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  

'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  

'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  

'In sumptuous, lyrical prose, C. Michelle Lindley excavates thorny questions of art, ownership, and agency. At once cerebral and hallucinatory, seductive and unsettling, The Nude is a fever dream of a debut.'
- Antonia Angress, author of Sirens & Muses  

'The Nude dives headlong into tense questions about art and ownership and the unanswerable enigma of beauty. Elizabeth's confrontation with the true cost of her museum-world rise, through her sensual and frightening travels in Greece, thrilled me. I could never guess, while reading, what would happen if she acquired her prize. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time'
- Alyssa Songsiridej, author of Little Rabbit  

'The gripping, delicious debut novel by C. Michelle Lindley brings together ideas about art, ethics, gender, power, and the economy of culture'
- Town and Country (Best Books of the Month) 

'This book is so hot that it swelters. It explores sexual power dynamics in an enthralling way while asking questions about art, ownership, and autonomy... Perfect to read in the heat of the summer'
- Debutiful 

'A little Cusk, a little Tartt - Lindley's shrewd and sensual debut centers on an art historian traveling to a Greek island to acquire a recently discovered female sculpture and ends up embroiled in a complicated relationship with a translator and his artist wife (and with her own ambitions)'
- Electric Literature 

'A penetrating and thrilling portrait of ambition, sexual power dynamics, and cultural theft, C. Michelle Lindley's The Nude doesn't let its readers off the hook easily'
- Shelf Awareness