History: A Mess by Sigrun Palsdottir

A young PhD student has spent six long months transcribing the diary of the seventeenth-century artist ‘S.B.’. Then, hidden between mundane descriptions of the artists’ daily routine, she makes a profound discovery: a single passage revealing that S.B. is a woman. Believing she has identified the first professional female artist in Britain, she maps out her entire thesis, right down to the dedication. Fizzing with ideas she sees her career, and her life, blossoming in front of her. However, she has made a simple mistake - one that she won’t acknowledge until it’s far too late to turn back. As she goes to ever greater lengths to protect her work from the truth, she begins to lose her grip on her thesis, her life and then her sanity. What follows is a remarkable exploration of intellectual integrity and denial, and a poignant, funny portrait of academic ambition.