The Nude

(Paperback)

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1999: An island off the southern coast of Greece. Art historian Elizabeth Clarke arrives with the intent to acquire a rare female sculpture. But what begins as a quest for a highly valued cultural artifact evolves into a trip that will force Elizabeth to contend with her ambition, her desire, and her troubling history.

Disoriented by jet lag, debilitating migraines, and a dependence on prescription pills, Elizabeth finds herself enthralled by her new surroundings - and equally, by her translator's inscrutable wife, a young artist named Theo.

As the nude's acquisition proves to be riskier than she could have ever imagined, the fates of Elizabeth and the sculpture are called into question. To find a way out, Elizabeth must grapple with the role she's played in the global art trade and the ethical fallout her personal and professional decisions could leave behind.

'As thought-provoking as it is propulsive, The Nude is a tense and sultry tale of art, beauty and power. A richly detailed read for the salty summer months.' Chlo Ashby, author of Second Self

'Set on a Greek island, wrought in a delirium of desire and loss, The Nude looks unflinchingly at the violent contestation of the female body as artifice and art, and object and agent alike...Exhilarating, terrifying, and brilliant.' Emily Fridlund, author of History of Wolves

'At once cerebral and hallucinatory, seductive and unsettling, The Nude is a fever dream of a debut.' Antonia Angress, author of Sirens & Muses

'A remarkable debut, a slow-burn page-turner that turns a sweltering Greek island into a haunting house of mirrors. C. Michelle Lindley would have made Patricia Highsmith and Graham Greene proud.' Chris Bohjalian, author of Hour of the Witch

'Thrillingly taut and magnetically told, The Nude pries apart the pristine veneer of classical art and allows something sublimely twisted to emerge.' Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun

'The Nude offers an incredibly sensitive and perceptive exploration of femininity, ownership and beauty... A tale that will keep you guessing up until the last page.' Hanna Johansson, author of Antiquity

'Stunning, complex, and carefully crafted...The Nude depicts the gray areas of cultural appropriation, ethics, and sexuality so seamlessly, I had to remind myself to breathe.' Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty

Reviews

As thought-provoking as it is propulsive, The Nude is a tense and sultry tale of art, beauty and power. A richly detailed read for the salty summer months -- Chlo Ashby, author of Second Self
With rippling prose, C. Michelle Lindley carves a taut and thrilling story about the necessary role of art in society, and sheds light on the sweltering way that complex beauty entangles not just its viewers, but those who seek to claim it -- Elle Nash, author of Deliver Me
In prose that's voluptuous yet restrained, as full of pleasure as it is disgust - like biting into a ripe fig just to discover a maggot buried inside - The Nude offers an incredibly sensitive and perceptive exploration of femininity, ownership and beauty. C. Michelle Lindley's skillful appropriation of the genre tropes of caper stories and erotic thrillers creates something entirely different and unexpected, a tale that will keep you guessing up until the last page -- Hanna Johansson, author of Antiquity
A captivating and profound novel that delves unflinchingly into the eternal love triangle between desire, power, and art, The Nude gripped me from the first line to the last. This is a masterful debut. -- Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth
A remarkable debut, a slow-burn page-turner that turns a sweltering Greek island into a haunting house of mirrors. C. Michelle Lindley would have made Patricia Highsmith and Graham Greene proud -- Chris Bohjalian,author ofHour of the Witch

Author Bio

C. Michelle Lindley's writing has been featured in The Georgia Review, Conjunctions, and more. She has an MFA in creative writing from Cornell University and a BA from the University of Berkeley in English and art history. The Nude is her first novel.