The Illusionist by Françoise Mallet-Joris

The Illusionist

Françoise Mallet-Joris

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 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.

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Details

ISBN 1573442534
Genre Erotica; Romance; Grier Rated
Publication Date 10-Sep-06
Publisher Cleis Press
Format Trade Paperback
No. of Pages 264
Notes (1951; The Illusionist, also published as Into the Labyrinth and The Loving and the Daring)
Language English
Rating Great
Foreword Author Terry Castle
BookID 5796

Author: LFWBooks