Portrait of an Unknown Lady

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 2019At 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.

“'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'”

'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 -- Chloë Ashby Spectator

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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