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.
