Female, Nude

by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Sophie, a painter, is holidaying with friends in a stunning villa in Greece. Her best friend Helena will be married soon, 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 questions everything about the friendship.

Meanwhile, Sophie's partner, Greg, is desperate for them to have a baby, but she wants to devote herself to her art—and other, deeper forces pull the two of them in opposite directions. During the holiday, Sophie paints a nude portrait of her friend Alessia and has 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.

Genres: Fiction

Audible Audio

Published February 12, 2026

About the author

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a columnist, feature writer and editor for The Guardian newspaper. She is the author of two novels, one memoir, and a collection of her parenthood writing.

She was born in Islington, grew up in Wales, spent time living in France and Italy, and has now returned to her birthplace, where she lives with her husband, son, and Mackerel, her cat.

Reviews

[Gaby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually really enjoyed this. It was fun, sexy, imperfect and full of art. Take me to a Greek beach right now!!

[Chelsea Knowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.*

Female, Nude follows Sophie who is a painter on holiday with her friends in Greece. Her best friend, Helena is getting married soon so the girls are on holiday for a few days on their own until their partners arrive. However, friendships change as people get older and the dynamic between the women isn’t the same and Sophie is constantly questioning their friendship. Sophie’s partner Greg desperately wants a baby but Sophie wants to focus on her art. Before Greg arrives Sophie ends up having an affair with Ky who lives on the island and is close friends with Alessia who Sophie paints a nude portrait of. But the intense affair will make Sophie think about what she wants from life and her views on motherhood.

This whole book has a sensual and erotic feel to it and the atmosphere is electric. It really felt like I was in Greece experiencing the same events as Sophie. I found it easy to relate to Sophie and her views on motherhood and I think this has some very valid discussions on motherhood and autonomy. The writing was great and I flew through this book. This is incredibly readable and I loved the affair between Sophie and Ky. There was so much tension and chemistry as soon as they saw each other. This book also had Sophie’s opinions on different female painters and they are written as if Sophie is speaking to the artist. They were interesting and insightful. Those parts kind of reminded me of an essay by Zadie Smith on Celia Paul that is in her new essay collection, Dead and Alive. I really enjoyed this and I will be recommending this. This should be on everyone’s anticipated books for 2026.

[Suzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book nearly made me hop on a flight to Greece to find a Greek man ... luckily I married one 😂

Female, Nude by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, is a sissling literacy fiction. Sophie, a painter, is on her best friend Helena’s hen do, on a Greek Island. The four woman are brought together for the last time as ‘singles’ with the men joining in five days’ time.

We follow her point of view as we count down the days and this was an intense spiral as she blows her whole life up.

There was so much packed in here, covering issues that many women in their 20s and 30s face.

She’s debating whether she wants to become a mother. She knows the responsibility of caring for another, through taking care of her disabled sister. She feels separate to the group, as they grew up in more privilege and I think issues around money and class are protrayed so well.

The book also explores different nude self portraits from artists, as our main character takes us back in time to different parts in her life when she saw them for the first time.

And of course I can’t not mention the affair!! Completely full of messy characters, I was hooked!! 👀

It was a whirlwind of emotions reading this. You might not agree with some of the things she does, but you understand her reasoning. I think it captures so well the battle between being a feminist, while falling into the trap of societies expectations around marriage and starting a family.

It’s messy, complicated, and thought provoking. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and think it’s a contender to be in my top books of this year!

It’s not perfect, but I was completely transported to another place while reading it and I was discussing it endlessly with my husband.

If you liked Hot Milk, you’ll love this!

Thanks to @tinder_press for a proof copy! It’s out in February 💕

“That painting of mine, I made it years ago, during a time when I was brimming with desire”

[Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Female, Nude addresses so many issues on the minds of many women in their 20s and 30s: motherhood, body confidence, money. I love reading about imperfect women and this book was full of them, as well as interesting conversations and plot points around art and sex. One of my favourite things was learning about so many artists and artworks through main character Sophie’s reflections on the holiday that changed everything.

Full review here: https://cassidyiswriting.substack.com...

Thank you NetGalley and Tinder Press for the gifted ARC for review.

[Patrycja Krotowska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cudowna! Elektryzująca, sensualna, inspirująca.

W "Female, Nude" podobało mi się wszystko. Bohaterka i jej perspektywa, wstawki dotyczące kobiecej sztuki, grecki gorący klimat, erotyzm, chemia i napięcie, dynamika między przyjaciółkami, plot twisty, relacje damsko-damskie, damsko-męskie, no wszystko! Aaa, język! I język, pięknie jest to napisana i skonstruowana powieść.

