Description
Brought to her uncle's decaying Oxfordshire estate when she was a child, Grace has grown up on the periphery of a once-great household, an outsider in her own home. Now a self-possessed and secretive young woman, she has developed unusual predilections: for painting, particularly forgery; for deception; for other girls. As Grace cultivates her talent as a copyist, she realizes that her uncanny ability to recreate paintings might offer her a means of escape. Secretly, she puts this skill to use as an art forger, creating fake masterpieces in candlelit corners of the estate. Saving the money she makes from her sales, she plans a new life far from the family that has never seemed to want her. Then, a letter arrives from the South Atlantic. The writer claims to be her cousin Charles, long presumed dead at sea, who wishes to reconnect with his family. When Charles returns, Grace's aunt welcomes him with open arms; yet fractures appear in the household. Some believe he is who he says he is. Others are convinced he's an impostor. As a court date looms to determine his legitimacy-and his claim to the family fortune-Grace must decide what she believes, and what she's willing to risk. Is Charles really her cousin? An interloper? A mirror of her own ambitions? And in a house built on illusions, what does authenticity truly mean-in art, in love, and in family? Deftly plotted and shimmering with Nell Stevens's distinctive intelligence, style, and wit, The Original takes readers on an unforgettable adventure through a world of forgeries, family ties, and the fluctuations in fortune that can change our fate.
About the Author
Nell Stevens is the author of Briefly, a Delicious Life and two memoirs, Bleaker House and The Victorian and the Romantic. She is director of the creative writing program at the University of Warwick and lives in Oxfordshire, England.
Reviews
"Nell Stevens's marvel of a novelThe Original, a story of creativity, legacy and real worth, is full of narrative cunning, narrative goodness. What a very good heart it has." -- Ali Smith - Guardian
"Immaculate in structure, sure-footed in tone and propelled forward by a rising tide of apprehension, the novel is a captivatingly strange masterpiece of Victorian pastiche. It puts Stevens in the class of Sarah Waters and even du Maurier herself as a sharp-witted fiction writer whose masterly technique and style are matched and sustained by a compelling gift for spinning a yarn." -- Miranda Seymour - Financial Times
"Wilkie Collins by way of Sarah Waters...Jane Eyreby way of Patricia Highsmith." -- Observer
"Stevens spins her tale with panache. She manages to impart a sense of having wandered through a hall of mirrors, while also raising tantalising questions about the relationship between literary language and the visual arts." -- Literary Review
Book Information
ISBN 9781324130697
Author Nell Stevens
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 275g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 137mm * 20mm
About the Author
Nell Stevens is the author of Briefly, a Delicious Life and two memoirs, Bleaker House and The Victorian and the Romantic. She is director of the creative writing program at the University of Warwick and lives in Oxfordshire, England.
Reviews
"Nell Stevens's marvel of a novelThe Original, a story of creativity, legacy and real worth, is full of narrative cunning, narrative goodness. What a very good heart it has." -- Ali Smith - Guardian
"Immaculate in structure, sure-footed in tone and propelled forward by a rising tide of apprehension, the novel is a captivatingly strange masterpiece of Victorian pastiche. It puts Stevens in the class of Sarah Waters and even du Maurier herself as a sharp-witted fiction writer whose masterly technique and style are matched and sustained by a compelling gift for spinning a yarn." -- Miranda Seymour - Financial Times
"Wilkie Collins by way of Sarah Waters...Jane Eyreby way of Patricia Highsmith." -- Observer
"Stevens spins her tale with panache. She manages to impart a sense of having wandered through a hall of mirrors, while also raising tantalising questions about the relationship between literary language and the visual arts." -- Literary Review
Book Information
ISBN 9781324130697
Author Nell Stevens
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 275g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 137mm * 20mm
