A sensation in France last year, this novel from Levy (Rendezvous, 1997) manages the impossible, combining the plot of a made-for-tv-movie with language worthy of a feminist philosopher-poet. For French readers, some of the interest of this novel stemmed from its rumored autobiographical elements (Levy's father is a noted philosopher in France, and Levy herself travels with European high society), but even if its celebrity references escape American readers, this beautifully written book deserves attention. If it can be said to have something so conventional as a plot, it recounts three crises in the life of first-person narrator Louise Levy. First, her beloved grandmother dies, then her glamorous mother is diagnosed with cancer and, most importantly, her husband, the successful and charismatic Adrien, abandons her to marry his own father's lover. These events do not appear in chronological order. They emerge as almost incidental catalysts for Louise's introspection. The masterful way that the story moves from random childhood memories to evocative sensations of taste and sound and touch in Louise's mind finally yields a rich, multi-dimensional portrait of a woman who believes that she is the creature of feeling alone. Out of a stream of random thoughts, a full character-elusive, contradictory and often very charming-finds her way out of the despair of losing the people she loves. Levy's prose is luminous-much credit should go to her excellent translator-and the novel is a marvel of construction.
The second novel from Mary Shelley, written in 1819/20 but not published in full until 1959. The story deals with common Romantic themes, but also incest and suicide.
Narrating from her deathbed, Mathilda tells the story of her unnamed father's confession of incestuous love for her, followed by his suicide by drowning; her relationship with a gifted young poet called Woodville fails to reverse Matilda's emotional withdrawal or prevent her lonely death. The act of writing this short novel distracted Mary Shelley from her grief after the deaths of her one-year-old daughter Clara at Venice in September 1818 and her three-year-old son William in June 1819 in Rome. These losses plunged Mary Shelley into a depression that distanced her emotionally and sexually from Percy Shelley and left her, as he put it, “on the hearth of pale despair”.
The story may be seen as a metaphor for what happens when a woman, ignorant of all consequences, follows her own heart while dependent on her male benefactor.
Mary Shelley sent the finished Mathilda to her father in England, to submit for publication. However, though Godwin admired aspects of the novel, he found the incest theme “disgusting and detestable” and failed to return the manuscript despite his daughter's repeated requests. In the light of Percy Shelley's later death by drowning, Mary Shelley came to regard the novel as ominous; she wrote of herself and Jane Williams “driving (like Mathilda) towards the sea to learn if we were to be for ever doomed to misery”. The novel was published for the first time in 1959, edited by Elizabeth Nitchie from dispersed papers. It has become possibly Mary Shelley's best-known work after Frankenstein.
The second novel from Mary Shelley, written in 1819/20 but not published in full until 1959. The story deals with common Romantic themes, but also incest and suicide.
Narrating from her deathbed, Mathilda tells the story of her unnamed father's confession of incestuous love for her, followed by his suicide by drowning; her relationship with a gifted young poet called Woodville fails to reverse Matilda's emotional withdrawal or prevent her lonely death. The act of writing this short novel distracted Mary Shelley from her grief after the deaths of her one-year-old daughter Clara at Venice in September 1818 and her three-year-old son William in June 1819 in Rome. These losses plunged Mary Shelley into a depression that distanced her emotionally and sexually from Percy Shelley and left her, as he put it, “on the hearth of pale despair”.
The story may be seen as a metaphor for what happens when a woman, ignorant of all consequences, follows her own heart while dependent on her male benefactor.
Mary Shelley sent the finished Mathilda to her father in England, to submit for publication. However, though Godwin admired aspects of the novel, he found the incest theme “disgusting and detestable” and failed to return the manuscript despite his daughter's repeated requests. In the light of Percy Shelley's later death by drowning, Mary Shelley came to regard the novel as ominous; she wrote of herself and Jane Williams “driving (like Mathilda) towards the sea to learn if we were to be for ever doomed to misery”. The novel was published for the first time in 1959, edited by Elizabeth Nitchie from dispersed papers. It has become possibly Mary Shelley's best-known work after Frankenstein.
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940175631396 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Spokenworld Audio/Ladbroke Audio Ltd |
| Publication date: | 06/01/2015 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Videos
