The Illusionist |
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| Author:
| Mallet-Joris, Françoise |
| Introduction by:
| Castle, Terry |
| ISBN: | 978-1-57344-845-1 |
| Publication Date: | Sep 2006 |
| Publisher: | Start Publishing LLC
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| Imprint: | Cleis Press |
| Book Format: | Ebook |
| List Price: | USD $14.95 |
Book Description:
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Bored and lonely, 15-year-old Hélène decides to pay a visit to her father’s mistress. Within days, she is captivated by Tamara, a Russian émigré whose arts of enchantment include lingering kisses, sudden dismissals, and savage, rapturous reunions. As long as she submits to Tamara, Hélène is permitted to stay near her: reading forbidden novels, meeting Tamara’s bohemian friends, and learning more "refinements of depravity” than the gossiping matrons of her...
More DescriptionBored and lonely, 15-year-old Hélène decides to pay a visit to her father’s mistress. Within days, she is captivated by Tamara, a Russian émigré whose arts of enchantment include lingering kisses, sudden dismissals, and savage, rapturous reunions. As long as she submits to Tamara, Hélène is permitted to stay near her: reading forbidden novels, meeting Tamara’s bohemian friends, and learning more "refinements of depravity” than the gossiping matrons of her provincial French town could imagine existed.
Flemish writer Françoise Mallet-Joris was 20 years old in 1951 when her first novel, Le Rempart des Beguines -- published in English as The Illusionist -- created a sensation in France. This contemplative, beautifully written book, with its dark undercurrents of desire, has its origins in Madame Bovary and the novels of Colette, and was a precursor to Françoise Sagan’s similarly themed Bonjour Tristesse.