literature."—Susan Sontag