Woman in Bed

A Woman in Bed

'What the hell are you doing in my bed?' she asked. I told her. 'He must have made a mistake,' she said. 'I expect he was drunk as a coot. But now you're here you might as well stay.'
These exchanges mark the start of a love affair that is to prove prolonged, tempestuous and mysterious: and they introduce the extraordinary girl, a creature whose changes of mood extend to changes of character, who dominates the story.
It is these bewildering changes that motivate and torment the narrator, himself constantly in love. And eventually, through a maze of twists and turns, involve him in a suspicion of murder: the police become constant visitors.
In one of her roles the girl claims to be descended from an eighteenth century artist called Matthew Peters. And to make matters worse, she bears a striking resemblance to the model Lydia whom Peters used in his early paintings. These paintings caused a furore at the time since contemporary pictures of nudes, unless set in context of ancient history or religious martyrdom, were considered salacious. In particular she resembled Lydia as portrayed in the painting called A Woman in Bed.


Genre: Mystery