"Female, Nude" opowiada o początkującej artystce Sophie, która dołącza do swoich zamożnych przyjaciółek podczas wakacji w Grecji. Jedna z nich niedługo bierze ślub i te plus minus 10 dni na wyspie ma być pobytem panieńskim. Sophie jest w długoletnim związku, partner namawia ją na dziecko, przy czym ona od początku ich relacji zaznaczała, że dzieci mieć nie planuje. Podczas tego wyjazdu (pod koniec którego faceci mają dołączyć do swoich kobiet) Sophie dywaguje na temat macierzyństwa i lęków z nim związanych, takich jak np. utrata autonomii jako kobieta. Poznaje też pewnego przystojnego Greka... Całościowo książka krąży wokół tzw. female gaze, czyli kobiecego spojrzenia na świat i relacje, w opozycji do typowego „male gaze”. I pięknie jest ten motyw wpleciony w całą książkę.

I sztuka! O losie, jakie piękne i inspirujące były te rozdziały poświęcone rzeczywistym autoportetom-aktom powstałym na przestrzeni tylu lat. Macierzyństwo, pożądanie, relacja z ciałem, wyzwolenie, ucisk, choroba, samoświadomość - tak wiele motywów zostaje omówionych w oparciu o te obrazy, tak wiele refleksji pobudzanych tymi platonicznymi rozmowami narratorki z artystkami. Coś wspaniałego! W jednym rozdziale pojawia się na przykład autoportret Gwen John, której poświęcona jest inna książka nominowana obecnie do nagrody Women's Prize for Non-Fiction ("Artists, Siblings, Visionaries: The Lives and Loves of Gwen and Augustus John"). Mnóstwo inspiracji i refleksji wyciągnęłam z tych rozdziałów.

All in all, kocham tę książkę i bardzo mi szkoda, że nie znalazła się na tegorocznej liście do WPF. Pasowałaby tam idealnie!

[Kat J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly gripping and beautiful. The tension built throughout against a backdrop of the beautiful Greek sea and landscape. Sensitively and boldly explored many taboo topics and their complexities through the main narrative and the descriptions of the female nudes visited. Excellent writing.

[Grace Farris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading Female, Nude. The story follows aspiring artist Sophie who has joined her posh friends on a vacation in Greece. In between lush descriptions of the food and scenery and unfolding romance Sophie gets involved in there are chapters where Sophie describes different women artists and their relationships with the female nude in art. Beautiful and evocative.

[Books By Your Bedside · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Tinder Press for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

This was not my usual kind of book and so I was somewhat apprehensive going into it.

It is a very poetic style of writing and storytelling which took some getting used to. It's like Rhiannon has tried to make sure every sentence was as beautiful as it can be before moving to the next, which isn't an outright negative, but it is a fine line between beautiful language and something distracting to the story.

I can't deny her ability to create a sense of space, place, and time, from the physical landscape and weather, to this idea of a group of friends inhabiting a space at the same time.

It's mainly set over a short space of time, which I thought was impressive because she's manged to make 300+ pages not feel too stretched out, like she's trying to fill the page rather than write organically.

Every so often, dotted about, we get small passages by various female artists, which seemed a bit clunky, but I enjoyed them nonetheless.

Not a lot actually happens, which is fine, I prefer books with well-written characters over plot anyway, and I think her characters are wonderful. Not always nice people, but they're layered, morally grey, and feel so real, and so I don't really mind that the plot is light.

It's still not a book I would have voluntarily picked off the shelf, but I did enjoy it on the whole, and so I will be broadening my mind when it comes to picking books out of my comfort zone.

I really enjoyed the exploration of friendship groups changing. You can have the same friend your whole life, but your friendship at school, university, work, as adults, when married, with children - they're completely different people at each stage, s are you, and I loved how Rhiannon has been honest here. That not all friendships are suitable for every stage of life.

I think the whole thing is a bit borderline uncomfortable. I found it okay, but it definitely has this erotic, sensual undercurrent that some readers may not enjoy, but that's really down to your own preference.

[Simon S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Female, Nude is a sensual and affecting tale of lust, friendship, class, and the richness of women’s bodies in life and art.

Sophie, Helena, Iris, and Alessia are staying on a Greek island as a prelude to Helena’s wedding. After this first week their male partners will arrive. Sophie is ambivalent about this; her partner Greg wants a child, and she doesn’t.

She has known the women since university – earning a place with her art skills - but considers only Helena a true friend. Working-class among wealthier, middle-class high achievers, Sophie is sensitive to every glance and tone.

The free-spirited, beautiful Alessia asks Sophie to paint a nude portrait of her in the cool of one of the villa’s outbuildings, but she finds the experience unsettling: Alessia steers conversation into uncomfortable areas, and the spare grace of her body makes Sophie reflect negatively on her own fuller figure. Alessia further unnerves her by pushing her towards Ky, a handsome, older ex-lover.

