The Portrait

(Paperback)

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A dark and disturbing novel of suspense, set at the turn of the 20th century, by the bestselling author of An Instance of the Fingerpost.
The windswept isle of Houat, off the coast of Brittany, is no picturesque artists' colony. At the turn of the twentieth century, life is harsh and rustic. So why did Henry MacAlpine forsake London where he had been fted by critics and gallery owners, his works exhibited alongside the likes of Cezanne and Van Gogh to make his home in this remote outpost

The truth begins to emerge when, four years into his exile, MacAlpine receives his first visitor. Influential art critic William Naysmith has come to the island to sit for a portrait. Over the course of the sitting, the power balance between the two men shifts dramatically as the critic whose pen could anoint or destroy careers becomes a passive subject. And as the painter struggles to capture Nasmith's true character on canvas, a story unfolds one of betrayal, hypocrisy, forbidden love, suicide and ultimately murder.

The Portrait is a darkly atmospheric, psychologically complex, macabre and chilling novel from a master storyteller.

Reviews

'A wonderful, grimly entertaining novel.' Sunday Telegraph 'A revenge fantasy to relish.' Independent on Sunday 'Genuinely creepy.' The Times 'A tense tale of revenge, where the creative bites the critical back.' Observer 'An exquisite miniature that explores the roles of artist and critic with wit and gore.' Evening Standard 'This is an atmospheric tour de force of historical writing, as it is of narrative skill.' Independent 'Illicit love, betrayal and murder darken the pages of this atmospheric disquisition on the art world.' Daily Mail 'Taut, disturbing ! full of interesting observations about the late nineteenth -- and early twentieth-century art world ! Mesmerising.' Spectator Praise for 'An Instance of the Fingerpost': 'This is a novel that combines the simple pleasures of Agatha Christie with the intellectual subtlety of Umberto Eco. It is a landmark in the genre.' John Sutherland, Sunday Times 'Enthralling! 'An Instance of the Fingerpost' is a brilliant achievement !wholly absorbing.' T.J. Binyon, Evening Standard 'A slippery thriller of audacious ingenuity.' Robert Minghall, Independent on Sunday Praise for 'The Dream of Scipio': 'Combining the visceral pleasures of a thriller with the more intellectual excitements of a novel of ideas.' Sunday Telegraph 'Combines dazzling erudition with assured narrative skills to offer glimpses of some of history's darkest corners.' Independent on Sunday 'Vivid, admirably imagined, ultimately very moving! This is a novel of the very highest ambition!Immediate, sensuous, beautiful.' Allan Massie, Scotsman

Author Bio

Iain Pears was born in 1955, educated at Wadham College, Oxford and won the Getty Scholarship to Yale University. He has worked as a journalist, an art historian and a television consultant. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling 'An Instance of the Fingerpost' and 'The Dream Of Scipio'. He lives with his wife and son in Oxford.