Athena was published by Secker & Warburg in 1995, completing the Frames trilogy. The narrator (now called Morrow, though clearly Montgomery) is hired by a mysterious figure to authenticate a collection of paintings — possibly stolen, possibly forged. Simultaneously, he pursues an obsessive affair with a woman called simply “A.” The twin plots (art authentication and erotic obsession) mirror each other: in both cases, the protagonist is trying to determine what is real and what is fabrication.
The novel is Banville’s most formally elaborate: each chapter is paired with a description of a painting (based on real seventeenth-century Dutch works), and the relationship between image and narrative creates a third layer of meaning. The paintings — still lifes, domestic interiors, mythological scenes — comment on and complicate the narrative without ever resolving into simple allegory.
The love affair with “A.” is written with extraordinary erotic intensity — Banville is one of the few literary novelists who writes about sexual desire without embarrassment or condescension — but it is also clearly doomed: “A.” may not be who she claims, the affair may be part of the art fraud conspiracy, and Morrow/Montgomery’s inability to distinguish between aesthetic appreciation and genuine human connection ensures that love, like art, remains a beautiful fabrication.
Collecting Athena
First edition (Secker & Warburg, London, 1995): Cloth with dust jacket.
Market values:
- UK first edition, fine/fine: $30–$75
- Very good: $15–$30
Projected values (2026–2036): Modest appreciation. Final Frames novel.
Art and Obsession
Athena (1995) completes the Frames trilogy. Freddie Montgomery, now using the name Morrow, is hired to authenticate a collection of possibly stolen paintings. He begins an obsessive love affair with a mysterious woman called simply “A.” The novel is Banville’s most overtly art-historical — extended passages of ekphrasis (descriptions of paintings) are central to the narrative — and his most erotic. Some critics found it the weakest of the trilogy; others consider it the most daring, for its willingness to abandon conventional narrative in favor of pure aesthetic contemplation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the paintings real? No — the paintings Freddie describes are Banville’s invention, though they allude to real works by Vermeer, Watteau, and other masters. The ekphrasis is a kind of literary forgery, which mirrors the novel’s themes of authenticity and deception.