The Nude

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
C. Michelle Lindley's The Nude is as seductive and sensual as it is haunting. 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. This is a book that I swallowed hungrily and that has stayed with me long afterward. Exhilarating, terrifying, and brilliant -- Emily Fridlund, author of History of Wolves
As stunning, complex, and carefully crafted as the sculpture our art historian protagonist hopes to acquire, I was astounded and utterly enchanted by Lindley's portrayal of a woman's internal journey from object to subject... The lush, lyrical writing of The Nude depicts the gray areas of cultural appropriation, ethics, and sexuality so seamlessly, I had to remind myself to breathe while reading -- Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty
Thrillingly taut and magnetically told, The Nude pries apart the pristine veneer of classical art and allows something sublimely twisted to emerge. Lindley has a gift for rendering the contours and shadows of her characters, and for helping the reader to peer more deeply into the unknown -- Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun and You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine
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