I never know, when reading fine books like this, so firmly informed by women’s life experience, how objective a view I bring. They can generate revelatory empathy and awareness in me, but I sometimes suspect women readers may think, “yes, that checks out – so what?”

Though set in broadly contemporary times, Cosslett expands on the easy elegance of her writing by framing the novel as Sophie’s recollections years later, middle-aged, seriously ill, and with knowledge of how her life turns out. Her closeness to Ky becomes key to her future, surfacing tensions within the friendship group and the paucity and imbalance in her relationship with Greg.

Throughout, the older Sophie drops in brief biographies of female artists who created nude self-portraits, using their work and lives as a lens through which she can understand her own life and her time on the island.

I liked Sophie a lot. She’s a convincingly flawed character, inconsistent and unsure, discerning the shape of her life only as it nears its end, and found the novel beguiling, sexy, and poignant.

[Becky Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to @tinder_press and @headlinebooks for sending me this book.

•••••

A character driven, literary fiction novel that completely captivated me.

This novel follows Sophie as she try’s to find her place in the world. Grappling with the expectations society imposes on women.
She wants to focus on her art, but her partner, Greg, wants children. Her best friend is getting married. She is worried about her disabled sister and how she’ll care for her and she feels separate from her group of privileged friends, who seem to know exactly what they want.
 
What starts off as a girly holiday soon begins to turn into the week that will change Sophie’s life forever.
 
Does Sophie make some questionable decisions? Yes. Whether you agree or disagree with what she does isn’t really the point, I don’t think. I could see her desire to push back to what society expects from a woman, like getting married and having children, and I found myself rooting for her.
 
It becomes apparent that this story comes from Sophie’s memories of the time past and she is reflecting as she gets older. There are chapters that appear to be letters or diary entries, from Sophie, as she travels during her life and sees different pieces of art work from female artists. These snippets give us a slice into the artist’s lives and how they fought back against the norms and how this then affected Sophie’s life. To begin with I found these chapters a bit confusing but they quickly make sense and I found them deeply moving.
 
This story is paying homage to being a woman. Relationships, friendship, societal expectations, marriage, motherhood, body confidence, sex, infidelity. Everything from the good, the bad and the ugly. I was completely intoxicated by this book.
 
Beautifully written, refined and accessible. Completely seductive, erotic, messy and raw.

A story about identity, living in your own skin, and having the courage to choose yourself and go against the grain.
 
I just wish I could have been on an exotic island to read this novel 🏝️.

[one.too.many.books · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I lamented female objectification, and would never view a life model this way, yet outside of the studio, I looked at women more ruthlessly than most men ever would.”

Let me tell you about this book - it’s incredible literary fiction! Initially I was a bit apprehensive and not sure about it. The writing felt a little dry and there were letter style paragraphs that I found a tad confusing. After a while they made more sense and actually were really interesting.

And I was completely hooked and absorbed in the story. I couldn’t get back to reading it quick enough! Absolutely devoured it. It’s one of those books that proved me wrong and got better the more I read.

It’s unapologetic, raw, thought provoking, and provocative. The characters are messy, it’s atmospheric almost like a thriller, there’s a real honesty here that I appreciated.

It’s a book about so many things; Feminism, betrayal, friendship, social construct, class, sex, lust, motherhood, choice, art, love and one hot Greek summer holiday with consequences.

I don’t know much about art but it was really interesting reading about female artists and their paintings as well as personal histories. The letter/diary passages didn’t always fully work for me but some of them were really very interesting. I wish I could have read this as a physical copy as I wanted to go back to reread parts as I was getting further into the story.

It’s not a perfect book but it’s a book that I think will stay with me for a long time and even end up on my top reads of the year list. I can see this being a really good beach read, it really transports you to that hot summer with delicious Greek food! But don’t be fooled, it packs a punch and will have you thinking.

I highly recommend!

4.5 stars

[Çisil Nar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the story quite interesting. It gave everything i like as a reader personally. Summer, beaches, tension, deeply written interesting characters, ideas that made me think or parts that validated or worded my own silent ideas about world prior to reading, love, sex, friendship.
I have mixed feelings about the sections on different portraits that Sophie encounters throughout her life. That was necessary to the storyline as i believe, but sometimes I wanted to just skip them because I was deeply in the invested story at that moment. Even still, beautifully placed and completely necessary.
I loved the complexity and confusion of Sophie, and complexity of all the characters involved.

The only thing i very much disliked about the book was some of the flowery words. They felt forced, as if i would think of the writer any less if she didnt use them. And they felt forcefully placed in very absurd places as well. Some words, i have never heard one person use beforehand.

But generally, beautiful story. Made me tear up quite a bit at the end, and I read the whole thing in 3 days, because the story kept me coming back for more (and more as I read).

