Spring 1915: On a sprawling country estate not far from London a young woman mourns her husband, fallen on a distant battlefield. But the isolation and eerie stillness in which she grieves is shattered as her home is transformed into a bustling military hospital. Disturbed by the intrusion of the suffering soldiers, the increasingly fragile widow finds unexpected solace in the company of a wounded officer whose mutilateded face, concealed by bandages, she cannot see.Their affair takes an unexpected turn when fate presents her with an opportunity: to remake her lover - with the unwitting help of a visionary surgeon and a woman artist - in the image of her lost husband...Inspired by the little-known but extraordinary collaboration between artists and surgeons in the treatment and rehabilitation of wounded men during the First World War, "The Crimson Portrait" illuminates the abiding mysteries of identity and desire. It is a disturbing, dazzling novel - as stylish, suspenseful and darkly erotic as Jody Shields' acclaimed bestselling debut, "The Fig Eater."