About the Author

Nina Siegal received her MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and her BA from Cornell. She is the author of two novels, A Little Trouble With the Facts and The Anatomy Lesson, and is the recipient of many fellowships, grants, and awards, including the Jack Leggett Fellowship from Iowa, a Fulbright Fellowship in Creative Writing, and MacDowell Colony Fellowships. She has covered fine art and culture for The New York Times, Bloomberg News, the International Herald Tribune, W, Art in America, and many other publications.

Reviews

"A literary page-turner that captures a story behind a masterpiece. . . . [An] intricate work of historical fiction." --Oprah.com "Fascinating. . . . Conveys the pomp, graft, bustle and rough justice of 17th-century Holland through a multitude of voices." --The New York Times Book Review "Siegal succeeds in the task she has set herself--to transmute her material into a work of art." --The New Yorker "Nina Siegal's lovely novel dissects the dissection, evocatively translating the painted narrative into words." --Russell Shorto, author of Amsterdam "Brilliantly structured. . . . Filled with vivid characters. . . . Dazzling." --Margot Livesey, author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy

"Once in a rare while, you get to read a story of such breathtaking beauty and intelligence that you remember why you love to read. The Anatomy Lesson is just such a novel. In stunning prose, Nina Siegal animates Rembrandt's first masterpiece, spinning a deeply affecting tale of love, loss and redemption as she reveals the secrets of the human soul. It is a gorgeous literary page turner of immense sympathy and elegance, equal in artistic elan to its inspiration. Brava!" --Robin Oliveira, author of My Name is Mary Sutter "A thought-provoking and richly populated novel by a talented new voice." --Shelf Awareness

"Virtually every sentence is drenched in the atmosphere of 17th-century Amsterdam. We feel as if we are walking at Rembrandt's side, in a cell awaiting the execution of a thief, rushing through the streets with the condemned's lover in hopes of saving him. This is a novel to be absorbed for its rich evocation of a single day when one man died and another rose to fame for his art." --Historical Novel Society

"Splendid. . . . Through masterful use of subtle details, embroidered into beautiful writing, Siegal suggests that art and violence often intertwine." --Publishers Weekly