The Portrait

by Antoine Laurain, Emily Boyce (Translator), Jane Aitken (Translator)

Overview

A Parisian antiques collector finds himself in a case of mistaken identity after buying a portrait which curiously resembles him

While wandering through a Paris auction house, avid collector Pierre-François Chaumont is stunned to discover the eighteenth-century portrait of an unknown man who looks just like him. Much to his delight, Chaumont's bid for the work is successful, but back at home his jaded wife and circle of friends are unable to see the resemblance. Chaumont remains convinced of it, and as he researches into the painting's history, he is presented with the opportunity to abandon his tedious existence and walk into a brand new life.

Chaumont needs a fresh start – he and his wife fell out of love long ago, and the only thing that holds meaning for him anymore is his search for perfect objects. But this portrait is more than just a painting. The first night he owns it, Pierre-François dreams of another life, lived as the Comte de Mandragore, in a rural chateau, with a beautiful young wife. Awaking from the dream he’s determined to find this place – but it will take all his collector’s avidity, ingenuity, and unscrupulousness to make it his own. And when he finally has the chance to do so, will he be willing to pay the price to make it last?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781805333531
Publisher:	Steerforth Press
Publication date:	09/02/2025
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Antoine Laurain is the award-winning author of ten novels including The Red Notebook (Indie Next, MIBA bestseller) and The President's Hat (Waterstones Book Club, Indies Introduce). His books have been translated into 25 languages and sold more than 200,000 copies in English. He lives in Paris, France. Beginning in in 2025, more than a dozen of his greatest works will be published in North America by Pushkin Press.

Jane Aitken is a publisher and translator from the French.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

'The story will captivate through its unique charm ... Aquick read that will leave readers eager for more of Laurain’s delightful works.'

Editorial Reviews

2025-07-17
Laurain’s first novel, a mordant fairy tale originally published in France in 2007 and in the U.K. in 2016, finally makes it across the Atlantic.

Burgundy patent attorney Pierre-François Chaumont is addicted to auctions and collecting. His wife, Charlotte, doesn’t share his passion, and she’s recently demanded that he banish all his objets d’art to his study. Soon after he begins to sneak them back into the rest of their house, he stumbles on a painting that will determine the remainder of his life: a portrait of Louis-Auguste, Comte de Mandragore, a friend of King Louis XVI who went into hiding during the Terror and assumed the identity of Auguste Chaumont, a country locksmith. From the moment he sees the painting, the collector knows he must possess it because it looks exactly like him. When he buys it for nearly 12,000 euros, Charlotte, who doesn’t see the resemblance at all, withdraws from him in a cold fury, and the gulf between them has widened considerably by the time Chaumont walks into a café in Rivaille and is immediately mistaken for Aimé-Charles de Rivaille, the current Comte de Mandragore, who vanished during a trip to Paris four years ago. Originally determined to burst this illusion, Chaumont is carried along by the villagers’ obvious excitement at seeing their friend return and goes along with the masquerade, encouraged by the fact that Mélaine de Rivaille, the count’s wife, joyfully accepts him as her husband and takes him to bed. This wildly improbable idyll can’t last, of course, and it’s particularly appropriate that it’s ended by the imposter’s plan to recover all the treasures he left behind.

Slight but magical.

Kirkus Reviews

'A delightful literary soufflé that fans of his other charming books will savor' Library Journal

'Effortlessly eloquent, quietly hilarious and consistently self-aware, Antoine Laurain's debut novel is a delightful read' Reader's Digest

'Laurain's novella is distinctive for its energetic prose and plot and for his skill in rendering simple what is otherwise complex... pure entertainment' Riveting Reviews

Praise for The President's Hat and The Red Notebook

'A hymn to la vie Parisienne...enjoy it for its fabulistic narrative, and the way it teeters pleasantly on the edge of Gallic whimsy' The Guardian

'Like finding a gem among the bric-a-brac in a local brocante' The Telegraph

'Resist this novel if you can; it's the very quintessence of French romance' The Times 

From the Publisher