Publishers Weekly
08/28/2023
Lyon (The Groves) blends romance and family history with a scathing critique of the New York City art world in this sumptuous tale. Glory Hopkins, a Black queer painter, moves from Denver to the Harlem brownstone she’s inherited from her great-aunt Lucille. In the process of assessing Lucille’s belongings, she meets Parkie de Groot, a wealthy white woman who works for an auction house. As Parkie and Glory sift through the house’s moldered scrapbooks and artifacts, they begin an affair, their mutual attraction fueled and complicated by the professional possibilities they might provide each other. The stakes are raised after they find an unpublished manuscript that may have been written by Harlem Renaissance novelist Nella Larsen. Glory hopes to succeed as an artist and to get answers about her ancestors and the manuscript, but she has little patience for the cutthroat art scene, which seems to exist purely for the sake of people to be seen rather than to see art. “As far as Glory was concerned,” Lyon writes, “Chelsea was a shitshow. More evil than necessary.” With prose that turns on a dime from blistering to sensual, Lyon makes Glory an appealing and complex narrator. This is a treat. Agent: Jessica Alvarez, BookEnds Literary Agency. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
Praise for Lush Lives:
An NBC News Best LGBTQ Book of the Year
“A vibrant, sexy, queer contemporary romance.” —Book Riot
“Lyon writes a compelling and sexy story of the lives of queer women, both past and present, grounded in the beautifully drawn atmosphere of Harlem. The novel successfully blends real and speculative history to evoke what may hide in the silence of historical records.”—Library Journal, starred review
“Insightful, brazen, and groundbreaking in its vivid portrayal of boundary-pushing characters who rarely get the spotlight, Lush Lives is the total package—a sexy queer romance with substance.” —Camille Perri, author of When Katie Met Cassidy and The Assistants
“With a singular voice, Lyon weaves an unforgettable romance in the elite art world, one full of tenderness, fierce hope, and self-empowerment.”—Ashley Herring Blake, author of Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail
Smart, sophisticated, and deeply romantic. Lush Lives explores queer love and life amidst an evocative backdrop of art, auction, and the history of Harlem. I was captivated.” —Helen Hoang, New York Times-bestselling author of The Kiss Quotient
“Lush Lives is a joy to read. It's tender, sharp, funny, and oh so sexy. This is one to savor; I didn't want it to end. I can't wait to read more from J. Vanessa Lyon.” —Jasmine Guillory, New York Times-bestselling author of Drunk on Love
Library Journal - Audio
06/10/2024
After inheriting her aunt's crumbling Harlem brownstone, up-and-coming Black painter Glory Hopkins is overwhelmed. When she takes a box of her aunt's belongings to an auction house for appraisal, she meets Parkie de Groot, a wealthy, ambitious auction appraiser. Glory thought her aunt's belongings were junk, but she and Parkie uncover among them a mysterious unpublished manuscript that raises many questions. As they work together to authenticate the document, they discover a truth about Glory's Aunt Lucille that had been hidden for decades. Both Glory and Parkie feel an instant connection, but will past trauma keep them at arm's length? Lyon's print debut (after her Audible original, The Groves) is a queer love story featuring vibrant women who set their own paths. Narrator Elle Cleviden provides a layered narration, enhancing the story with her ability to change dialects and accents. She ably guides listeners through the book's complicated terrain, incorporating classic romantic tropes while communicating the pressure of the women's personal and professional ethics. VERDICT This lushly written sapphic romance should appeal to readers interested in women artists and creators and the ruthless NYC art scene.—Elyssa Everling
Library Journal
★ 06/01/2023
Two women's paths collide with hidden history in Lyon's debut print novel (after her Audible original novel The Groves). Glory Hopkins, a Black artist who has inherited her great-aunt Lucille's brownstone in Harlem, hopes to make her name in New York's art world. As Glory struggles to make meaning from Lucille's surprising bequest and all of her treasured possessions, she becomes involved with Parkie de Groot, a disabled auction-house appraiser who is as devoted to her work as she is attracted to Glory. Glory and Parkie have intoxicating chemistry, but their budding relationship quickly becomes complicated by questions of identity and ethics, as well as the growing understanding that they may have discovered an unusual literary document amongst Lucille's papers. Lyon writes a compelling and sexy story of the lives of queer women, both past and present, grounded in the beautifully drawn atmosphere of Harlem. The novel successfully blends real and speculative history to evoke what may hide in the silence of historical records. VERDICT This will appeal to readers who enjoy sapphic romance or literary mysteries and especially to those who enjoyed Nella Larsen's Passing.—Sierra Wilson
SEPTEMBER 2023 - AudioFile
Elle Cleviden gives a quiet but satisfying performance of this queer contemporary romance. Parkie is a disabled white woman who is working as an appraiser for a New York auction house. Glory is a Black artist who's just inherited her great-aunt's Harlem brownstone. The two hit it off immediately when Glory brings in her aunt's belongings for appraisal. They soon get caught up in a personal and professional tangle. Cleviden brings a nice balance of flirtation and hesitation to their interactions. She shines in her portrayal of several colorful secondary characters with various accents and personalities. This is a smart, sexy story about two women who are struggling to live by their values in an imperfect world. L.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2023-05-09
A tale of romance and intrigue in the New York art world by art history professor and debut novelist Lyon.
Queer, Black artist Glory Hopkins does not know why her great-aunt Lucille bequeathed her Harlem brownstone and all its possessions to her, but she willingly takes on the responsibility along with the new place to live and paint. When she brings a box of Lucille’s things to Cuthbert’s, a small but prestigious New York auction house, she meets tall, curvy redhead Parkie de Groot, who walks with a cane. Their attraction is instant and mutual, but they get off to a rocky start when Parkie doesn’t take Lucille’s items as seriously as Glory would like. This begins a pattern of Parkie not living up to Glory’s standards. The major example: Parkie is in charge of an auction for an estate with a history of nasty exploitation (think Sackler but older money). Then again, Glory fails to disclose that she is up for representation by a blue-chip gallery that Parkie knows, firsthand, to have less than perfect morals. Meanwhile, a British powerhouse of Indian descent named Manya Shah has arrived to take the city’s art scene by storm, represent Glory, and, if she has it her way, sleep with Glory, or Parkie, or both. And while all that is going on, a scrapbook of Lucille’s may contain a lost manuscript of a Harlem luminary, unlocking fascinating secrets of Glory’s great-aunt and promising a windfall (if the increasingly evil Madeline Cuthbert doesn’t interfere). Lyon is clearly invested in illuminating the interior lives of her characters and showing how intersectionality is everywhere. Though the braided plotlines drive the characters’ individual transformations, the book seems to shuttle between quiet moments of reflection, inside-baseball art world workings, and melodramatic events without quite finding balance.
Like many of the not-quite sex scenes therein, this novel is both fun and frustrating.
