Description: New York, 1893. Society portraitist Piambo receives a commission he cannot refuse. A mysterious woman offers Piambo a fortune to paint her portrait. As Piambo's masterpiece takes shape, his relationship with the woman grows more tangled and her deranged--almost certainly murderous--husband becomes bent on revenge.
Brief description:
Jeffrey Ford is the author of the novels The Physiognomy, Memoranda, The Beyond, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, the Edgar Award-winning The Girl in the Glass, The Cosmology of the Wider World, The Shadow Year, and The Twilight Pariah, and his collections include The Fantasy Writer's Assistant, The Empire of Ice Cream, The Drowned Life, Crackpot Palace, and A Natural History of Hell. He lives near Columbus, Ohio, and teaches writing at Ohio Wesleyan University.
Review Quotes:
"Ford weaves a strange and affecting tale of obsession, inspiration, and the supernatural, with a dash of murder thrown in. . . The twists and turns of Mrs. Charbuque's commission keep the pages turning." - New York Times Book Review