Nude

by Nuala Ní Chonchúir

The women and men in Nude play out their desires and frustrations from Dublin to Paris, Delhi to Barcelona, and beyond. In these stories there are mercurial lovers, illicit affairs and mistakes that cannot be undone. And at the centre of it all is the unclothed body: in bedrooms, in art, and in and out of love. Award-winning writer Nuala Ni Chonchuir uses her trademark sensual frankness, coupled with poetic language, to weave an intoxicating spell in these stories. If fictional worlds pivot on yearning, then the characters in these stories yearn for passion, for understanding and, sometimes, for freedom. In the opening tale, a naive painter travels to early 1970's Paris and meets fellow Irish artist Micheal O'Farrell; there she becomes the model for his iconic political nude 'Madonna Irlanda'. Elsewhere, a master art forger is infatuated with his lovingly carved alabaster sculpture of an Egyptian princess, but he eventually falls foul of the Art Squad and loses everything. The story 'Sloe Wine' sees two teenage cousins begin a closer relationship with each other, while their mothers untangle the knots of their own teenage years and, in so doing, unleash a family secret. These are lush stories of visual art, the heart and the body, in all their beauties and betrayals; there is humour and quirkiness, but beneath that is the reassurance of truth - the hallmark of all quality fiction.

Genres: Short Stories

133 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Also writes as Nuala O'Connor.

Ní Chonchúir studied at Trinity College Dublin, receiving a BA in Irish, and at Dublin City University, receiving a Masters in Translation Studies (Irish/English). She now lives in Galway.

Reviews

[Emelie Talledo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5⭐️

[Marian Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The nude from many angles.

A master wordsmith,she makes mundane situations prickly. The short stories are tiny jewels well worth examining. The girls and women are stronger and more incandescent but the males are worth encountering. I'm ready for more books from this author. Ill be interested to she what she does with the novel format.

[Susmita Bhattacharya · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read. Bold, beautiful and dark. Sometimes not. Sweet. Favourite stories were of Magda Bolding stories and lost valises.