The Crimson Portrait

Spring 1915. On a sprawling country estate not far from London a young woman mourns her husband, fallen on the battlefields of what has been declared the first World War...

But the isolated and eerie stillness in which she grieves is shattered when her home is transformed into a bustling military hospital to serve the war's most irreparably injured. Disturbed by the intrusion of the suffering men and their caretakers, the young widow finds unexpected solace in the company of a wounded soldier whose face, concealed by bandages, she cannot see. Their affair takes an unexpected turn when fate presents her with an opportunity: to remake her lover -- with the unwitting help of a visionary surgeon and an American woman artist -- in the image of her lost husband.

Inspired by the little-known but extraordinary collaboration between artists and surgeons in the treatment of wounded men in the First World War, The Crimson Portrait peels back layers of suspense and intrigue to illuminate the abiding mysteries of identity and desire.

Author: Jody Shields
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Published: 05/01/2008
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.63lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.69w x 0.86d
ISBN: 9780316067188

About the Author
Jody Shields is the author of two novels, the bestselling novel The Fig Eater and The Crimson Portrait. Formerly Design Editor of the New York Times magazine and a Contributing Editor of American Vogue, Shields is also a screenwriter and a collected artist. She is a resident of New York City.