Author(s): Maria Gainza

Novel | Translated fiction | South and Central America

For readers of Olivia Laing, Mariana Enriquez, Deborah Levy and Valeria Luiselli, a playfully brilliant novel about women's influence, legacy, art and friendship Set in Buenos Aires of the '60s and present day, this is a glittering novel full of intrigue and glamour. It celebrates three magnetic women and their influence in a bohemian underworld of art forgery, European emigres, and once-grand hotels. At the heart of the book is the enigmatic Renee, artist-savant and the best forger in town, who becomes the preoccupation, even obsession, of the book's young narrator, after the death of her own mentor, Enriqueta. Told as a kind of homage, through memories, interviews, and even an auction catalogue, Portrait of an Unknown Lady is a mordant, playful novel about influence, authenticity, value, and what we really know of one another.

Review:

'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'

-- Amina Cain, author of INDELICACY
'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 *

Author Biography: Maria Gainza was born in Buenos Aires, where she still lives. She has worked as a correspondent for The New York Times in Buenos Aires, as well as for ArtNews. For more than ten years she was a regular contributor to the magazine Artforum and Radar, the cultural supplement of Pagina/12. She has given courses for artists and art critic workshops and was a co-editor of the collection Los Sentidos (The Senses) on Argentinean art.