Perfect for readers of HOT MILK or THE GUEST, FEMALE, NUDE is propulsive, sexy, thought-provoking fiction, a beach read with a brain, tender, provocative and relatable.
‘What a gorgeous, hot-blooded novel about art, the senses, and the multitudes of the female body’ Charlotte Runcie
‘A smart and seductive novel about female sexuality, power and acts of creation’ Chloe Ashby
‘Sensual and erotic… should be on everyone’s anticipated books for 2026 *****’ Reader Review
‘Beautifully human… Romantic and heady and violent and sexy’ Kirsty Capes
Sophie, a painter, is holidaying with friends in a stunning villa in Greece – her best friend Helena is shortly to be married, and this is the last time she and her friends will be together as single women. But life has treated them so differently since their university days, that Sophie is questioning everything about their friendship. Meanwhile her partner, Greg, is desperate for them to try for a baby, but she wants to devote herself to her art – and there are other, deeper forces, pulling the two of them in opposite directions.
In the course of the holiday, Sophie paints a nude portrait of her friend Alessia, and becomes involved in an intense affair with Ky, who lives and works on the island. Both the painting, and the affair, will challenge everything Sophie thinks she knows, about art, about motherhood, about sex – and about how and with whom she wants to spend the rest of her life.
‘What a gorgeous, hot-blooded novel about art, the senses, and the multitudes of the female body’ Charlotte Runcie
‘A smart and seductive novel about female sexuality, power and acts of creation’ Chloe Ashby
‘Sensual and erotic… should be on everyone’s anticipated books for 2026 *****’ Reader Review
‘Beautifully human… Romantic and heady and violent and sexy’ Kirsty Capes
Sophie, a painter, is holidaying with friends in a stunning villa in Greece – her best friend Helena is shortly to be married, and this is the last time she and her friends will be together as single women. But life has treated them so differently since their university days, that Sophie is questioning everything about their friendship. Meanwhile her partner, Greg, is desperate for them to try for a baby, but she wants to devote herself to her art – and there are other, deeper forces, pulling the two of them in opposite directions.
In the course of the holiday, Sophie paints a nude portrait of her friend Alessia, and becomes involved in an intense affair with Ky, who lives and works on the island. Both the painting, and the affair, will challenge everything Sophie thinks she knows, about art, about motherhood, about sex – and about how and with whom she wants to spend the rest of her life.
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Reviews
An intelligently nuanced and provocative exploration of female desire, motherhood and creativity. A very sexy, deceptively readable novel, which delves into deep questions with an alluring lightness of touch. You need to preorder this right now!
What a gorgeous, hot-blooded novel about art, the senses, and the multitudes of the female body
Such a thought-provoking, sexy, immersive read... a sun-soaked love letter to complicated women and female artists
A beautifully human story, romantic and heady and violent and sexy and gorgeously realised. It is honestly the best thing I have read this year
A gorgeous, sultry novel about the push and pull of desire, and an artist living in a world that asks too much of a woman
Emotionally precise and devastating, hopeful and singular
Clever, tense, erotic, with a deftness of touch that packs a feminist punch
Positively thrums with tension. Erotic, sensuous and eviscerating
A deeply enjoyable, compelling, and moving meditation on womanhood, desire, and the impulse to create. Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett's glistening prose is a delight
What a sharp, beautiful meditation on the female body. This is a quietly stunning novel that I think will have an enduring impact on its readers
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett masterfully weaves themes of friendship, art and desire into a taut, tense novel about four women holidaying together on a Greek island. Bold and beguiling - as well as utterly transportive - Female, Nude explores the nuances of feminine power and identity, and seduces in the very best way. This is summer reading that leaves you feeling a little smarter, a little changed
An energetic and ambitious novel. Cosslett is excellent at the sensual detail of light and food and physical pleasure; she immediately engages us with a seductive drama of friendship between women in an exotic and glamorous White Lotus-like location, while at the same time offering a serious-minded interrogation of art... a thoroughly enjoyable read