About ‘The Portrait’ by Evelyn Chartres::
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy; Urban Fantasy; Dark Fantasy / Horror
“A vision from the past becomes a writer’s deadly obsession.”
The Portrait is a Gothic fantasy about Victoria Frost, an author who develops an unhealthy obsession for her character. As events unfold, her infatuation sours, forcing Victoria to question her sanity. Is she simply slipping into madness, or is there something else at play?
The Portrait features a mixture of contemporary and historical scenes brought forward as Victoria explores the world of her muse. Using both prose and art, every scene yields a new piece of the puzzle, providing insights on the origins of her character’s portrait and its featured model.
Discover how a vision from the past becomes a writer’s deadly obsession.
Other books by Evelyn Chartres I have reviewed:
The Grand
The Van Helsing Paradox
I want to say first that all of Evelyn Chartres’ ebooks are offered absolutely free. If this changes in the future, I will update this note.
It has taken me way too long to get around to reading this, but I’m so glad I finally did! The story follows a woman who, after the tragic death of her parents, quits the job always expected of her in order to pursue her own desires. Coming from money allows her the fortune of leaving behind stable work for the uncertainty of a writing career.
While highly intelligent and a killer lawyer, Victoria is also described as plain, unnoteworthy, and when out of the court, socially awkward and meek. It is through a sort of role play as a character she has long dreamt of that she begins to become more fierce and confident like she’s always wanted. But when pretending to be someone else begins giving her knowledge she shouldn’t have and attracting mysterious people, her sanity comes into question. This couldn’t truly be real, could it?
‘The Portrait’ is largely focused on Victoria’s point of view, but also has passages of the story she is writing from the POV of the dream character she’s been playing make believe as. The shifts between her writing and her actual life seem to become less and less differentiated as ‘The Portrait’ continues. The reader is then offered snippets from a third perspective when Victoria begins to ponder reality.
Like other books by Evelyn Chartres, ‘The Portrait’ is beautifully written. The author pays a lot of attention to detail, from all five senses to environment and emotion. It is extremely easy to fully immerse in the world she’s created. I was glued to the pages attempting to discern truth from fiction alongside Victoria and despite my constant predictions of how the conclusion ‘must be this or that,’ the ending exceeded expectations with a twist that evaded my theories.
The book is a bit of a slow burn, but I found the end worth it. Although there is a dark overtone to the entire novel, it is in the last pages that straight out horror comes to life which I would say is unnerving despite the lack of gorish overkill, especially after coming to feel Victoria’s experience as your own. Truly her journey was fantastic to witness.
Evelyn Chartres can be found on:
Twitter @EvelynChartres
Facebook @theportraitofawoman
Goodreads
Amazon
Author Website
Review submitted to Amazon and Goodreads))
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~Sahreth ‘Baphy’ Bowden
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baphy1428 
Thank you so much! I’m always apprehensive about advertising The Portrait. It’s different from my others, very introspective and not something you’d normally come across today.
Glad the ending evaded you! 😘
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I know what you mean. I’ve been working on a book that is very different from my typical writing style. As much as I’ve enjoyed it, I’m also wary about its reception. I did notice the difference from your usual style, but I felt like it was the right route to pull off that feeling of blending reality with fiction in order to pull both Victoria and the reader into the world of the supernatural. Also, having read The Portrait before The Van Helsing Resurgence gave me better appreciation of Victoria and her relationship with Evelyn. And I am glad it did too! Those are always the best ones! ❤
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In my case, The Portrait is my first book. So, it marks a beginning, whereas Paradox and Resurgence are milestones.
I think I’m improving as a writer with every release. Branching out in a different style implies the same for you. It’s hard to move away from our niches. 😘
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Ohh I see ^^ Within that context, I would agree that your writing has improved then ^^ Like you’ve found your perfect pacing and balance. I am eager to read some of your newest stuff, including the mermaid one :3 I hope you’re right about mine too lol It definitely is hard to mover out of our comfort zone, huh?
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Very much so! 😘
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