[Jo-anne Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie is a talented artist but she works in a gallery shop, she's in a committed relationship with Greg but he is pressuring her to have a baby. Sophie has had a group of friends since college and one of them, Helena, is getting married so they have decamped to a Greek island. During this time Sophie experiences several epiphanies - about her friends, her art and her love life - all of which will change her.
The writing in this book is seductive, it's lush and sensual, so even though I did not particularly like it at times I kept reading. Sophie is an interesting character and in the final chapter the reader sees what she has become. Whilst the plot was fairly predictable I did like the journey towards it. What I particularly liked were the references to pieces of art throughout, the linking of the depiction of the female nude and motivations of the artists with Sophie's actions worked well.

[Spacey Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following Sophie on a group holiday to celebrate her friend Helena's upcoming wedding. Sophie spends five or six days questioning her life choices to date. Examining her friendships with people who deem her "common", her future with looking after her disabled sister and her current partner, Greg who wants to have a baby, Sophie however, wants to focus on her painting. We see Sophie comment on art and femininity with several famous artworks mentioned throughout.

Overall, I enjoyed this story and the way it explored the complexities of female friendship, women's sexuality, what women sacrifice for having children and class differences. Unfortunately the ending did let me down as it felt out of place given the discussions that took place in the book.

Thank you to headline books for the copy of the book.

[Eline · Rating 3 out of 5]

ik vin dit lastig. het commentaar op de schilderijen boeide me ieder hoofdstuk minder. ik had waarschijnlijk op moeten zoeken hoe ze eruit zagen maar misschien komt dat nog op een dag. ik vond het verhaal lang duren en ook niet per se super inspirerend.

wat ik wél heel interessant vind is het commentaar op (de drang of afwezigheid daarvan) moederschap en de relatie tot je lichaam, partner en jezelf die daar grote invloed op hebben. ik kan dat soort lange overpeinzingen vaak erg waarderen.

klasse en geld is een thema wat me mateloos intrigeert, en vooral wanneer het goed doordacht is een een kritische blik ontvangt van de auteur. ze doet dit heel scherp en dat is fijn.

iedereen in dit boek is een egoïstische asshole, en ook dát kan ik vaak erg waarderen.

overall mixed feelings.

[Olivia Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW. What a book. This was exactly what I was hoping it would be and more. The talking to the artist in between each chapter was a really cool touch. I looked at each piece the author mentioned and it certainly added dimension and a unique depth to the book. I also found a couple of new artists who I am going to learn more about thanks to this book. I am struggling to explain why I like it so much, there was something about it that felt so real and genuine. The characters of Sophie and Ky were fascinating to me and I wish the book was 100 pages longer so I could be with them for more time and learn more about them.

I will absolutely be reading more from this author. 5*

[Charlotte Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it - loved the parallels drawn back to female artists and their intersections between motherhood and art. Loved the intensity Sophie and how she it is a bit of a walking nightmare from a relationship perspective, but a romantic and loveable one. Loved how vividly the Greek setting is depicted. Loved how everything was tied together at the end. Loved how the storyline flows and the writing is not a struggle to read whatsoever. I also really loved the reflections on class, generational wealth, and what it means to be a woman in your early 30s. Five stars from me!

[Chloë Fowler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this.

I'm a meanie, maybe. Just struggled to read about wealthy, white people, all gorgeous, wafting around on wine and drugs...hurting each other. Not interested in all the sex. Or the baby stuff. Food sounded nice.

Liked the art, but grew tired of the format formula.

Maybe I'd have enjoyed it more from a sun lounger.

[Iliana Karpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book with great explorations of the anxieties surrounding having children and losing yourself as a woman. I also really enjoyed the real life nude paintings chapters, where you learned all about the female artists that had made those paintings over the years. I loved this book!!

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed this one, it read like a really good bit of gossip. the class commentary was well done and i found sophie really sympathetic despite her poor choices.

the story overall felt a little emotionally distant for me, i just wanted a bit more.

[Raye · Rating 4 out of 5]

review to come following speaking with author

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this to be cringe alert

[Miranda Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just wish it had a visual insert of all the pictures mentioned. And get me to Greece with a cold wine please

[Lucille · Rating 3 out of 5]

Female, Nude alludes to the female biographies of paintings alongside the narrative about four friends, Sophie, Helena, Iris and Alessia and their partners, on holiday on a Greek Island prior to Helena's forthcoming wedding. I very much enjoyed the narrative but found that the painters biographical input took me out of the story completely. Framed by Sophie's recollections many years later, various themes are explored: art being one alongside friendship, love, betrayal, sex, and the consequences of choices made along the way. Personally I didn't need the biographical sections as the characters themselves were more interesting the more I read. 3.5*