Overview

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 New York Times Notable Book 2019 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.

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9781787303249

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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 -- Chloe Ashby * Spectator *

'There are many pleasures to be had in reading Portrait of an Unknown Lady: its sublime, transcendent sentences, its arch and shadowy figures. Most of all, the zone to which you are transported, which is a Buenos Aires of canvases, trap doors, and dreams' -- Amina Cain, author of INDELICACY '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

Author Information

Maria Gainza (Author) 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.

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