Female, Nude

Already purchased

Click to open directly in the xigxag app.

Standard price shown. Sign in for personalised pricing.

Send as a gift Get in the xigxag app

Added to cart

Continue shopping or head to checkout

View cart
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Perfect for readers of HOT MILK or THE UNWILDING, FEMALE, NUDE is propulsive, sexy, thought-provoking fiction: tender, provocative and relatable.

'What a gorgeous, hot-blooded novel about art, the senses, and the multitudes of the female body' Charlotte Runcie
'Magnetically written' Stylist
'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.

Critics Review

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
Guardian
This smart and sexy read . . . has lots to say about female artists and domesticity, women's bodies and the male gaze
Good Housekeeping
A grown-up book that's magnetically written
Stylist
This book is as sharp and incisive as her non-fiction, but with a sinewy, sultry quality that makes it really moreish. I was surprised by the ending - it was neater and sweeter than I expected, the perfect palate cleanser to the bitterness and recrimination that had been building - but I loved it'
Pandora Sykes
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
Kirsty Capes, author of The Girls and Careless
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!
Crib Notes
What a gorgeous, hot-blooded novel about art, the senses, and the multitudes of the female body
Charlotte Runcie, author of Bring the House Down
Such a thought-provoking, sexy, immersive read... a sun-soaked love letter to complicated women and female artists
Cesca Major, author of Maybe Next Time and If I Were You
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
Szilvia Molnar, author of The Nursery
Emotionally precise and devastating, hopeful and singular
Lucia Osborne-Crowley, author of The Lasting Harm
Clever, tense, erotic, with a deftness of touch that packs a feminist punch
Jessica Cornwell, author of Birth Notes
Positively thrums with tension. Erotic, sensuous and eviscerating
Lori Inglis Hall, author of The Shock of the Light
A deeply enjoyable, compelling, and moving meditation on womanhood, desire, and the impulse to create. Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett's glistening prose is a delight
Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women
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
Emily Howes, author of The Painter's Daughters
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
Hannah Richell, author of The Search Party and The River Home
This is a sex-on-the-beach cocktail garnished with a polemic on the female gaze. Cosslett writes wonderfully
Irish Times
A literary novel that has all the propulsion of a thriller. Smart, sharp and sexy
Georgina Moore, author of The Garnett Girls

More from the same

Author

About xigxag

Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.

 

Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.

 

Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.