The Blazing World

Artist Harriet Burden, consumed by fury at the lack of recognition she has received from the New York art establishment, embarks on an experiment she calls Maskings: she hides her identity as a woman behind three male fronts who exhibit her work as their own. Except the last one claims that in fact [...]
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Artist Harriet Burden, consumed by fury at the lack of recognition she has received from the New York art establishment, embarks on an experiment she calls Maskings: she hides her identity as a woman behind three male fronts who exhibit her work as their own. Except the last one claims that in fact the work was his - then dies in bizarre circumstances.
After Harriet's own death, an academic tries to get to the truth and here we have the result: Harriet's story unfolding through extracts from her notebooks, articles and reviews, and the testimony of her two children, her lover, a dear friend, and acquaintances. But as the different accounts emerge, the mysteries only multiply. Only one thing seems clear: Harriet Burden was an extraordinary woman who scorned convention. Was she also an extraordinary artist or a fake?
This is a tour de force from the internationally acclaimed author of What I Loved, an intricately conceived, diabolical puzzle that explores the way prejudice, fame, money, and desire influence our perceptions of one another. Emotionally intense, intellectually rigorous, ironic and playful, The Blazing World is as gripping as it is thought provoking.