Portrait of an Unknown Lady
Portrait of an Unknown Lady
paperback | English
Published:
3 March, 2022
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Description
In this dazzling story of art and illusion, secrets and schemes, who is to be trusted - and what is real?
From the internationally acclaimed author of Optic Nerve
*A TLS Book of the Year*
'A writer who feels immediately important' Observer
At a hotel in Buenos Aires, a woman checks in under a pseudonym. She wears a black fur shawl and has no luggage. She is alone.
Over the coming days and nights, she tells a story, which begins with a secret shared in a local bath house, revealing art forgery and fraud on a dazzling scale. At its heart is an enigmatic genius who for years forged portraits of the city's elite, before disappearing without trace. It is a story of influence and intrigue, in which nothing is as it seems. We're not to expect 'names, numbers or dates', she cautions, but a more subtle kind of reckoning...
Told in a mordant, irresistible voice and full of sharp surprises, Portrait of an Unknown Lady is a captivating enquiry into what we mean by 'authenticity', in life as in art. At once poised and capricious, elegant and bold, it is a thrilling exploration of the relationships between what is lived, what is told, what is remembered, and what is real.
Translated from the Spanish by Thomas Bunstead
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9781787303249 |
| ISBN10 | 1787303241 |
| Number Of Pages | 208 |
| Item Weight | 211 g |
| Product Dimensions | 135 x 216 x 15 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | Vintage Publishing |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
'Vividly detailed and saturated with intricate feeling, Gainza's novel is an engrossing exploration of authenticity, obsession, and the enveloping allure of art' -- Alexandra Kleeman, author of SOMETHING NEW UNDER THE SUN
This is a truly exquisite novel... It is moving, clever and written wry precision... As much as the narrator is haunted, the reader will be haunted -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *
Gainza weaves a fascinating, often confounding story about beauty, obsession and authenticity... Gainza is sharp, modern and playful, a writer who multiples the possibilities of fiction -- Johanna Thomas-Corr * Observer *
A richly detailed detective novel of sorts that explores authenticity and the distance between the way things appear and they way they really are -- Chiara Rimella * Monocle *
Dazzling... [a] clever novel that explores the gap between what's remembered and what's real -- Chloë Ashby * Spectator *
[A] dazzling novel about art and authenticity... the novel packs a huge amount into its 208 pages. If the reader is never quite sure what's fact and what's fiction, that's just part of the fun -- John Self * Guardian *
Wonderful... Gainza is fast becoming one of Argentina's most sophisticated writers thanks to the imaginative twirls her writing takes * Times Literary Supplement *
A delight * Scotsman, *Summer Reads of 2022* *
Unsettling, super-sophisticated games with the unsaid and unsayable * Times Literary Supplement, *Books of the Year* *
GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
Maria Gainza was born in Buenos Aires, where she still resides. She has worked as a correspondent for the New York Times in Argentina, as well as for ARTnews, and has contributed to Artforum, The Buenos Aires Review, and Radar, the cultural supplement from Pa´gina/12. Her debut novel, Optic Nerve, translated by Thomas Bunstead, was shortlisted for the 2020 LA Times Art Seidenbaum award for First Fiction, a finalist in the 2020 National Translation awards, and a New York Times 'Notable Book' of 2019.