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. Berlin, 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.