Athena (novel)

Athena is a 1995 novel by the Irish author John Banville, the third in a series that started with The Book of Evidence and continued with Ghosts. These three form the "Frames" trilogy, linked by the theme of paintings.

The novel is centred around Morrow, a self-styled art expert.  He is asked by a businessman called Morden to authenticate a number of paintings which are old and supposedly valuable.  Morrow becomes romantically involved with a woman he simply calls A. who appears to have stepped out of his canvasses.  The police become involved and Morden and A. abruptly disappear.  Morrow is left grief stricken.

The story is punctuated by several appraisals of paintings by fictitious artists.

Reviewers compared it favourably with the writing of John Fowles, William Gass, John Hawkes and Vladimir Nabokov.