The Maid's Request

Proof copy. 8vo. Pp. [vi], 110. Pictorial wraps.

Translated from the French by Shaun Whiteside. Author's first novel, originally published as La Demande in 1998 by Éditions Verdier to enormous critical acclaim.

At the behest of the French king an artist has journeyed from Italy to lead his pupils in the design and construction of a chateau in the Loire Valley. The story of an enigmatic relationship between a 16th-century Italian painter and his maid. "Short and sweetly haunting... glitters and pulses... one of the biggest small novels that will come our way this year." –Financial Times