Venus, Vanishing

Author: Rebecca Birrell

Of specific Lesbian interest

Published on 16 July 2026 by PAN MACMILLAN (Picador) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 384 pages
228 x 148 | 490g

Blisteringly passionate, Venus, Vanishing by Rebecca Birrell is a page-turning debut novel of desire, art, and the stories lost to the darkness of history.

'Gripping, gorgeously written . . . I couldn't put it down' - Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre'This vivid novel of 1930s Berlin asks what it means to make art in an emergency' - Eleanor Catton, author of Birnam WoodBerlin, 1928. Hannah is new to the pleasures and freedoms of the city. She is a fledgling artist, a runaway, building a new life for herself in its galleries and clubs, and, at last, loving without boundaries.

But soon the party will be coming to an end. A consuming affair with her patron, Elke – the imperious wife of a powerful man – is reckless, yet life-changing, and it threatens to do more than ruin both of their reputations. Around them, people are disappearing. The shadows of something unspeakable are growing darker in the city. Hannah’s art could be the thing that secures her survival – or denies her any chance of escape.

'A radiant vision of art against evil . . . a bold, moving novel' - Megan Hunter, author of Days of Light'Wonderful. Alive with a deep, resonant tenderness' - Elizabeth O'Connor, author of Whale Fall'Extraordinary. I didn't want it to end' - Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat