Mantissa

A short, playful, and provocative novel by the author of *The French Lieutenant’s Woman* and *The Magus*, this work finds a novelist waking in a hospital with no memory, confronted by a mysterious woman who may—or may not—be his muse. What follows is an extended, witty duel of words that blurs the boundaries between author and character, reality and invention. Through sharp, often comic exchanges, the book explores creativity, authorship, gender politics, and the uneasy power dynamics between artist and inspiration. Compact yet intellectually lively, it offers a self-aware meditation on storytelling itself, and will appeal especially to readers interested in metafiction and the mechanics of the creative process.