The Portrait of a Mirror
- Author A. Natasha Joukovsky
- Narrator Eva Kaminsky
- Publisher Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date 1 June 2021
- Run Time 9 hours and 28 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Family life fiction, Fiction: general and literary, Humorous fiction, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Romance, Satirical fiction and parodies.
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What to expect
A stunning reinvention of the myth of Narcissus as a modern novel of manners, about two young, well-heeled couples whose parallel lives intertwine over the course of a summer, by a sharp new voice in fiction
Wes and Diana are the kind of privileged, well-educated, self-involved New Yorkers you may not want to like but can’t help wanting to like you. With his boyish good looks, blue-blood pedigree, and the recent tidy valuation of his tech startup, Wes would have made any woman weak in the knees—any woman, that is, except perhaps his wife. Brilliant to the point of cunning, Diana possesses her own arsenal of charms, handily deployed against Wes in their constant wars of will and rhetorical sparring.
Vivien and Dale live in Philadelphia, but with ties to the same prep schools and management consulting firms as Wes and Diana, they’re of the same ilk. With a wedding date on the horizon and carefully curated life of coupledom, Vivien and Dale make a picture-perfect pair on Instagram. But when Vivien becomes a visiting curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art just as Diana is starting a new consulting project in Philadelphia, the two couples’ lives cross and tangle. It’s the summer of 2015, and they’re all enraptured by one another and too engulfed in desire to know what they want—despite knowing just how to act.
In this wickedly fun debut, A. Natasha Joukovsky crafts an absorbing portrait of modern romance, rousing real sympathy for these flawed characters even as she skewers them. Shrewdly observed, whip-smart, and shot through with wit and good humor, The Portrait of a Mirror is a piercing exploration of narcissism, desire, self-delusion, and the great mythology of love.
Critics Review
“[A] modern retelling of the myth of Narcissus.”
“Gossip Girl meets The Secret History…Joukovsky’s ability to both skewer and sympathize with her characters would impress Edith Wharton herself.”
“In a wickedly fun debut you won’t be able to put down, Joukovsky reinvents the myth of Narcissus for modern times.”
“Clever and witty and intricate…[a] richly-layered portrait of two couples caught at a crossroads.”
“Two well off couples’ Iives intertwine in this hilarious reinvention of the myth of Narcissus…and they’re all too immersed in desire to know what they want.”
“This delightful, perfectly rendered novel is filled with gossip and charged exchanges, bad decisions made by rich people, but also some pretty interesting questions about art and value…I was beyond charmed.”
“This contemporary novel of manners is so sly and sharp and well-observed, so densely witty and full of piercing offhand observation…a not-quite-love story about deceptive infatuation.”
“An intellectually dazzling, deliciously wicked novel about love, art, illusion, and modernity—not to mention a pitch-perfect satire of New York’s beautiful people.”
“Part sex comedy, part satire about the world’s most hatable people. Joukovsky is unsparing—and hilarious—on the topics of marriage, success, and the self-absorption of the privileged class.”
“The Portrait of a Mirror is a wickedly fun debut—a novel that floats seamlessly between Ovid and dive bars, and that shows us the perils of getting exactly what we want.”
“Gossip Girl meets The Secret History…Joukovsky’s ability to both skewer and sympathize with her characters would impress Edith Wharton herself.”
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