1999: An island off the southern coast of Greece. Art historian Elizabeth Clarke arrives with the intent to acquire a rare female sculpture. But what begins as a quest for a highly valued cultural artifact evolves into a trip that will force Elizabeth to contend with her ambition, her desire, and her troubling history.

Disoriented by jet lag, debilitating migraines, and a dependence on prescription pills, Elizabeth finds herself enthralled by her new surroundings – and equally, by her translator's inscrutable wife, a young artist named Theo.

As the nude's acquisition proves to be riskier than she could have ever imagined, the fates of Elizabeth and the sculpture are called into question. To find a way out, Elizabeth must grapple with the role she's played in the global art trade and the ethical fallouts her personal and professional decisions could leave behind.

The Nude is an evocative and intense exploration of art and cultural theft, combining the moody atmosphere of Katie Kitamura's A Separation and the complex gender dynamics of Lisa Taddeo's Animal with the sensual exploration of female desire of Deborah Levy's Hot Milk. Your next summer obsession!

'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... I'll be thinking about this book for a long time' - Alyssa Songsiridej, author of Little Rabbit

'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 The Princess of Las Vegas